In Reply to: Delays expected at airports for third day as government shutdown posted by mh on October 08, 2025 at 10:14:59
Political scientist and scholar Norman Ornstein railed against Senate Republicans Wednesday for what he called their “appalling” and “unprecedented” confirmation of 107 nominees of President Donald Trump’s.
Late on Tuesday, The Senate confirmed the nominees – including the controversial confirmation of ex-NFL star Herschel Walker as the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas – by using what’s known as the “nuclear option,” a procedure that allows for legislative leadership to bypass the 60-vote threshold by changing or eliminating the filibuster requirement for a particular vote.
The manner in which Senate Republicans hurriedly confirmed the more than 100 Trump nominees, however, was unlike anything Ornstein had seen in his more than five decades’ worth of experience with the Senate.
“I am actually stunned at Senate Republicans now. It is entirely unprecedented, and a reflection of the fact that the Republican Party is no longer a party but a full-blown cult,” Ornstein wrote in a social media post on X Wednesday.
“No vetting, no examination of whether the people they are confirming are fit for the jobs. It is beyond pathetic. Simple lackeys to their Dear Leader. None adhering to the oaths they took. True believers in vicious autocracy? Moral cowards. It doesn’t really matter. Appalling.”