{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.wicker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/weekly-report?ContentRecord_id=8B8C6FC5-6CFE-4D50-9AEE-24D509F4D737", "Wicker Urges Senate to Burn the Midnight Oil & Confirm Trump Nominees", "2017-10-23", "2017", "2017-10", "Republican", "House", "MS", "Roger Wicker", "W000437", "www.wicker.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The treatment of President Trump\u2019s executive nominees compared to those of his predecessors illustrates just how far Democrats are willing to distort the Senate process. \u00a0Nine months into his term, President Trump has had only 39 percent of his nominees confirmed.\u00a0 President George H. W. Bush had 70 percent of his nominees confirmed by this time in his first year.\u00a0 President Bill Clinton had 76 percent, President George W. Bush had 53 percent, and President Obama had 65 percent.\r\nBreak the Logjam\u00a0\r\nSuch a grossly low statistic should be corrected, even if it means that the Senate stay in session during weekends and late into the evening. \u00a0I have called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to adopt an aggressive schedule that would allow us to break this needless logjam of nominees. \u00a0As we saw during the delay of the state work period in August, the Senate was able to confirm 76 of President Trump\u2019s nominees in a matter of days. \u00a0Only 56 nominees had been confirmed up until that point. \u00a0The same focus that broke that logjam is needed now.\r\nParticularly troubling is the fact that there are outstanding nominees ready to get to work for the American people. \u00a0Instead, they have been waiting for months to receive Senate approval.\u00a0 Some could be helping to provide hurricane relief or fighting terrorism if confirmed. \u00a0It is senseless for these confirmations to stall when the Democrats insist on procedural delays but do not object to the nominees\u2019 qualifications. \u00a0In the end, several of President Trump\u2019s nominees have gone on to receive support from nearly every member of the Senate after needless foot-dragging.\r\nEnd the Abuse of Senate Rules\u00a0\r\nSenate Democrats\u2019 procedural tactic involves invoking dozens of hours of debate time, even though non-controversial nominees could be approved with a simple voice vote.\u00a0 This unnecessary delay is inconvenient for the Trump Administration and bad for the country, since vacancies in the executive branch hamper the President\u2019s ability to advance his agenda. \u00a0But the Democrats\u2019 political games are also an affront to the will of the American people, who democratically elected President Trump to make these leadership picks and build an administration.\r\nI believe the Senate should stay in session through the night, during weekends, and through state work periods to give President Trump\u2019s nominees the timely consideration they deserve. \u00a0That is the least we can do in response to those who have chosen to distort Senate rules and who refuse to follow the example that the minority party has set for every previous administration.\u00a0\u00a0\r\nConfirmation votes are one of the Senate\u2019s most basic duties in our Constitution, which entrusts lawmakers to provide \u201cadvice and consent\u201d on executive nominees.\u00a0 There are more than a thousand executive positions that need Senate approval, and there is too much work to do on behalf of the American people to let these important positions stay vacant. \u00a0We need to be relentless in our efforts to ensure these positions are filled. \u00a0In doing so, we can show the American people that the Senate will continue to function despite those who seek to perpetuate gridlock.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.wicker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/weekly-report?ContentRecord_id=8B8C6FC5-6CFE-4D50-9AEE-24D509F4D737"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.921722199767828, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}