Clash Looms on Obama Nominees as Reid Plans to Push Votes
By Laura Litvan - Jul 9, 2013
U.S. Senate Democratic leaders may force a showdown with Republicans as early as next week to end delays in confirming President Barack Obama’s nominees for Labor secretary, chief environmental regulator and other agencies.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could package votes on the Labor and Environmental Protection Agency selections along with Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and picks for the National Labor Relations Board, said Adam Jentleson, a Reid spokesman. Reid may file a motion within days to force the votes next week and let lawmakers then act on the nominations, he said yesterday.
“He is determined to have these votes,” Jentleson said. “He’s made clear that this is a top priority this month.”
The votes would be aimed at ending delays that have prevented Obama from filling vacancies in his second-term Cabinet and other top jobs. The nominations of Cordray, Thomas Perez to run the Labor Department and Gina McCarthy to lead the EPA face Republican opposition and may fail in a filibuster. It takes 60 votes to end such a delaying tactic, and Democrats control 55 Senate seats.
Reid, a Nevada Democrat, also isn’t ruling out making a permanent change to Senate rules that would ban filibusters of executive-branch nominees, Jentleson said.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-09/clash-looms-on-obama-nominees-as-reid-plans-to-push-votes.html
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