On the recordJanuary 25, 2011
I think this shows this isn't about a power grab; this is about trying to work to make sure the Senate is going to work better for the American people. The fifth provision of S. Res. 10--and as Senator Merkley knows, we are down here today to try to get S. Res. 10, rules changes, onto the Senate floor, and so we are going to be asking unanimous consent for that. But the fifth provision is called postcloture debate on nominations. Now, what are we talking about? Well, when we have a nomination that comes to the floor--a judicial nomination, an executive nomination--in the rule nominations have 30 hours of postcloture debate. So when you decide to cut off debate, when you get to the point that you say we are going to cut off debate, that 30 hours is normally used for amendments and to work through the amendment process. Well, when you have a nomination, you are not amending a nomination. You are trying to either move forward with an up-or-down vote on the nomination--the person is either voted up or down. It makes no sense to have 30 hours. So the other commonsense proposal we have is to shorten that postcloture time to 2 hours, from 30 hours, because there is no reason to amend in that phase. I know Senator Merkley is also familiar with this provision.
