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Senate Democrats Trigger ‘Nuclear Option’ – Eliminating Most Filibusters on Nominees

In a move that is sure to increase partisan tension, Senate Democrats made a historic move today and eliminated filibusters for most presidential nominations – severely limiting political leverage for the Republican party. The change applies to all executive and judicial branch nominations with the exception of the Supreme Court and means that confirmation is now possible with a simple majority of 51 senators versus a supermajority of 60. Democrats currently hold 53 Senate seats.

President Obama, Senator Reid, and other democrats cited deep frustration and unnecessary obstruction of government that drove them to make this historical change. Obama noted in his speech, that in the few decades prior to him taking office, a total of 20 nominees were filibustered. There have already been 30 nominees filibustered just since he took office in 2009. Republicans warned of the repercussions on democrats if the GOP regains control of the chamber in 2014.

Read more from Politico here

Budget Negotiators Continue to Talk

Just when all seems lost, it appears that there may yet be hope that Budget negotiators could reach a deal to replace a portion of sequestration. Any potential deal would be small in comparison to the $17.1 trillion national debt, potentially with proposals to replace one year of sequestration cuts — worth $110 billion — or something smaller, with more targeted cuts.

While the outlines of the agreement are certainly far from solid, they could include some mandatory savings, along with revenue, but no new taxes. Potential revenue raisers being discussed include increased Transportation Security Administration fees and money generated from wireless spectrum sales. As an extra bargaining chip, Republicans would consider including an extension of extended unemployment benefits, which expire on December 28th.

This all seems like a small glimmer of hope that the next round of sequestration will be avoided, and maybe topline budget numbers for FY2014 and FY2015 would be agreed to. This would give some certainty – or mock regular order – at least through next years mid-term elections.

Budget Deadline Closing In

Both the House and Senate will be busy this week as they attempt to wrap up a number of issues before they take a two-week break for Thanksgiving. The Senate will try to finish work on the annual Defense Authorization bill that the House completed back in June. This could be one of the few substantial pieces of annual legislation that Congress acts on this year.

But the big news is what’s not happening. With the deadline less than a month away, budget conference committee negotiators say there has been almost no progress in their attempt to address the $91 billion chasm that continues to separate the House and Senate FY 2014 budget plans. The December 13th deadline is fast approaching, with a two-week break in there for Thanksgiving. While Congress set the arbitrary December 13thdeadline, there are no consequences for missing it. In fact, the next deadline that does have consequences is January 15th when the current continuing resolution (CR) runs out. The hope is that negotiators can reach an agreement on an outline that could provide an overall budget number for FY2014 and possibly FY2015 as well as some relief from sequestration before the next round of sequestration take effect in January.

Obama Nominates Two from Academia

The White House nominated two university professors to lead the Energy Department’s science operations. Franklin Orr, a Stanford University professor of petroleum engineering, has been nominated to be DOE’s undersecretary for science and energy, a recently redesigned position. Orr also directs Stanford’s Precourt Institute for Energy. The new undersecretary job includes all five energy offices, such as nuclear and fossil energy, as well as the Science office, which previously fell into separate positions that have now been combined. Marc Kastner, who is dean of MIT’s School of Science, has been tapped to be director of DOE’s Office of Science. Kastner, a former head of MIT’s physics department where Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz had been faculty member for decades, has worked in materials science and superconducting electronics.

This Week in Congress

Below is an overview of relevant House and Senate committee hearings and markups on the schedule this week.

WEDNESDAY, November 13th

House Education and the Workforce
Federal Student Aid
10am, 2175 Rayburn
Full Committee Hearing

Joint Economic
Fiscal 2014 Budget
10am, 1100 Longworth
Conference Committee Meeting

THURSDAY, November 14th

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Federal Student Aid
10am, 430 Dirksen
Full Committee Hearing

House Education and the Workforce
ACA in Schools
10am, 2175 Rayburn
Full Committee Hearing

FRIDAY, November 15th

House Energy and Commerce
STEM Education and Manufacturing Workforce
9:30am, 2123 Rayburn
Subcommittee Hearing