Senate Republicans moved a proposal that would accelerate the process of considering President Donald Trump’s nominations with a 10-9 vote at the committee level on Wednesday.
Passed in the Senate Rules and Administrations Committee, the resolution from Missouri Republican Rep. Roy Blunt and Oklahoma Republican Rep. James Lankford would cut the debate time needed for Trump’s executive and district judge nominations from 30 hours to just two, according to The Hill. (RELATED: Democrats Face No-Win Scenario On Attorney General Nomination)
My res. w/@RoyBlunt just passed @SenateRules. SRes50 updates Senate rules by reducing post-cloture time from 30 to 2 hours for most noms. Keeps 30 hours for SCOTUS, Circuit Courts, & Cabinet. Post-cloture debate time should be for debate, not delay on an empty Senate floor.
— Sen. James Lankford (@SenatorLankford) February 13, 2019
“The real crisis here is [that] the administration itself, below cabinet level, has an enormous number of vacancies,” said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The bill comes in response to the Republican’s belief that the Democrats are purposely using the current rule to slow down Trump’s nominees, no matter if they are surrounded by controversy or not.
“Presidents deserve to have their teams in place. It’s that simple,” said Blunt. “It might be different if these votes … really resulted in debate, but little debate occurs in that time.”
“Once we get to cloture on a number of these nominees they aren’t even controversial,” said McConnell. “So it’s pretty obvious the whole purpose is just to eat up floor time.”
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (C) speaks to members of the media. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The move through the committee is the first step in the process as the resolution will still need to pass in the Senate with 60 votes. However, no Democrats have expressed support the proposal. (RELATED: Opinion: Senate Democrats Struggle To Impede Neomi Rao’s Nomination To DC Circuit)
“If this passes, roughly 80 percent of all Trump administration nominees will be able to be confirmed with just two hours of debate time,” said Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar.”In Minnesota, that’s the amount of time it takes to make a hot dish.”
Yet Republicans are considering the “nuclear option” of pushing the resolution with only a simple majority and hinted that they would push it without the Democrats.
“Can Republicans senators change this? Yes we can,” said Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander. “Republican can change this and will.”
The resolution has significant importance as Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, William Barr, advanced through the Senate and likely be confirmed later this week.