The nominees include former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito of New York for inspector general at the Department of Labor and two selections for the National Labor Relations Board, James Murphy and Scott Mayer, as well as others across nearly every federal agency.
Murphy and Mayer were included in the package after Trump fired National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox, a move the Supreme Court upheld earlier this year.
Senate Republicans changed the confirmation rules to break through Democrats’ months-long blockade of Trump’s nominees, limiting the new process to sub Cabinet level positions that can be approved with a simple majority.
One nominee in the original package, Sara Carter, a former Fox News contributor legally named Sara Bailey, was designated a “Level 1” nominee, meaning she would hold a Cabinet level post.
Trump selected Carter in March to be his drug czar as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Her inclusion meant Republicans would have needed to overcome a 60 vote threshold to advance the entire slate of 88 nominees.
That was unlikely given Democrats’ near unanimity in opposing several of Trump’s picks and their claims that some were not qualified to serve.
Republicans instead chose to assemble a new and larger package, adding nine more nominees to move forward under the revised rules.
