This President and any President should have the advisors and agency heads that he wants unless there is some overriding reason why a nominee is not fit to serve. That would include a criminal record, tax evasion, incompetence, a conflict of interest, or an impairment that would interfere with his/her ability to do the job.

But nine months into a four year job, some 150 Trump nominees have not received Senate confirmation. That is no vote at all. Whole agencies and departments remain essentially leaderless.

We thought the Left believed in good government. How can you have good government when no one is minding the store?

The Brookings Institute, a left of center think tank, reports:

In the first 200 days, nearly all of Trump’s nominees have encountered procedural barriers. Only seven nominees were confirmed without cloture being invoked, and every nominee has required a final recorded vote.

We are strong advocates of the filibuster rules requiring 60 votes to pass legislation. It’s a good check and balance against passing bad bills.

But given the the Left’s stonewalling in getting confirmation votes for even non-appointees, we agree with Senator John Thune that it’s time to go “nuclear.”

Senator Thune has set up a vote this week that would change the rules to allow a slate of 48 non-controversial nominees to be voted on together. If Democrats want to vote no, that is their prerogative. But it’s cowardly and obstructionist for Senators to not even stand up and be counted.