Overview

• On July 19, President Trump posted on Truth Social urging Senate Majority Leader John Thune to cancel the month-long August recess and long weekends to accelerate confirmations.
• Senate Majority Leader Thune said July 21 he is “thinking about” the proposal but has not decided and the Senate calendar still lists August 1 to September 2 as recess dates.
• A total of 136 civilian nominees and more than 20 diplomatic appointments, including Kimberly Guilfoyle for ambassador to Greece, remain pending on the executive calendar.
• Democratic senators continue to force cloture votes on nearly every nominee, contributing to the backlog and extending debate time.
• Republican leaders point to Mitch McConnell’s 2018 cancellation of the August recess as a precedent for using extended session schedules to push through confirmations.