Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) blasted Democrats for their “historic obstruction” of President Trump’s nominees.
But while he lectures the Left about blocking confirmations, Thune himself is the mastermind behind the scenes to make sure Trump can’t fill critical positions through recess appointments.
On Tuesday, Thune took to X to whine about how Democrats are dragging their feet on confirming Trump’s civilian nominees.
He posted: “As of today, @POTUS has not had a single one of his civilian nominees confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote. If Democrats continue to drag out the confirmation of every single one of the nominations of a duly elected president, then we are going to have to take steps to get this process back on a reasonable footing.”
In an accompanying video, Thune scolded Democrats for “historic obstruction,” citing past presidencies where 90% or more of nominees were approved without drawn-out floor fights.
Sen. Thune:
“Mr. President, along with the National Defense Authorization Act and funding the government, we have another important task to accomplish in the coming weeks, and that is making major headway on confirming more of President Trump’s nominees.Thanks to a lot of work here in the Senate to overcome Democrat obstruction, we went into August having confirmed 135 of the President’s civilian nominees—more than had been confirmed by this point in his first term. But there are a lot more nominees to go.
I’m here to tell my Democrat colleagues that their historic obstruction cannot continue. Mr. President, when voters elect a President, that comes with certain expectations—one of which is that a President will be able to fill up his or her administration with his or her nominees.
Historically, the Senate has reflected that by confirming most of a President’s civilian nominees by unanimous consent or voice vote—which means without obstruction or blocking.
President George H. W. Bush had 98% of his civilian nominees confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote here in the Senate. So did President Clinton. President George W. Bush and President Obama both had 90% of their civilian nominees confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote.
But things changed during the first Trump administration. Democrats started obstructing nominees who previously would have been confirmed without a long, drawn-out process. Even so, both President Trump in his first administration and President Biden had more than half of their civilian nominees confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote.
Fast forward to 2025. As of today, September 2nd, President Trump has not had a single one—a single one—of his civilian nominations confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote. Not a single one, Mr. President.
By this point in his administration, President Biden had had 76—seventy-six—confirmed without dragging it out, delaying, blocking, and obstructing. So when I say that President Trump’s nominees have faced a historic level of obstruction, Mr. President, I am not being political or hyperbolic. I am doing nothing more than stating the bare facts.
Between the calendar and committees, we currently have nominations pending for a total of 302 civilian positions.
Ninety-five percent of those positions—95%—were confirmed by voice vote at least once during the previous three incoming administrations. And yet, Democrats seem unwilling to expedite consideration for a single one.
Mr. President, this cannot continue. The American people elected President Trump, and like any President, he deserves to be able to fill up his administration. In fact, we owe the voters nothing less.
Now, that doesn’t mean rubber-stamping every nominee, but it does mean an end to the ridiculous—and I mean ridiculous—delays on every nomination, including nominations that Democrats ended up supporting in significant numbers.
I say that, Mr. President, because let’s be clear here: the Democrat leader might like people to think Democrats are holding up all these nominees because they are, in his words, “historically bad.” But in fact, at least some Democrats have ultimately voted in favor of many of these nominations.
Sixty-one out of the 135 civilian nominees confirmed received at least one Democrat vote on final confirmation. And fully half of the civilian nominees currently on the calendar were reported out of committee with bipartisan support.
Democrats aren’t holding up nominations to minor administration positions out of principled opposition. They’re holding them up because they don’t like President Trump.”
As of today, @POTUS has not had a single one of his civilian nominees confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote.
If Democrats continue to drag out the confirmation of every single one of the nominations of a duly elected president, then we are going to have to take steps to… pic.twitter.com/ygJOgxhx60
— Leader John Thune (@LeaderJohnThune) September 2, 2025
But here’s the kicker: just weeks earlier, Senate Majority Leader Thune quietly arranged pro forma sessions in August to make sure Trump couldn’t legally bypass the Senate and make recess appointments.
For those unfamiliar, under the U.S. Constitution, the president can fill vacancies through “recess appointments” when the Senate is not in session. These temporary appointments allow the executive branch to function even when the Senate is deliberately stalling. But pro forma sessions—fake, symbolic meetings with no real business—keep the Senate technically “open,” blocking the president from exercising that constitutional authority.
That’s exactly what Thune did. He locked in a sham Senate calendar with “paper sessions” on eight different dates in August—each just minutes long—effectively preventing Trump from appointing nominees without Democrat consent.
The sham schedule included pro forma sessions on:
- Tue, Aug 5 – 1:00 p.m.
- Fri, Aug 8 – 1:05 p.m.
- Tue, Aug 12 – 8:00 a.m.
- Fri, Aug 15 – 10:15 a.m.
- Tue, Aug 19 – 10:00 a.m.
- Fri, Aug 22 – 9:00 a.m.
- Tue, Aug 26 – 12:00 p.m.
- Fri, Aug 29 – 7:00 a.m.
So while Thune huffs and puffs about Democrats “blocking” Trump’s team, he is actively aiding their obstruction by preventing recess appointments.
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The post HYPOCRITE ALERT: Sen. John Thune Slams Democrats for Blocking Trump’s Nominees While He Blocks Appointments Himself with Pro Forma Sessions to Prevent Recess Appointments appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.