The Trump administration notified the ABA in March that it was ending its long-standing practice of inviting its independent Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary to review the professional qualifications of prospective nominees to the lower federal courts on a pre-nomination basis.

The Senate's vote comes after Grasz was confirmed by the Judiciary Committee last week, despite Democratic objections that Republicans were rushing Trump's judicial nominees.

But Republicans are expected to line up behind Grasz's nomination during a final confirmation vote later this week.

Grasz, a senior counsel at a firm in Omaha, previously served as the chief deputy attorney general for the state of Nebraska.

The move sets up a final vote on Grasz's nomination as late as Wednesday morning, if Democrats drag out all the debate time.Grasz was the second of Trump's judicial nominees to receive a "not qualified" rating from the ABA."As you know, the Standing Committee confines its evaluation to the qualities of integrity, professional competence, and judicial temperament," the outside group wrote to Sens.(R-Iowa) and(D-Calif.), the top members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.