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Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (3rd L), Senate Minority Whip Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) (R), Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), and Sen. John Thune (R-SD), speak to members of the media after the Senate Republican Policy Luncheon at the Capitol December 9, 2014 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Alex Wong, Getty Images

After complaining about the way Senate Democrats changed the rules for approving executive branch nominations last year, Republicans may decide to keep the rules in place next year when they take over the Senate.

In a meeting Tuesday, the Senate GOP caucus discussed the nominations rule but came to no decision about whether to keep it. The rule allows the Senate to approve nominations (except for Supreme Court nominations) with a simple 51-vote majority, shielding nominees from filibusters, which takes 60 votes to overcome.

Senate Democrats last year changed the rules using the so-called "nuclear option" -- they used a simple majority in the Senate to overturn the policy, rather than going through the Senate Rules Committee.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is one Republican who decried the Democrats' use of the "nuclear option" but now feels the GOP might as well keep the new rules in place.

"Returning to the pre-nuclear option filibuster rule would serve neither the interests of the Senate as an institution, nor constitutionally limited government more broadly," he wrote in an op-ed this week.

Since Democrats were able to use the 51-vote threshold to confirm President Obama's nominees, he argued, Republicans should now take the opportunity to confirm their preferred nominees with 51 votes. "To restore the prior nominations threshold would be to cede the federal judiciary to liberal activists," he wrote.

Other Republicans, however, oppose the day. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said that to keep the new rules would amount to "rank hypocrisy."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, on Tuesday said that he intends for the Democratic-led Senate to get through "a number of nominations" before they adjourn this month. He specifically said the Senate would vote on Sarah Saldaa, the nominee to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Social Security administrator nominee Carolyn W. Colvin; surgeon general nominee Vivek Murthy; and nine more judges.

To get through the list, "maybe we'll have to work the weekend and maybe even work next week," Reid said. "I know that's tough duty for everybody, but we may have to do that."

Excerpt from:
Senate Republicans debate keeping Democrats' filibuster rules

Senator Jeanne Shaheen will oppose Antonio Weiss to be undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury, her spokesman said today, joining Democrats lining up against the nomination of the Wall Street banker.

Shaheen, of New Hampshire, is concerned about Weisss work on tax inversions, in which a U.S.-based firm moves its legal headquarters to a lower-tax country, Shripal Shah, her spokesman, said today in an e-mail response to a question.

Democrats including Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Richard Durbin of Illinois, the chambers second-ranking Democrat, have said they too will oppose Weiss, global head of Lazard Ltd. (LAZ)s investment banking unit who has worked on international mergers and acquisitions.

As undersecretary for domestic finance, Weiss would coordinate policies on banking, capital markets and regulation. The undersecretary also works on implementation of the Dodd-Frank financial law. One of the jobs main responsibilities is managing the issuance of the nations debt.

In a speech yesterday, Warren challenged Weisss credentials, saying a well-oiled revolving door between Wall Street and its regulators favors banks interests at the expense of consumers. She criticized President Barack Obama for nominating an executive who has worked on corporate tax-inversion deals, which the administration is attempting to curb.

Warren said his selection would perpetuate close ties between the government and banks. She cited figures showing the amount of time and money Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other financial companies spend trying to influence regulators in Washington.

To contact the reporter on this story: Steve Geimann in Washington at sgeimann@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jodi Schneider at jschneider50@bloomberg.net Steve Geimann, Elizabeth Wasserman

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Originally posted here:
Shaheen Joins Democrats Opposed to Weiss for Treasury, Aide Says

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