President Donald Trump listens at an event to promote his proposal to improve Americans' access to their medical records in the East Room of the White House on July 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., appeared more upbeat about the state of affairs, despite rumblings that negotiations were faltering.
"Democrats aren't negotiating with us, we're negotiating among ourselves," he told Fox News Digital. "I think we found, I think we may have found a landing spot."
Underscoring negotiations with Senate Democrats are threats of rule changes to the confirmation process, which could speed things up but drive a partisan wedge even deeper between the aisles.
Trump had initially called on Senate Republicans to consider canceling their August recess to ram through as many of his nominees as possible. But late Thursday night, he took a more stern tone.
'ALL THE OPTIONS': GOP EYES CUTTING AUGUST RECESS TO MOVE DOZENS OF TRUMP NOMINEES STALLED BY DEMS
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., speaks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol during the vote-a-rama on President Trump's "big beautiful bill" reconciliation package on June 30, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
While most Republicans are on board with trying to ram through Trump’s picks, the desire to leave Capitol Hill after a blistering seven-month stretch — where lawmakers have already confirmed over 120 of the president’s nominees — is palpable.
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said that the idea that lawmakers would leave town in the next few days "seems to have disappeared."
"Grumpiness is here already, as you can hear from my tone, but we're still here. We know the factor of weariness and other commitments outside of Washington, D.C., they work, but there is still a whole set of … nominations that need to be completed," he said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
A bright spot for Republicans is that the resistance to advancing nominees and confirming them is not across the board among Senate Democrats.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told Fox News Digital that he has plans for recess, but he’s ready to cancel those if need be.
"My hope is that we'll move a number of nominees through and get out fairly soon," he said. "But I'm not the one doing the negotiating."
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/recess-ice-republicans-hunker-down-high-stakes-nominee-blitz