Reid Won’t Back Down in Nomination Clash With Republicans

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he won’t back down from a threat to change Senate rules unless Republicans allow up-or-down confirmation votes on seven executive-branch nominees beginning this week.

Reid said he plans to start tomorrow with a procedural vote on the most contentious nomination, Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

“My caucus is supportive of me because that’s where they want to go, to change this rule,” Reid said. He insisted that he has the support of at least 51 Democrats to change Senate rules to keep the minority party from blocking votes on executive-branch nominees with a procedure called a filibuster.

The Nevada Democrat spoke today at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a Washington group with ties to Democrats.

The struggle over President Barack Obama’s nominees raises a risk that partisan rancor could lead to gridlock in the Senate and at regulatory agencies. Republicans say they will block the nominations of Cordray and presidential choices for the National Labor Relations Board.

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-15/reid-mcconnell-nomination-clash-risks-senate-gridlock.html