https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna231946
The Senate confirmed 48 of President Donald Trump’s nominees in a single vote on Thursday after the Republican majority triggered the “nuclear option” to make a far-reaching rule change.
The party-line vote of 51-47 confirms a slew of Trump picks for sub-Cabinet positions and ambassadors. They include former Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., as undersecretary of energy for nuclear security, former Fox News personality Kimberly Guilfoyle as ambassador to Greece and Callista Gingrich, wife of the former House speaker, as ambassador to both Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
It came after Senate Republicans voted to overturn existing rules with a simple majority to bypass the 60-vote threshold for confirming nominees in batches. The GOP effort to go “nuclear” — the term for changing Senate rules on a party-line basis — was unanimous, joined by centrist Sens. Susan Collins, of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska.