Senate Republicans on Thursday triggered the so-called “nuclear option” and changed the rules of the upper chamber to speed up the confirmation of President Trump’s nominees. 

The proposed rule change, which will allow senators to confirm lower-level Trump nominees in batches of 48 at a time by a simple majority, cleared the Senate in a 53-45 vote along party lines. 

The rule applies to sub-cabinet-level nominees, such as Trump’s picks for undersecretary or assistant secretary roles at various government departments and agencies, and ambassadors. 

It will not speed up the confirmation process for high-level Cabinet officials or judicial nominees, who get lifetime appointments to the bench. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) initiated the gambit after he decried Democratic obstruction to Trump’s nominees – which has left many positions in the administration unfilled – as being “unsustainable.” 

“We’re going to fix this today, and restore the longtime Senate precedent of expeditious confirmation, and the Senate’s role as first and foremost a legislative body,” Thune said.

The first tranche of nominees subject to the new Senate rules could be confirmed by next Thursday. 

Thune moved forward with the new rule after last-minute negotiations with Democrats fell apart, and a month after Trump raged on social media.  

“Senator Cryin’ Chuck Schumer is demanding over One Billion Dollars in order to approve a small number of our highly qualified nominees, who should right now be helping to run our Country,” the president wrote in an Aug. 2 Truth Social post. “This demand is egregious and unprecedented, and would be embarrassing to the Republican Party if it were accepted.” 

Describing the situation as “political extortion,” Trump went on to tell Schumer to “GO TO HELL!” 

Senate Democrats, who have done little to stymie the president’s agenda, have blocked more nominees than ever before as a way to oppose Trump. 

Schumer, the Senate minority leader, claims Trump’s nominees are not being confirmed because they are “historically bad.”

“We’re supposed to debate and take votes on nominees, especially when the executive branch is grossly breaking norms by sending us woefully unqualified, unscrupulous, and in some cases, deeply dishonest individuals for powerful and important positions,” the New York Democrat argued.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) indicated that Senate Democrats came “achingly close to a deal” with Republicans to allow for shorter debate and confirmations of 15 nominees at a time. 

The deal didn’t materialize. 

“[I] am afraid my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have run out of patience,” Schatz said. 

“The Senate is stuck,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), the lead GOP negotiator, said of the situation. “The challenge is this body has just broken down trust.”

The rule change harkens back to when then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Democrats changed the rules of the upper chamber to remove the 60-vote threshold for confirmation of President Barack Obama’s executive branch and lower court judicial nominees. 

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the minority leader at the time, warned that the move set a dangerous precedent – though he would go on to also change the rules during Trump’s first term to confirm Trump’s Supreme Court nominees. 

Schumer echoed McConnell on Thursday and said Republicans would “come to regret” their action. 

“What Republicans have done is chip away at the Senate even more, to give Donald Trump more power and to rubber-stamp whomever he wants, whenever he wants them, no questions asked,” Schumer said.

With Post wires