Momentum is building for a change in the Senate rules that would shorten the time allowed for lawmakers to debate each of President Donald Trump's judicial and executive branch nominees, Republican senators have told the Washington Examiner.
The GOP lawmakers explained that their desire to quicken the process is due to frustration over Democratic delaying tactics.
Over the past two decades both parties have accused each other of delaying nominees. In fact, in 2013 Democrats temporarily shortened the debate time in 2013 after complaining Republicans were employing such tactics.
GOP Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma has proposed returning to that rule change, which reduced debate time from 30 hours to eight hours for most executive branch nominations and from 30 hours to two hours for lower judicial branch nominations.
Another Republican, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, said the party is considering a requirement that the debate time include actual debate rather than just an empty chamber and a ticking clock.
"There is no reason to burn a lot of time on the floor for noncontroversial nominees just because you can," Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said. "And it's slowing down the process. There are a lot of important vacancies that exist."
Stressing the seriousness of the GOP efforts, the Senate Rules Committee is slated to vote soon on a measure to shorten debate time, Cornyn said.
In the meantime, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned earlier this week that he would keep the chamber in session into the weekend until Trump's current slate of six nominees is confirmed, according to The Hill.
McConnell lamented that "We've been subjected to an extraordinary level of obstruction over relatively noncontroversial nominees," the Examiner reported.
Republicans point out the extent of the problem, in that Trump's nominees are taking an average of 84 days to confirm, while former President Barack Obama's nominees needed only 65 days on average and President George W. Bush's nominees just 43 days, according to the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service's information.
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