Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said Thursday he’s filing cloture to set up test votes next week on seven executive nominees and threatened to change the filibuster rules if Republicans don’t let them through.
The nominees are Richard Cordray to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Fred Hochberg to chair the Export-Import Bank; Gina McCarthy to lead the Environmental Protection Agency; Tom Perez to be Labor Secretary, and three Democratic nominees for the National Labor Relations Board.
At a Capitol press conference flanked by his leadership team, Reid made clear his ultimatum was about these executive nominees, rather than judges, and suggested he’ll back off his rules change threat if Republicans let all of the seven picks come to up-or-down votes.
Asked what he’ll do if Republicans block three or four of the nominees, Reid said, “I’m going to go to the floor Tuesday and do what I need to do so that this doesn’t happen anymore.”
“We have to wait and see what the weekend brings,” he told reporters. “Maybe [Republicans] will be brought to reality. But the reality is that if they’re not willing to be reasonable, we know where we’re headed.”
