Senate Republicans took a significant step this week towards addressing the backlog of nominees put forward by President Donald Trump.

On Monday, the GOP confirmed 49 of Trump’s nominees, which means that 60% of his civilian nominations are now finalized.

The latest batch includes 20 different positions, comprising a dozen U.S. attorneys, several U.S. marshals, ambassadors, and members from various agencies, including the Departments of War, Transportation, and Energy, among others.

This marks the fourth time Republicans have confirmed a group of nominees since the Senate altered its rules last year

Also among the nominees is Stevan Pearce, Donald Trump’s selection to lead the Bureau of Land Management. Republicans accused Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats of obstructing confirmations to limit Trump’s ability to reshape the federal government around his policy agenda.

Senate Democrats spent much of last year delaying or blocking confirmations for numerous nominees

In response, Republicans invoked the so-called “nuclear option” for the fourth time in Senate history, changing chamber rules to lower the threshold for advancing certain nominations from the standard 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster to a simple majority vote, Fox News reported.

Traditionally, many civilian nominees had been approved through unanimous consent or voice votes without requiring lengthy floor debates or roll-call votes

The confirmation pace also surpassed Trump’s first-term numbers during the same period, when the Senate confirmed 323 nominees during his first year in office.

The decision has been a good one, if not necessary; last year, the Senate confirmed over 400 of Trump’s nominees

Republicans are moving quickly through the budget reconciliation process to pass a $72 billion funding package for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the United States Border Patrol by June 1.

🚨 BREAKING: The US Senate has just confirmed a whopping 49 TRUMP NOMINEES in one fell swoop, 46-43

The long list includes crucial US ATTORNEYS for law and order 🔥

LFG! In one vote, the en bloc nominations are 100% confirmed 🇺🇸

Now confirm the rest of his judicial nominees! pic.twitter.com/CIZC6LFI4P

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 18, 2026

The bill seeks funding for ICE and Border Patrol in addition to the $1 billion for the ballroom and must be revised to address jurisdictional concerns, according to multiple reports.

At the same time, Republicans are continuing work on another major component of Trump’s agenda: securing funding for immigration enforcement operations over the next three-and-a-half years

“As drafted, the provision inappropriately funds activities outside the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee,” they added.

It also exceeded the total reached by Joe Biden, who had 365 nominees confirmed over a comparable timeframe

MacDonough determined that the bill would be subject to the chamber’s 60-vote threshold, meaning it cannot pass with a simple majority, as some legislation can under the budget reconciliation process.

GOP lawmakers are aiming to complete work on the measure before the end of the week, as Congress is scheduled to leave Washington for the Memorial Day recess next week

According to a Republican leadership aide cited by NBC News, Senate Republicans had already begun revising the language before Saturday’s ruling based on guidance from Senate officials.