In filibuster reform, Senate may avoid ‘nuclear option’

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Sen. John McCain

Senate Republicans will not block President Barack Obama’s nominees to the National Labor Relations Board, averting a showdown in the Senate that would have had larger implications for the filibuster process.

Two NLRB nominees put forth by Obama, Sharon Block and Richard Griffin, faced opposition from Republican senators, who threatened to filibuster the nominees. In response, Democrats were considering the ‘nuclear option,’ which is the term for changing Senate rules to remove the filibuster and prevent the minority party from blocking laws.

However, in the compromise reached by Democrats and Republicans and brokered by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the filibuster will remain intact as a strategy, but Republicans apparently won’t use it against Block, Griffin or Obama’s other nominees.

See the story at Politico.