Insights

Today on the Hill: A Nuclear Showdown in the Senate

April 6, 2017

The Senate is set to go nuclear today as the partisan confrontation over Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court reaches its seemingly inevitable conclusion. A cloture vote on the nomination – which would require 60 votes to be approved – is set for this morning and is expected to fail, with as many as 43 of the chamber’s Democrats likely to line up to block the nominee. As soon as that vote fails, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will initiate the parliamentary steps necessary to launch the “nuclear option” and allow for Gorsuch to be confirmed on a simple majority vote. Specifically, Leader McConnell will likely raise a “point of order” asserting that a simple majority vote can end debate in the chamber for Supreme Court nominees. The point of order can then be approved by all 52 Senate Republicans, clearing the way for another vote on ending debate on Gorsuch’s nomination – this one only requiring a simple majority to be approved. A final up-or-down vote could then be held either today or tomorrow, but even considering the importance of a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court, Gorsuch’s confirmation will likely be remembered for the legacy that the change in Senate process will have on future nominations.    

In its last scheduled legislative day before the Easter recess, the House will consider one measure and, in the Rules Committee, add an amendment to the health care package that was withdrawn from floor consideration two weeks ago. The amendment being added would create a new risk-sharing fund for those with serious and costly-to-treat diseases, which conservative lawmakers hope will help lower premiums across-the-board. While it remains unclear when health care legislation could again return to the House floor, today’s action is intended to demonstrate some progress being made towards getting the conservative House Freedom Caucus on-board with the American Health Care Act (AHCA) backed by Republican leadership and the White House.

The bill (H.R. 1219) to be considered on the House floor today is a bipartisan financial services measure intended to boost business capital by allowing venture funds to have as many as 250 investors before it would need to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The House Financial Services Committee passed the bill almost unanimously out of committee last month.