The Senate confirmed 48 of President Donald Trump’s nominees in a single vote on Thursday, marking a significant shift in procedural rules to expedite confirmations. The Republican majority utilized the “nuclear option” to eliminate the 60-vote threshold for batched nominations, passing the measure with a 51-47 party-line vote.

Among the confirmed appointees were former Rep. Brandon Williams as undersecretary of energy for nuclear security, former Fox News personality Kimberly Guilfoyle as ambassador to Greece, and Callista Gingrich, wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, as ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The rule change allowed Republicans to bypass delays caused by Democratic opposition, which had previously forced the GOP to use extended voting sessions for individual nominees.

The adjustment, based on a proposal from Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Angus King (I-Maine), removed limits on the number of nominees considered in bulk. However, judicial nominees remained subject to individual scrutiny. The move followed weeks of internal GOP discussions and failed attempts at bipartisan cooperation ahead of the August recess.

Senate Republicans emphasized the effort as a necessary step to clear a backlog of nearly 150 lower-level nominations stalled by Democratic tactics. The vote secured unanimous support from GOP senators, including centrist figures Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. Democrats opposed the change but lacked the majority to block it.