Summary
- Senate
Republicans took the final procedural step to speed confirmations. - Enables
batch votes on dozens of Trump’s lower-level nominees. - Rule
change bypasses filibuster, needs simple majority for approval.
On a procedural point concerning the number of votes
required to invoke cloture on an executive resolution to evaluate a group of
nominations at the sub-Cabinet level, the chamber voted 47–52. After the vote,
it now requires a simple majority instead of the 60 votes it previously
required.
The measure that would allow dozens of those nominees to be
considered en bloc in executive session was the subject of the activity. A
procedural clock that permits a floor vote is then initiated when the Senate
votes 52-47 to seek cloture on the measure.
The action was a continuation of a process that began on
September 11th, when Republicans claimed that a “nuclear” move to
alter the chamber’s rules was required to break a Democratic blockade.
Prior to Wednesday’s votes, Republican Majority Whip John
Barrasso of Wyoming stated on the floor that Republicans are “taking
decisive action” and “are going to break the Senate’s procedural
logjam.”
“There is a role in the Senate for advice and consent,
but Senate Democrats have done everything you can think of to prevent President
Trump from putting his team in place,”
Barrasso said.
“It needs to get
these people on the job.”
Barrasso said
the Senate would vote Thursday on the initial group of 48 nominees, all of whom
received bipartisan support when they were considered by committees.
“We’re not going to stop there, though, over 100 more
nominees will be ready for confirmation by the end of this week,”
Barrasso
said.
At that moment on the Senate floor, Minority Leader Charles
E. Schumer, D-N.Y., indicated that the rule change further weakened the Senate
and gave it a reputation as a “conveyor belt for unqualified Trump
nominees.”
How can this impact bipartisanship in Senate
nominations?
The use of the “nuclear option” by Republicans to
avoid a traditional filibuster in virtually all nominations has drawn vigorous
attacks from Democrats who view it as a naked grab for power that disregards a
long-standing Senate practice, increasing partisanship and their motivation to
find common ground with the other party.
The mere fact that the party in power can now confirm some
nominations with a simple majority and in blocks reduces the minority party’s
ability to negotiate for changes or express concerns during the confirmation
process, and this is all part of a more adversarial process.
The Senate has always relied upon some mix of consensus and
protecting the minority party to encourage bipartisanship. Changes to rules to
confirm nominees sooner would constitute the Senate instituting a majoritarian
practice, and, in turn, begin to break down important institutional practices.
