If Democrats were to rule the Senate next year, they would no doubt be very deliberate — to say the least — about bringing to the floor Trump administration candidates for the bench and top federal agency jobs. “If Democrats take the Senate, they need to apply extreme vetting to President Trump’s nominees,” said Caroline Fredrickson, the president of the liberal American Constitution Society. The plan would cut the required debate time to eight hours from 30 for noncabinet-level executive branch nominees and to two hours for Federal District Court judges. The requirement would remain at 30 hours for cabinet nominees and those put forward for spots on the Supreme Court and federal appeals courts, but the change could free up considerable time. Republicans say that Democrats, by requiring Republicans to jump through all of the procedural hoops in scores of instances this year even when many Democrats ended up backing the nominees, are simply trying to tie up the Senate to thwart Republicans and Mr. Trump.

Source: New York Times April 26, 2018 09:00 UTC