In a dramatic shift aimed at breaking a prolonged stalemate over presidential appointments, Senate Republicans on Friday confirmed a slate of 48 nominees put forward by former President Donald Trump, including high-profile conservative Kimberly Guilfoyle as U.S. ambassador to Greece. The move, unprecedented in its scope, was made possible by a change to Senate rules designed to streamline confirmations.

The Republican majority, frustrated by what they described as deliberate delays by Senate Democrats, voted Sept. 11 to allow nominations to be approved en masse, bypassing the usual process of individual vetting and floor votes. No Democrats supported the measure.

“By contrast, more than half of nominations during Trump’s first term and President Biden’s administration were approved by unanimous consent or voice vote. That figure hovered around 90 percent under Presidents Obama and George W. Bush,” The Hill reported, highlighting the slowdown in confirmations.

The delays echo the post-election gridlock that hampered Trump’s cabinet appointments following his 2016 victory. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., expressed frustration at the pace of confirmations. “If the Senate had continued at the pace that we’ve been proceeding at through the month of July, there would still be hundreds of empty desks in the executive branch on President Trump’s last day in office in 2029,” Thune told Politico.

The so-called “nuclear option” allows a party to change Senate rules by a simple majority vote rather than seeking bipartisan approval. Democrats first used the tactic in 2013 under then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to approve federal judges, eliminating the filibuster for appointments below the Supreme Court. Republicans followed suit in 2017 under then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, extending the rule to Supreme Court nominees and paving the way for the court’s current 6-3 conservative majority.

Under Friday’s changes, the new approval process does not apply to Cabinet positions or judicial appointments, which still require individual votes.

Among the confirmed nominees, Guilfoyle drew the most attention. The former Fox News personality left the network in 2018 and previously had a romantic relationship with Donald Trump Jr., which ended before her nomination. Earlier in her life, she was married to California Governor Gavin Newsom, then San Francisco’s mayor, in a high-profile union that ended in 2006.

Another notable beneficiary of the rule change is Calista Gingrich, wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. She was confirmed as ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, a tiny constitutional monarchy with a population of roughly 40,000, nestled between Switzerland and Austria.

Guilfoyle, who has no familial or ethnic connection to Greece—her mother was Puerto Rican and her father Irish—praised the country’s democratic legacy in her remarks. In a statement released by the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Greece, she called the appointment “the honor of my life,” adding that Greece’s contributions to democracy and rule of law “inspired our American Founders and continue to make America the greatest nation on Earth.”

The confirmation of these nominees marks a significant moment in the Senate’s ongoing struggle between procedural tradition and political expediency, demonstrating how the chamber’s rules can be reshaped in pursuit of partisan objectives.