Senate Republicans consider 'Nuclear Option' to speed up Trump nominee confirmations

Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate signaled they may use the so-called nuclear option to overcome what they describe as Democratic obstruction of President Donald Trump’s executive branch nominees.

The move would allow the majority to change long-standing procedural rules without the consent of the minority, a step often viewed as the most extreme legislative tactic available.

“At the end of the day, there are two different ways to be able to change the rules here: there's a partisan way and a nonpartisan way,” said Sen. James Lankford. “But they know full well the next Democrat president, Republicans will do the exact same thing back to them, and we'll say we'll require a roll call vote on every one of yours. That's not good for the country.”

Republicans argue that Democrats have dragged out confirmation votes for even low-level nominees as a way to stand up to Trump. So far, Lankford said, Democrats have shown little willingness to work toward a bipartisan solution.

The nuclear option has been used before. In 2013, Democrats, then in the majority, changed the rules under then-Majority Leader Harry Reid to allow most judicial nominees to be confirmed with a simple majority.

At the time, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., warned, “You'll regret this, and you may regret it a lot sooner than you think.”

Four years later, McConnell and Senate Republicans used the option again to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Now, Republicans are reportedly considering another rule change that would allow executive branch nominees to be approved in groups of 10 or more, rather than individually. Supporters say the change would greatly speed up the process.

“We're at a stuck position on this where we've done 150 nominees, but we're not getting the legislation, we can't get to appropriations, we can't get to the bills because we're just constantly doing nominees,” Lankford said.

A vote on the proposal is not expected until later in the week.