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Floor Speech
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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I rise today to shine a spotlight on what the Democrats are doing in terms of unprecedented obstruction-- obstruction to the Senate nominating process.
The nomination process has been ground to a halt as a result of the Democrats. Today, like every other day this Congress, Senate Republicans will burn hours of floor time on votes that for every other President of the United States would have taken only seconds until now.
President Trump is the only President in modern history not to have a single nominee confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent--not a single one. Even the most routine nominations are being filibustered. Positions that usually just fly through the Senate by voice vote or unanimous consent are now being treated and taken as political hostages.
This isn't normal. This is petty partisan politics at its worst. And it is petty.
Let me tell you the facts that the Senate Democrats don't want the American people to hear. George Herbert Walker Bush, President of the United States, 98 percent of his nominees were confirmed by a voice vote or unanimous consent. Bill Clinton, President of the United States, 98 percent of his nominees were confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent. George W. Bush, President of the United States, 90 percent of his nominations were confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent. President Barack Obama, 90 percent of his nominees were confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent. Then President Trump took office in his first term and Democrats' obstruction began. The numbers dropped from 90 percent under President Obama to 65 percent under President Trump in that first term. Remember, today it is zero. It was 65 percent in his first term. Even Joe Biden, a President the Republicans strongly opposed, had 57 percent of his nominations confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent.
Republicans did not sabotage each and every Biden Ambassador and every Biden Under Secretary simply out of spite. No. Over half were confirmed by unanimous consent. Today, Democrats are obstructing simply for the sake of obstruction. Senate Democrats continue to stonewall the Senate nomination process and to slow-walk every single one of President Trump's nominees.
So I have a copy of today's list. Here we are. I have the Executive Calendar for Friday, August 1, 2025, with totally routine nominees for positions who sailed through the Senate for every other President. Yet Senate Democrats have demanded cloture votes for every single one.
I would ask a single Democrat in this Chamber, without mentioning President Trump's name, tell me why, on the schedule today, the legal advisor for Advocacy for the Small Business Administration is somehow controversial.
Last night, right here, when we were doing cloture votes, a Democrat came in. One of the Republican Senators, after that Democrat voted no, said: Who did we vote on?
The Democrat Senator said: I don't know.
Well, what is wrong with him?
I don't know.
What is the position?
I don't know.
Well, you just voted no on him. Why was that?
Oh.
He was nominated by President Trump. That was the only reason that that nominee got a negative vote from the Democrat.
That is what is happening. That is what we are seeing here, and that is what the Democrats continue to do. Why should this nominee be held up in filibuster? The Democrats can't tell you why. They have no idea why, other than that the nomination was made by President Trump. This isn't about the qualifications of the nominees. This isn't about questioning their resumes or their past histories. This is just resisting President Trump.
Automatic Democrat obstruction doesn't make our communities safer. It doesn't make our country stronger. It doesn't make families and small businesses more prosperous. It just wastes time and weakens America.
Well, despite the Democrats' wall of obstruction, Senate Republicans are continuing to press forward. We have, so far, confirmed 120 nominees since President Trump's second term began. We are doing it one at a time, 1 day at a time, 1 vote at a time, 1 nominee at a time. The good news is we have confirmed twice as many positions and nominees in President Trump's second term compared to his first term.
Let's be clear: Republicans are not backing down. We are going to continue to confirm President Trump's nominees the easy way if we can, the hard way if we must. The American people elected President Trump and the Senate Republicans to get America back on track. After 4 years of high prices and open borders under the Democrats, they expect this President to have his team in place, and that is what the Senate Republicans will continue to do.
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