On a party line vote of 51-47 the Senate has confirmed 48 Trump nominees in one fell swoop, ending a backlog caused by Democrats. Under the new rules in the Senate Republicans were able to combine all the nominations into one and confirm them with a simple majority vote. The new chamber rule allowing for the confirmation of certain executive branch nominees in large groups rather than one by one was enacted earlier this month on a strict party-line vote. Republicans say they took the unusual step to offset delays they blame on the Democrats.