Thune's pre-August ambassador spree

Data: Partnership for Public Service; Note: Excludes ambassadors to organizations like the UN; Chart: Axios VisualsPresident Trump is outpacing former President Biden — and even his own first-term clip — in getting his ambassadors confirmed by the Senate.Why it matters: Trump wants to go even faster.Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is threatening to keep the chamber in session this weekend to clear more of Trump's nominations.But Democrats have been unwilling to speed up the process and are withholding unanimous consent for nominees — a practice Republicans grumble is a departure from tradition.By the numbers: Trump has 26 ambassadorial nominees who are awaiting a full Senate vote. This includes former Rep. Mike Waltz, whom the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved last week to be Trump's UN envoy. Nineteen of those nominees are ambassadors to foreign countries.The Senate has confirmed 11 of Trump's ambassadors to foreign countries so far, compared to six confirmations before August in the initial year of his first term.Biden didn't have a single ambassador confirmed before August in the first year of his term.Former Presidents Bush and Obama had both confirmed more than 20, but that was when the opposition party was not putting up quite as much of a procedural fight.What to watch: The Foreign Relations Committee will take up another five ambassador nominees in a hearing on Tuesday. Zoom out: Biden struggled to get his ambassadors confirmed in part because of a dispute with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) over Nord Stream 2 pipeline sanctions.Biden also waited until June before even naming his first slate of ambassadorial nominees, which delayed the process.

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