Conservative: 'Trump's feeble stooges' have derailed nearly 50 of his nominations

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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (not pictured) during the 80th United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, New York, U.S., September 23, 2025. REUTERS/Al Drago

American Enterprise Institute division Director Yuval Levin tells the National Review that Trump pulling Paul Ingrassia’s nomination wasn’t remarkable. What’s remarkable is how many times he’s had to do this within a span of nine months.

“Ingrassia had no business being anywhere near a federal job, let alone a Senate-confirmed position running an office charged with enforcing federal ethics rules. But he was not withdrawn because the administration just became aware of his many disqualifying statements and actions,” Levin said. “He was withdrawn because Senate Republicans made it clear to the White House that he would not have the votes to be confirmed.”

Levin says it doesn’t seem that way, but the Trump administration has faced some very significant resistance “more privately” to a large number of nominees, and that this has led to a surprising number of them being pulled.

“So far this year, the White House has withdrawn 49 nominations for Senate-confirmed positions,” said Levin, more than any modern president by far.

Ronald Reagan, by comparison, withdrew five nominations in his first year, said Levin. George H.W. Bush withdrew three; Bill Clinton six; George W. Bush seven; Barack Obama 12. And for Joe Biden the number was 13.

“The year is not even over,” said Levin.

Republican senators quietly make it known to the White House when they won’t muster the votes to confirm a nominee. But Levin said the sheer number of silent rejections this year aren’t making news for a variety of reasons.

“The administration wants to always look triumphant, regardless of reality. Republican senators want to appear to be firmly backing the president, which they mostly are. Democratic senators want to paint Republicans as Trump’s feeble stooges, which they mostly are,” said Levin. “The political press is now so fragmented and polarized that few observers of Congress can see a good reason to tell this actually quite interesting story.”

And so we are left with yet another instance of the rhetoric and reality of the Trump presidency differing in ways that obscure the dynamics of this strange time because they don’t advance any straightforward narrative,” Levin said.

This does not mean the Republican Congress isn’t a doormat, however, Levin adds.

“This Congress plainly is letting this president walk all over it. But how and where that rule applies, and where there are some very important exceptions, is nonetheless worth knowing,” he said.

Read the National Review report at this link.

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