- By
- COREY BOLES
- And
- PETER NICHOLAS
- CONNECT
The Senate majority leader wants votes on seven nominees, or he and fellow Democrats intend to strip the power of Republicans to filibuster certain confirmations. Jerry Seib and Richard Arenberg, Brown University lecturer, join The News Hub.
Mr. Reid said Monday he had the backing of the Democratic caucus, indicating there was little room for negotiation with the GOP on eliminating the 60-vote threshold needed to reach a final vote on cabinet secretaries and other executive-branch nominees. He would seek passage of a rule changing that to 51 votes—the same number needed for confirmation, and one that could easily be reached if the Democratic majority in the Senate backed a nominee.
"Right now the Senate is broken and needs to be fixed," Mr. Reid said in a speech at the liberal-leaning think tank Center for American Progress in Washington.
Associated PressSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) speaks at the center for American Progress Action Fund in Washington, Monday, July 15, 2013.
The filibuster is a tactic used most often by the Senate's minority party, currently the Republicans.
The full Senate is meeting in a rare closed-door session Monday evening that could serve as the last opportunity to negotiate a settlement that would avert the rule change proposed by Mr. Reid.
The Senate leader played down the significance of the change, calling the Senate an "evolving institution," and saying its rules had been changed 18 times in recent years.
He also signaled the limits of his envisaged changes, saying categorically that he had no plans to push the changes further and end the 60-vote filibuster threshold for judicial appointments or for legislation.
Mr. Reid has set up votes on seven individuals nominated by President Barack Obama to fill senior positions in the executive branch.
The president's press secretary, Jay Carney, said Monday that the White House viewed the Senate meeting as "a constructive step towards streamlining the process and breaking the Republican gridlock holding up executive branch appointments."
At his regular press briefing, Mr. Carney said the president's executive branch nominees are enduring needless delays in winning Senate confirmation. He blamed Senate Republicans for the gridlock and said Mr. Obama supported Mr. Reid in his efforts to jumpstart the confirmation process.
Mr. Carney said that "gridlock is something we've seen in Washington for some time, but the Republicans in the Senate have brought gridlock to new heights, or new lows, depending on how you look at it."
He described as inexcusable Senate delays in confirming two of the president's cabinet or cabinet-level nominees: Thomas Perez for Secretary of Labor and Gina McCarthy for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Mr. Obama nominated Ms. McCarthy for the job on March 4. He nominated Mr. Perez for the labor position on March 18.
The other nominees are Richard Cordray, nominated as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, three nominees to sit on the National Labor Relations Board—Richard F. Griffin Jr., Sharon Block and Mark Gaston Pearce and Fred Hochberg to remain at the helm of the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
"Let them stop the filibusters on the seven [nominees] I filed cloture on and we will have up or down votes on those people and go on with the business of the day," Mr. Reid said.
Democrats have become increasingly frustrated at the pace of confirmations of Mr. Obama's nominations, which has led to this week's showdown in the Senate.
On Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said that he hoped a last minute deal could be reached to prevent the Senate from going "over the brink." He said that he hoped "cooler heads would prevail" and that senators could reach an agreement when they gather in the old Senate chamber Monday evening.
Write to Corey Boles at [email protected] and Peter Nicholas at [email protected]
