McConnell Readies New 'Nuclear Option' to Speed Lower Level Judicial & Executive Nominations

The Senate may soon see the “nuclear option” deployed for the third time in six years, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is considering a move to shorten debate for lower level judicial and executive branch nominations later this month after senators return from their March recess.

The change would shorten post-cloture debate on nominations to district courts and lower tier executive branch positions (such as a deputy assistant secretary) from a maximum of 30 hours to a limit of two hours. It wouldn’t apply to nominations to the Supreme Court, appeals courts, or Cabinet-level executive branch positions

Republicans began considering the change during the last Congress in response to what they called obstructionism by Democrats, who increased the use of cloture motions for lower tier Trump administration nominees relative to previous administrations.

McConnell hopes to have bipartisan support for the effort to permanently change Senate rules regarding the nominations, which would require 67 votes, but he can alter the Senate’s precedent with only a simple majority vote (which could later be undone by a simple majority). The latter path prevailed the last two times the Senate went nuclear:

• In 2017, McConnell and Republicans voted along party-lines to lower the number of votes required to “invoke cloture” (ie limit debate) on Supreme Court nominations from a three-fifths majority to a simple majority.
• In 2013, then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Democrats voted along party-lines to lower the number of votes required to invoke cloture for all non-Supreme Court nominations to executive and judicial branch positions from a three-fifths majority to simple majority.

Democrats have expressed opposition to McConnell’s proposed change, decrying the erosion of the Senate’s tradition. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) suggested that Democrats would consider a compromise to shorten debate on nominees in exchange for restoration of the “blue slip” tradition, which held that a judicial nominee could only advance if their home state senators signalled support by returning a blue slip.

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr / Creative Commons)