Posted on 01/28/2019 3:13:03 PM PST by jazusamo
Senate Republicans are planning to advance a proposal that would dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes to advance hundreds of Trump nominees by the end of March.
Sen. Roy Blunt (Mo.), a member of GOP leadership, said the Rules Committee, which he oversees, would take up the proposal.
“I’m looking at the first quarter of the year,” Blunt said, asked about a timeline for taking up the change.
The timeline, which was first reported by Politico, is the latest sign that Republicans are feeling bullish about changing the rules for President Trump’s nominees after discussing the idea at a retreat earlier this month.
Currently nominations face up to an additional 30 hours of debate time even after they’ve cleared an initial vote that shows they have the simple majority support needed to pass.
But the proposal being discussed by Republicans, which was introduced by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) during the previous Congress, would cut the debate time down to eight hours. It would further cap post-cloture debate time for district court nominations at two hours.
The proposal, which hasn’t formally been reintroduced in the 116th Congress, would not apply to Supreme Court nominees, circuit court nominees or most Cabinet picks.
Republicans have been fuming for years over the slow pace of confirmation votes on Trump’s pick, accusing Democrats of misusing the chamber rulebook to drag out otherwise uncontroversial nominees.
Republicans are expected to try to implement the the rules change as a standing order, which would require 60 votes. But nominations have become increasingly partisan during the Trump administration and it’s unlikely they would be able to get enough support from Democrats.
If they can’t get Democratic support, Republicans are publicly floating using the “nuclear option”— which would let them change the rules with only a simple majority.
Republicans held only a 51-seat majority last year, leaving them unable to push through the proposal because of opposition from some moderate members. But a larger 53-seat majority during the current Congress gives them more leeway to muscle through the change.
Sen. Todd Young (Ind.), the chairman of the Senate GOP campaign arm, told radio host Hugh Hewitt earlier this month that he thought Senate Republicans could quickly take up the maneuver.
“This needs to happen for the good of the country. And I think there’ll be some Democrats who’ll be warm to this idea as well,” he said at the time.
Alternately, after a few weeks to study the list, all nominees are up for confirmation as a group, unless 51 Senators sign a petition to remove specific individuals from the list for further hearings.
Preston Brooks had an accomplice, Carolina Representative Laurence M. Keitt, who is said to have kept assistance for Sumner at bay with another cane and a pistol.
Wikipedia's assertions of assistance by Keitt are all dated in the 21st century. I looked at those sources, and did not find any mention of a pistol.
plots?
Give us the Senate and House and The President and we will do all these things...NOTHING
= = = = = = = = = = = =
Then ‘THEY’ have the unmitigated gall to ‘blame’ President Trump.
Very seldom does one see a ‘bail out’ from the party of the winners ... And yes, as someone stated yesterday, those that stayed home and didn’t vote for the R for whatever reason, are just as bad as the RINOs that tried/are trying to derail the President.
The means are the end.
Bingo! That reality includes the fact our voting base is diminishing thanks to the education system, the MSM, the "artists" and executives in the entertainment industry, the RINO's and our easily-rigged-at-the-state-level election systems.
(And I am an optimist by nature.)
And while they are at it, ask Mitch why he doesn’t put the Senate in recess for even a second while Trump is President. Who is he helping by doing that?
Yep, this piece is from The SHill.
And just why the heck not?
Our gentlemen R's did not want to ruffle any D feathers at the negotiation table?
It is very risky for political amateurs like me to criticize the professionals but it seems to me we get our ass handed to us at a 20 to 1 ratio even when we hold a majority position.
Imagine if the Republicans, who were fighting against Trump as hard as the Democrats, had done this 1 1/2 years ago.
RINO Blunt is looking forward to re-election. Otherwise, he’s still SWAMP.
The demoncraps do stuff cuz they can - like a dog when he licks his private parts.
Ha! That’s a great description of the RATs, and true.
Make a simple majority! To hell with the 60 votes!! Jacka$$ pubes will bind themselves now, while the rats will use nuclear option anyway. What a bunch of dumbasses!
It’s a gall durned PLOT! Git on the wire!!!
No one believes repubs are “fuming.”
The process as designed, would take 14 years to fill the normal vacancies when Administrations change (every 4-8 years), if the opposition demands the full time for each one.
So that’s what the Dems have done - spitefully require the max time for each one, with no basis beyond blatant obstruction.
The rules have to change.
Plan -- not plot, not scheme. Jordain Carne is yet another shill at The Hill.
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