“How hard would it be for any of those folks to get passed by the Senate?”
You have identified the singular problem we have in our government today, the US Senate. Just imagine what Trump could have accomplished in his first year without it. Advise and Consent has become Obfuscate and Delay. We have a body today where one single person can thwart the entire nation’s progress (i.e. Susan Collins or John McCain). I’d vote tomorrow to disband the US Senate and have only a “People’s House” as our legislature. When they amended the Constitution to change the method by which Senators were selected, it obviated the need for the Senate completely. If you ever need to increase your blood pressure, just watch this bucket of cocks take a vote on something. A process that should take a few minutes, takes hours. I guess the only thing that makes their “voting process” palatable today is that they never vote on anything anyway.
And I shudder to think, as bad as it was, how much worse Obama's first year would have been...