Right before leaving for the weeklong holiday recess, the Senate unanimously confirmed 27 of President Obama’s nominees to federal positions tonight. After chastising the Senate for stalling (some nominees had been waiting months to be confirmed), Obama threatened earlier this week to make recess appointments that wouldn’t require Senate confirmation votes if the stalling continued.
Obama released a statement after the confirmations indicating he would not make any recess appointments for the time being, though there are still a number of nominees who have not been confirmed.
“While this is a good first step, there are still dozens of nominees on hold who deserve a similar vote, and I will be looking for action from the Senate when it returns from recess. If they do not act, I reserve the right to use my recess appointment authority in the future.”
