Senate Republicans are preparing to pull the trigger on the "nuclear option" and change Senate rules to allow quicker confirmation of lower court judges and executive picks, The Hill reports.
"Sometime this month," Sen. Roy Blunt, Mo., told reporters as he headed into a weekly meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
"Maybe when we come back from the recess," Sen. John Cornyn, Texas, said.
President Donald Trump has 128 District Court vacancies to fill, per Politico, and has already filled 34.
A nuclear option means Republicans can change the rules without support from Senate Democrats. As a result, nominees would face significantly less debate time. Republicans think they have the 50 votes for the nuclear option but would like to reach a bipartisan deal.
"We're still hoping to have bipartisan support to go forward with the standing order, which would require 60 votes," McConnell said last week. "In the absence of that, it is still my desire to try to achieve that, and that's . . . a discussion will have among Republicans."
Democrats have slammed the GOP.
"They're trying to find all kinds of ways to move things through as fast as they possibly can with the least scrutiny possible," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., ranking member on the Judiciary Committee. "One thing after another."
If Republicans do pass the option, it would be the third time in six years that one party has used a procedural tactic, called the "nuclear option," to rewrite the Senate rule book.
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