Nearly 100 more nominees were confirmed by the Senate late Thursday, enabling President Donald Trump to close out his first calendar year back in the White House with more confirmations compared to the same time for his predecessor.

A change in Senate rules earlier this year by Republicans paved the way to bypass Democratic roadblocks and fast-track lower-level nominees in large groups over the last several months, catapulting Trump’s confirmations to the highest first-year rate since then-President Barack Obama in 2009.