John Thune

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I am very pleased to report that, as of yesterday, the Senate has confirmed a total of 314 of President Trump's civilian nominees, and earlier this week, I filed on another nominations package, which, when passed, will bring our total confirmations to more than 400. That far outstrips total confirmations by this point in President Biden's term and in President Trump's first term, as well, and it is particularly notable that we have managed to beat those first term numbers when you consider the obstacles the Democrats have put up. I have talked more than once, here on the floor, about Democrats' unprecedented obstruction of the President's nominees this year. And I really do mean unprecedented. For decades upon decades, the Senate has expedited the consideration of large numbers of Presidential nominees, confirming them by unanimous consent or voice vote. Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, for example, each had 98 percent of their civilian nominees confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote in the first term of their Presidencies--98 percent. George W. Bush and Barack Obama each had 90 percent. Now, it is true that Democrats substantially eroded this tradition of bipartisanship during President Trump's first term. All of a sudden, positions that had traditionally gone by unanimous consent or voice vote were now requiring rollcall votes. But even so, both President Biden and President Trump in his first term had more than half of their nominees confirmed by voice vote. And then there was this year. This year, not one single Presidential nominee has been confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote--not one. Democrats have dragged out the process on every single one of the President's nominations. The Democrat leader tried to justify the Democrats' historic blockade by claiming that the President's nominees have been ``historically bad.'' The only problem with that is the Democrats have supported a number of the President's nominees in committee and have even voted for some of them on the Senate floor. So either Members of the Democrat party are supporting historically bad nominees or something else is going on here, and I think we know what that is. That something else that is going on here looks a lot like petty partisanship. Maybe you want to call it Trump derangement syndrome. Democrats and their base still can't deal with the fact that President Trump won last November, and so they have held up every single one--every single one--of his nominations in revenge. But Republicans have not been daunted. We have just continued plowing ahead on nominations, helping us rack up a historic number of votes, this year, in the process. And in September, we took steps to restore Senate precedent and codify in Senate rules what was once understood to be standard practice, and that is the Senate's acting expeditiously on largely noncontroversial Presidential nominees to allow a President to get his team in place. Now, both Democrat and Republican Presidents will be protected from some of the partisan excesses that we have seen from Democrats this year. Mr. President, 2025 has been a long road, but I am very proud to be able to say, at the end of it, that we are well on our way to confirming more than 400 of the President's civilian nominees and that we have virtually cleared the nominations backlog by the end of his first year, in contrast to the situation, at this point, in President Trump's first term and President Biden's. And when the Senate returns in January, I look forward to continuing to confirm additional members of the President's team so that he can continue to do the job to which he was elected by the American people. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate resume legislative session.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I send an executive resolution to the desk for consideration of certain nominations en bloc and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. THUNE. In order to place the executive resolution on the calendar, I object to my own request.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate resume legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 571.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 572.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 573.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 531, submitted earlier today.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in recess until 3 p.m., Monday, December 8; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each. Finally, notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture motion with respect to Executive Calendar No. 571, Robert Chamberlin, ripen at 5:30 p.m.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to H. Con. Res. 62, which was received from the House.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand in recess under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Cassidy.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, we are 4 weeks away from the new year and from the date that the 2017 tax relief for Americans was set to expire. Back in 2017, of course, Republicans passed a huge tax-relief package. We lowered tax rates for every income group, we doubled the child tax credit, and we nearly doubled the standard deduction. But all of that was scheduled to expire at the end of this year. Without action, Americans would have seen their tax rates increase and the child tax credit shrink by 50 percent. A typical family would have seen their taxes go up by about $1,700 a year. In my State of South Dakota, a typical family would have seen a $2,500 tax increase. Republicans were determined not to let that happen, so a priority for 2025 became extending the 2017 tax relief--but not just extending it, making it permanent. We didn't want hard-working Americans to have to worry every few years that their tax bills were suddenly going to soar. So in July, we passed the Working Families Tax Cut to make permanent the 2017 tax relief. We made those lower tax rates permanent, we made the increased standard deduction permanent, and we made the increased child tax credit permanent. But we didn't stop there. We expanded the child tax credit even further and indexed it to inflation so that its value will never go down. We also further increased the standard deduction, exempting additional money from Americans' taxable income, and we added a new $6,000 bonus deduction for seniors, allowing Americans on Social Security to keep more of their money. That is still not all. We eliminated taxes on tips for millions of tip workers: Uber and Lyft drivers, hair stylists, delivery drivers, servers at restaurants. We also eliminated taxes on overtime pay for millions of hourly workers. Thanks to this provision, everyone from nurses and police officers to firefighters and paramedics will be able to keep more of their hard-earned money. We did still more because one aspect of prosperity is being able to keep more of what you earn. Another aspect is being able to earn more, so in addition to the individual tax relief, we also made permanent some of the 2017 tax law's business tax relief to help businesses grow and create new jobs and opportunities for workers. That included the lower tax rates for small and medium-sized businesses, the job-creating 199A small business deduction, and full expensing for new equipment and for domestic research and development. Again, we went beyond the 2017 tax relief and added full expensing for new factories and factory improvements, so we can expect to see more goods made in America and, again, more jobs and opportunities for American workers. We also acted to protect countless family farms, ranches, and small businesses from the punitive death tax and all of the headaches and expense that come with planning for it. I am incredibly proud of what we were able to accomplish for hard- working Americans. We not only averted a massive tax hike on American families but were able to further lessen Americans' tax burden. Hard- working Americans can be assured the Republicans will continue to work to enhance affordability, expand opportunity, and increase prosperity. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, today I recognize Taylor Nordseth, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks. Taylor is a graduate of Worthington Senior High School in Worthington, MN. Currently, she is attending the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, SD, where she is pursuing a degree in communications studies and political science. She is a hard worker who has been dedicated to getting the most out of her internship experience. I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Taylor for all the fine work she has done and wish her continued success in the years to come.