It's the largest block of confirmations yet, with 107 Trump nominees set to fill their roles despite being blocked for several months by Senate Democrats.  The confirmations mark a sudden but welcome change in the long term standoff that whittled down the remaining pending nominees on the Senate’s calendar to double digits.

Democrats have made clear from day one of Donald Trump's second term that they intend to impede or sabotage every single policy initiative and every single cabinet nomination no matter how reasonable. 

“Before Senate Democrats shut down the federal government, they shut down the Senate floor – freezing the confirmation process. For months, their blockade created a growing backlog of qualified, bipartisan nominees. Tonight, Senate Republicans confirmed 107 of those qualified nominees and ended the Democrats’ confirmation blockade,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said in a statement.

The confirmations were secured while the upper chamber was deadlocked in the midst of a government shutdown, during which floor votes have largely been dedicated to trying to reopen the government.

The vote marked the second time that Senate Republicans have used a new rule change surrounding confirmations since restructuring Senate rules last month.  Some in the mainstream media called the move "going nuclear".  

Republicans opted to change confirmation rules to allow a simple majority of votes to advance large swathes of nominees in response to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus’ petty opposition to the majority of Trump's picks.  The effort is designed to bog down the Trump Administration and prevent it from accomplishing policy goals. 

Senate Republicans made the rules change following weeks of internal deliberations after Trump rejected a potential deal with Senate Democrats seeking a high asking price.   The change allows the majority party to pass nominees en bloc. Previously, Republicans were forced to process each nomination individually, with Democrats using the filibuster to make them use up all of the clock to get them across the line.

Many contentious presidential administrations face delays on cabinet confirmations, with 150 to 200 days considered inordinate or egregious.  Trump's selections have waited around 280 days without any end in sight; the longest confirmation delay on record.  Numerous analysts questioned if the confirmations would be possible before the end of the year. 

The rule change in the Senate became a necessity given the unmitigated interference by Democrats.

Considering the exhausting debates on something as simple as Trump's cabinet picks, one has to wonder how long the current government shutdown might last?  The White House may be forced to use the opportunity to cut federal programs which Democrats covet, forcing them to come to the bargaining table and remove asylum seeking illegal migrants (which they consider "documented") from taxpayer funded health coverage.