Free Republic

Senate Republicans deployed the “nuclear option” on Wednesday to drastically reduce the amount of time it takes to confirm hundreds of President Trump’s nominees. Senators voted 51-48 to change the rules for the amount of time it takes to confirm most executive nominations with only a simple majority of the chamber. GOP Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Susan Collins (Maine) joined with Democrats in opposing the rules change. Republicans are expected to trigger the “nuclear option” for a second time later Wednesday to force through the same change for district court nominations. The combined actions will result in most nominations...

Democrats blocked a GOP effort Tuesday to change Senate rules and speed up confirmation of most of President Trump’s nominees, leaving Republicans with few options other than a “nuclear” confrontation. The rules change has become a major test of political wills, with Republicans saying Democrats are treating Mr. Trump unfairly compared to past presidents. Democrats counter that Mr. Trump’s picks are so bad that they deserve the obstruction. Tuesday’s vote was 51-48, leaving the GOP well shy of the 60 needed to overcome Democrats’ filibuster. In the wake of the vote, Republicans seemed resigned to going “nuclear.” “This needs to...

Looking to speed the confirmation process for a backlog of President Trump’s appointments, Senate Republicans on Wednesday advanced a measure to cut down on floor debate time for certain executive branch and judicial nominees. Republicans said Democrats forced their hand on the issue by making the Senate devote too much floor time over the past year to clearing procedural hurdles on even non-controversial and lower-level nominees. “Pointless wasting time, even when we know what the outcome is going to be, is what we’re talking about here today,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The change, pushed by Sen. James Lankford,...

In both debates Ted Cruz seemed to be shutout. For a candidate polling in the middle of the pack he got limited time, often less than the bottom feeders. I want my president to be assertive and fault Cruz for not jumping in. Cruz is my #1 yet gave him negative marks due to the above.

Donald Trump snagged the most speaking time at last night’s CNN debate, talking for 18 minutes of the three-hour event. Jeb Bush was right behind Trump with 17 minutes of speaking time, and both Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina talked for about 13 minutes. Chris Christie and Marco Rubio each had about 11 minutes, while Rand Paul and Ted Cruz each made their cases for about 10 minutes. John Kasich and Mike Huckabee both had about nine minutes of speaking time. Scott Walker talked for the least amount of time – about eight minutes. Trump 18:43 Bush 17:01 Carson 13:53...