President Donald Trump wants as many of his nominees as possible confirmed before the Senate takes its August break, so don’t expect the usual Thursday rush for the exits this week.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune may move to set up piles of nominee votes and test whether Democrats are amenable to a deal to move them more quickly. Otherwise, the winded Senate may see even more night and weekend work on the way to the August break.
The president in particular is keen on confirming some of his diplomatic nominees, whose path forward has been hindered by a blanket hold from Democrats. For Democratic leaders, there’s not a lot of political incentive to give Trump what he wants. But everyone is ready for a break, so cancelling multiple weeks of recess seems unlikely at this point. We might see some Senate magic.
