EXCLUSIVE: John Thune Says Dems’ Unprecedented ‘Obstruction’ Will Cost Them Next Time They’re In Power

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is telling Democrats to think twice before continuing with their deliberate slow-walking of President Donald Trump’s nominees.

Thune is moving at a brisk pace to get the president’s team in place despite Senate Democrats seeking to delay the confirmation process for nearly all of the president’s nominees. The majority leader, who has argued that the past six months of Democrats’ “obstruction” has little precedent, suggested that the party will pay a price the next time they take power — if they do not relent. (RELATED: Dem Senator Blocks Hundreds Of Trump Nominees Using Tactic He Once Called ‘Abuse Of Power’)

“If they set this as a new precedent, whenever they get the White House again and have the Senate again, it’s going to get really ugly,” Thune told the Daily Caller News Foundation in an exclusive interview Wednesday. “It’s hard to justify and defend a practice that they’re employing today that literally is unprecedented in history.”

“No president in history has gotten to this point in their presidency and not had a nominee confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote,” Thune continued, referring to methods that Democrats have prevented Senate Republicans from using to steer around roll call votes to approve the president’s nominees.

Thune spoke to the DCNF the day after the Senate crossed a milestone confirming the president’s 100th civilian nominee. The upper chamber confirmed four additional appointees Wednesday, nearly doubling the confirmation pace of the first Trump administration, which had just 53 civilian nominees confirmed as of July 23, according to the Senate Republican Communications Center (SRCC).

It’s a notable accomplishment for the Senate under Thune’s leadership, which has taken fewer recesses and cast more votes than any Congress in recent memory. The upper chamber has taken more roll call votes in 2025 than any Senate during the past 35 years, according to data compiled by the SRCC in July.

Thune, however, has expressed frustration for months with Democrats who have sought to make the confirmation process as grueling as possible — even for lower-level executive branch nominees who would have likely been granted a speedy confirmation during previous Congresses.

Democrats’ roadblocks are the worst they’ve ever been, according to Thune. Senate GOP leadership has been forced to burn finite floor time to process each nominee individually since the opening days of the administration given Democrats’ sweeping blockade of Senate-confirmed positions.

“Historically, there’s always been an effort on the sides to kind of figure out ways to work together and put people in positions, and they’re important positions that need to be filled, but the jams are just completely obstructing,” Thune told the DCNF.

Twenty-three of Trump’s nominees who have been confirmed thus far have received 60 or more votes, according to the SRCC. However, Democrats still forced the upper chamber to take a series of roll call votes approving each nominee on all but one of these picks despite the individuals obtaining bipartisan support at the committee level and on the Senate floor.

Senate Democrats have not signaled that they will change course despite a growing pileup of nominees: more than 100 of the president’s picks are in limbo while awaiting floor consideration.

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 22: U.S. Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) (R) speaks as Senate Minority Whip Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) (L) listens during a news briefing after the weekly Senate Democratic policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on July 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Trump has taken notice of his languishing nominees and has put pressure on the majority leader to pick up the pace on getting his team approved. The president urged Thune to cancel the August recess to grind through confirmation votes in a post on the social media platform Truth Social on Saturday.

Thune has signaled throughout the week that all options are on the table, including forgoing the annual August state work period. Lawmakers have traditionally used this time to meet with constituents in their home states and fundraise among other activities.

“The President is very focused right now on getting his noms [nominees] done, and we are too,” Thune told the DCNF.

“They’ve been doing it [slow-walking nominees] from the very beginning,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso told the DCNF on Wednesday. “We’re going to continue to push and if that means staying in August we’re going to do that.”

Thune hinted that his threat to keep the Senate in session over August could incentivize Democrats to strike a deal that would allow the quick confirmations of some of the president’s nominees en masse.

The majority leader noted there is precedent for a mid-year deal. During the first Trump administration, the Senate confirmed more than five dozen Trump nominees via unanimous consent shortly before the August recess in July 2017.

Thune also signaled that Republicans are not likely to forget Democrats’ hardball moves if his counterparts refuse to break the logjam.

“If you look at the precedent, and even what we did for [former President Joe] Biden, when he ran with this four years ago, and then you go back to ‘Trump One’ going into the August break, they made some [deals] to try and get people into these important positions,” Thune said. “We just want to see at least some reflection of what has been past precedent in working with the other side on noms.”

Anger over how Senate Democrats have treated the president’s nominees appears to be boiling over throughout the entire Republican conference. However, several GOP senators declined to answer Wednesday if Republicans would run the same playbook the next time Democrats take control of the Senate and White House.

“This is an unprecedented level of obstruction from the Democrats,” Republican Missouri Sen. Eric Scmitt told the DCNF. “They’ve learned nothing from the past election.”

Andi Shae Napier contributed to this report. 

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