In a bold power play, Senate Republicans dropped the procedural hammer on Friday, September 11, 2025, to fast-track a slew of Trump nominees, including the high-profile Kimberly Guilfoyle as ambassador to Greece, The Western Journal reported.
On that day, the GOP majority pushed through approvals for 48 nominees in one sweeping bloc, sidestepping the usual grind of individual vetting and votes.
This dramatic shift, dubbed the "nuclear option," rewrote Senate rules with a simple majority vote, leaving Democrats out in the cold with zero support for the change.
The rule tweak means no more dragging feet on non-Cabinet and non-judicial picks—except for the big-ticket Cabinet roles and judgeships, which still get the full treatment.
Democrats had been stonewalling, refusing even to nod through uncontroversial names via unanimous consent, a sharp departure from past norms when over half of nominees sailed through easily under previous administrations.
Historically, under leaders like Obama and Bush, around 90 percent of picks got a quick handshake, but that spirit of cooperation has evaporated, as tensions with Trump’s team fester.
Among the standout names confirmed was Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News figure who left the network in 2018, now set to represent the U.S. in Greece despite lacking any direct cultural ties to the nation.
Guilfoyle, once married to California Gov. Gavin Newsom until they split in 2006 and previously linked romantically to Donald Trump Jr., brings a polarizing yet undeniably Trump-loyal presence to the role.
"I am profoundly grateful to President Donald J. Trump and the United States Senate for their trust and confidence in me," Guilfoyle stated on September 11, 2025, through the U.S. Embassy in Greece.
"It is the honor of my life to serve as the first female ambassador of the United States to the Hellenic Republic," she added, highlighting Greece’s legacy as the cradle of democracy and liberty.
While her words drip with reverence for democratic ideals, skeptics might wonder if her appointment leans more on political allegiance than diplomatic chops—still, credit where it’s due for breaking a glass ceiling.
Also confirmed that day was Calista Gingrich, wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, tapped as ambassador to Switzerland and the tiny monarchy of Liechtenstein, a nation of just 40,000 nestled between its larger neighbors.
The "nuclear option" itself isn’t new—Democrats pulled a similar stunt in 2013 to ram through federal judges under Obama, and Republicans countered in 2017 to secure a conservative Supreme Court majority under Mitch McConnell’s leadership.
But using it to batch-process nearly 50 nominees at once marks a fresh escalation, signaling that the GOP is done playing nice with a Democratic minority seemingly bent on obstruction over collaboration.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota didn’t mince words, noting, "If the Senate had continued at the pace that we’ve been proceeding... There would still be hundreds of empty desks in the executive branch." His frustration mirrors a broader conservative sentiment: enough with the progressive roadblocks, let’s get governance moving.
