This Week on the Hill: Senate GOP Moves to Speed Up Judicial Confirmations

Both chambers of Congress are set to begin another legislative work week this afternoon. In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has queued up a change to the Senate rules that would speed up the presidential nominee confirmation process. The resolution — approved by the Senate Rules Committee in February — would limit the post-cloture debate time from 30 hours to two for executive branch nominees and District Court judges, but would not apply to Cabinet or Supreme Court nominees. Democrats are not expected to support the measure, which could lead Republicans to invoke another rule change, known as the “nuclear option,” that would allow the Senate to pass the resolution with a simple majority.

Meanwhile, Senators are looking to complete work on a supplemental disaster aid bill (text; summary) after Leader McConnell took procedural steps to block further amendments to the bill. The move drew the ire of Senate Democrats, who have strongly advocated for more aid to Puerto Rico in the bill while President Donald Trump has complained the bill provides too much money for the island. If the disaster aid bill clears the Senate this week, House and Senate lawmakers will likely go to a conference committee to hammer out a final compromise. 

In the House, lawmakers are expected to take up a bill (H.R. 1585) that would reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The lower chamber is also expected to take up a Democratic resolution (H.Res. 271) opposing recent legal steps by the Trump administration to invalidate the Affordable Care Act. For today, the House has teed up four suspension bills out of the Homeland Security Committee.