Donald Trump has expressed his displeasure, to a degree, about the speed, or lack thereof, that his political appointments and nominees are gaining Senate confirmation.
Just last week the President called out 91-year-old Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley for what Trump called the “Blue Slip SCAM,” saying the senator could reverse tradition by not allowing Democrats to use that method to challenge some of his nominees.
The “Blue Slip” allows a Senator from the same home state as a nominee to challenge that nominee without explanation.
But if Trump was really mad, he’d return to the topic of his slow-moving nominees more often. He’d beat it relentlessly on social media and would target many more than just Grassley in the Senate. He’d certainly go after Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the South Dakota Republican, Townhall.com columnist Kurt Schlichter said on American Family Radio Monday.
Schlichter told show host Jenna Ellis that Trump would have turned Thune’s political career into a wasteland by … unless wheels are indeed turning in the background.
“(Thune) has obviously been coordinating with Trump because we would have seen John Thune turned into the legislative equivalent of Dresden if President Trump hadn't been in on the plan,” Schlichter said.
While Trump calls for quicker appointments, Thune continues to defend formal continuity and traditions within the Senate.
That’s why Thune is expected to schedule pro-forma sessions during the recess. These brief, ceremonial come-togethers will not include votes or important business but having them prevents Trump from making recess appointments.
Democrats are abusing the time-honored process by refusing to allow unanimous consent or voice votes and demanding individual roll call votes which consume significant floor time.
It could be that Thune’s procedural pace is about to pick up speed.
Dems told to 'pound sand'
After the Senate recessed Sunday, Oklahoma Republican Markwayne Mullin stood outside the Senate office building and posted this video on X.
“I’ve spoken with President Trump a lot in the past 24 hours. Senate Democrats wanted a BILLION dollars to fast track his nominees. Trump told them to pound sand. NO DEAL.
“We’re going to regroup and prepare to CHANGE the Senate rules. Stay tuned,” he wrote.
Schlichter is convinced that someone behind the curtain is pushing buttons. Details, though, are scant.
“I don’t know what it is, but at this point, I’m willing to say, ‘OK, they’ve got something going. Let’s see how this plays out.”
Recess appointments would have been a short-term fix but would have come with political disadvantages, Schlichter said.
Recess appointments expire at the end of the next Senate session, meaning any appointments made in that manner right now would expire in January of 2027.
Those named in that way also carry that label, a question of legitimacy, when it comes to possible high-profile jobs within the Senate or later appointments.
“It looks to me like they're doing a long-term strategy that is going to involve changes to the rules involving confirming political appointees. And that may be what they're looking at, that they'd rather have a long-term solution instead of a short-term one,” Schlichter said.
Schlichter compared the “obstructionism” by Senate Democrats to the actions of district court judges who have worked to block Trump’s agenda and by legacy media who have opposed the president at every turn.
“It’s baloney, and it’s got to stop.”
Thune’s long-game motive could also be to placate certain senators. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine come to mind.
Both have broken from the party majority on issues like abortion and LGBTQ rights – and Trump nominees during his first term in the White House. Both opposed Trump’s nomination of Betsy DeVoss as Education Secretary in 2017. Both voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial, and neither endorsed him in 2024.
The book on Thune
“Thune has to come up with solutions that get everybody on board from Mike Lee (Utah) all the way to Lisa Murkowski. That’s his job,” Schlichter said.
Critics have slammed Thune as a “Washington insider” for not fully backing Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.
Trump himself encouraged South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, his current Secretary for Homeland Security, to primary Thune, though Noem declined.
In spite of the criticism, Schlichter says Thune has done a “remarkably good job” of building coalitions in the Senate. “He’s surprised me. He’s been remarkably effective compared to what I expected.”
