Frustrated by Republican stalling tactics Senate Majority Leader has not backed off from a threat to change Senate rules by using the so called "nuclear option" on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.
Unless a compromise can be met by Tuesday Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans on changing the Senate's rules to limit the filibustering power of the minority party when it comes to presidential nominees. Republicans have been livid about the possibility of this move yet have not shown signs of trying to come up with a compromise, reports The New York Times.
Reid has said that the limiting of filibusters is only going to be applied to the appointment of presidential nominees, nothing else, according to the New York Daily News.
"We're not touching judges," Reid said. "This is not judges. This is not legislation. This is allowing the people of America to have a president who have his team...in place."
A closed-to-the-public meeting is going to be held on Monday night involving all 100 senators in a last-ditch effort to avoid the contentious rules change.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voraciously opposes the potential rules change claiming that it would "change the core of the Senate." Speaking on NBC McConnell said that if Reid goes through with his plans to change the Senate rules that he would be remembered as "the worst leader of the Senate ever."
"He wants the confirmation process to be speedy and for the minority to sit down and shut up," McConnell said.
While speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press" Reid addressed the lengthy delays that often accompany presidential appointments as one of the many reasons that the American people seem to view Congress in such an unfavorable light.
"Is there anyone out there in the world, real world, that believes what's going on in the Congress is good?" Reid asked. "Our approval rating is lower than North Korea's. So we're going to make a simple change."
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., told The New York Times that if this rule was able to be changed by a simple majority it could lead to a precedent that allows all Senate rules to be changed that way, effectively eliminating any power the minority party has.
"What it means is that with 51 votes any majority can do anything it wants on any day of the United States Senate," Alexander said. "It can change abortion rights. It can change civil rights. It can change environmental laws. It can change labor laws. Today the House can do that. But when it comes to the Senate, we stop and think and consider. But after this, whoever has the majority can do anything it wants."
