As of April 5, the Senate has confirmed 22 of President Trump's 67 nominees to Senate confirmable positions. Of the 23 cabinet level positions, the Senate has confirmed 20 of the 23 positions, having not yet held votes for Secretary of Labor nominee Alexander Acosta, Secretary of Agriculture nominee Sonny Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative nominee Robert Lighthizer. The pace of confirmations is proceeding slower than was the case under President Obama. President Trump and Senate Republicans have blamed this slowdown on Senate Democrats who they say have made numerous attempts to slow the process. Conversely, Democrats blame the Trump Administration for the slowdown, attributing it to the White House's failure to properly vet nominees before submitting them to the Senate for confirmation. While the debate over confirmations continues, the Trump Administration has been noticeably slower than past administrations in the pace of nominations, especially for the key deputy secretary and undersecretary positions, and has yet to announce nominations for 488 of the 553 key positions requiring Senate confirmation.

The Senate is moving toward confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch and is scheduled to vote on his nomination on April 7. Initially, it seemed as if Senate Republicans were going to be able to attract the eight Democratic votes needed to override an expected Democratic filibuster and have received the support of Senators Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). The vast majority of Democrats, however, have closed ranks and reportedly have gotten more than 40 Senators to commit to blocking Judge Gorsuch's nomination. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has committed to moving forward with the nomination, saying "He'll be on the floor of the Senate next week and confirmed on Friday [April 7] … We are optimistic that [Democrats] will not be successful in keeping this good man from joining the Supreme Court real soon." In order to do this, Leader McConnell will most likely implement what is commonly known as the "nuclear option" – a change in the Senate rules to end the Senate's 60-vote threshold on Supreme Court nominees. It would be the second time in three and a half years that the Senate majority has breached the long-held standard. The first time, Democrats, then led by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), ended 60-vote filibusters for all nominees except those for the Supreme Court.

Takeaway: Presidential appointee confirmations in the Senate have been hampered by partisan bickering and a comparatively slow approach to appointments by the Trump Administration. Meanwhile, the fight over the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court is heating up as Senate Democrats reportedly have enough votes to stop the nomination in its tracks – increasing the likelihood that Senate Republicans will invoke the "nuclear option" and change Senate rules to require only a simple majority for confirmation.