"A minority of Senators have used Senate procedure to systematically prevent the president of the United States from putting a full team in place," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in his floor remarks.. | Alex Wong/Getty Images congress McConnell inches closer to nuclear option

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday moved one step closer to changing the Senate rules to speed up the confirmation of most of President Donald Trump’s nominees.

The procedural move inches McConnell closer to using the nuclear option.


The Senate resolution, approved by the Senate Rules Committee in February, would limit the debate time for executive branch nominees and District Court judges but would not apply to Cabinet or Supreme Court nominees. Republicans say the rules change is necessary to staff up the Trump administration’s agencies and prevent further delays from Democrats.

In a speech on the Senate floor, McConnell (R-Ky.) blasted Democrats for “unprecedented obstruction” when it comes to noncontroversial nominees and said the resolution is a way “to restore the Senate’s tradition in this area.”

McConnell’s action comes after Trump urged him to move on nominees during a closed-door meeting Tuesday and amid strenuous objection from Senate Democrats.

“A minority of senators have used Senate procedure to systematically prevent the president of the United States from putting a full team in place,” McConnell said in his floor remarks. “The American people deserve the government they elected.”

McConnell added that Democrats will also benefit from the rules change and warned that the status quo will guarantee that Democratic administrations in the future will be “subjected to the same paralysis.”

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“This is a change the institution needs,” he said.

After his floor remarks, McConnell said the resolution was modeled on a standing order he supported when Democratic Sen. Harry Reid was majority leader that aimed to speed up the consideration of former President Barack Obama’s sub-cabinet nominees and District Court judges.

McConnell said he is still hoping for bipartisan support.

“A number of members on the other side have said they’d be more than happy to support it provided it took effect two years from now so they know it’s not an unreasonable proposal,” he said

The measure would limit debate time after procedural votes to two hours for most nominees, after cloture is invoked. Under the status quo, the post-debate time is 30 hours.

In order for the Senate resolution to move forward, it would need 60 votes. Senate Democrats are expected to oppose the measure. But Republicans can still pass it if they invoke the “nuclear option” and change the Senate rules. If the Senate changes its rules, the resolution could pass with a simple majority.

John Bresnahan contributed to this report.