President Donald Trump’s nominees whose Senate confirmations have been blocked by Democrats received new hope this week that they will finally get an up-or-down vote if the Senate modifies its rules.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., on Tuesday discussed how he would be reforming Senate rules to confirm batches of Trump’s appointees, dozens of whom are awaiting confirmation.
The move comes after months of obstruction by Senate Democrats, who up until this week had not let a single Trump appointee pass through the Senate with unanimous consent or a voice vote. But Thune’s determination potentially opens the door for the nominees to finally assume important roles within the Trump administration.
The following are three of the Trump appointees still awaiting Senate confirmation:
- Jacob Helberg, who has been nominated to be undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment, is an expert in technology issues, having served as an adviser at Google on combating foreign interference.
According to his website, Helberg is a senior adviser to Alex Karp, the CEO of the technology company Palantir, and a commissioner for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The bipartisan commission was created by Congress in 2000 to advise Congress about security concerns resulting from trade and other economic ties between China and America. Helberg received a graduate degree in cybersecurity risk and strategy from New York University and is an adjunct senior fellow for the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, an influential think tank in Washington.
- Callista Gingrich, who has been nominated to be the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, would come to her new role already with significant public service experience, having served as the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See (the Vatican) from 2017 to 2021 during the first Trump administration. She also served as a staff member for the House Committee on Agriculture.
A practicing Catholic who graduated from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, she has earned a plethora of honors over the years, including the title Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Pope Pius IX, awarded by Pope Francis, and the Sue M. Cobb Award for Diplomatic Excellence, awarded by the Department of State. She is married to former House Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.
- Jeremy Carl, who has been nominated to be an assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs at the State Department, previously served as deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife, and parks at the Department of the Interior. Carl is also currently a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank based in California, and has had a substantial career in academia as a graduate of Yale University, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a former Packard Foundation graduate fellow at Stanford University.
He also worked for 10 years as a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, where he advised former Secretary of State George Shultz. His 2024 book “The Unprotected Class: How Anti-White Racism Is Tearing America Apart” earned Carl widespread attention in conservative circles.
