Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is reportedly delaying the Senate’s August recess in an effort to push through a backlog of President Donald Trump’s judicial and executive nominees, according to a report from Just The News.
Thune confirmed Friday that the Senate would remain in session at least through the weekend to advance the stalled nominations, with ongoing negotiations between Senate Republicans, Democrats, and the White House.
“Thune said he would keep the Senate in session at least this weekend… to negotiate with Democrats to speed up consideration of dozens of nominees,” the outlet reported.
At Least 150 Nominees Still Await Confirmation
Despite progress on low-level appointments, the Senate still has over 150 pending nominees, including several high-profile judicial picks and U.S. attorney nominees. Among them is Alina Habba, Trump’s acting U.S. attorney nominee for the District of New Jersey.
Republicans are seeking to bypass procedural delays, while Democrats continue to slow-walk confirmations, often citing the “blue slip” custom—a Senate tradition allowing home-state senators to block judicial nominees.
Trump Responds
President Trump took to Truth Social to criticize the delays, calling out Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Chuck Grassley… could solve the ‘Blue Slip’ problem with a mere flick of the pen,” Trump posted.
Trump blasted the Senate’s reliance on the blue slip tradition, calling it an “ancient, and probably unconstitutional custom” that gives opposition senators unilateral power to block presidential nominees.
“The only way to beat this hoax is to appoint a Democrat or a weak and ineffective Republican,” Trump said, warning that this practice prevents qualified conservatives from serving in high-crime, high-need states like California, New York, and Illinois.
A Historic Bottleneck
At the time of Trump’s post, the Senate had confirmed only one Article III federal judge, marking a historically slow pace. For comparison:
Progress Slowly Resumes
Following the pressure from the White House, the Senate has begun moving forward, including the recent confirmation of Emil Bove, a former Trump defense attorney, to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
However, with dozens of critical judicial and law enforcement roles still unfilled, the Trump administration is signaling that it expects faster action from Senate Republicans before the recess can resume.
“We need strong, fearless judges and prosecutors in the areas suffering most from crime and corruption,” the president said. “It’s time to get it done.”
