Reid backs off threat of weekend Senate work

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) backed off a threat to keep the Senate in session this weekend and said he will meet with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Friday about getting off the relentless nominations treadmill.

The Senate has been in session without interruption since Wednesday afternoon, as Republicans have forced it to use as much time as possible to process Obama administration nominations. The GOP is threatening to force the Senate to stay in all Saturday as well.

{mosads}That grueling schedule is a GOP protest of the Democratic decision to use the “nuclear option” to eliminate the need for a 60-vote majority to advance nominations. Several Republicans have said over the last few days that in making that decision, Reid has permanently damaged the Senate.

Reid ignored the issue of the nuclear option in floor comments on Friday, but said he would be glad to cooperate with Republicans to avoid weekend work.

“I’ll meet with the Republican leader to see if there’s a way that we can give relief, especially to the staff over the weekend,” Reid said Friday. “These people work extremely hard, and I haven’t heard a complaint from a single one of them, quite frankly.”

Reid said he met with some staff who have been taking naps on cots while the Senate has been in for the last two days and nights.

Reid’s comments are a shift from those he made earlier in the week, when he said he had no problem forcing the Senate to work weekends right up until Christmas.

“We could finish these votes now, but we’re going to work through the weekend,” Reid said Wednesday. “If it takes us working right through Christmas, we will work right through Christmas.”

Earlier this morning, the Senate easily approved the nomination of Deborah James to lead the Air Force.

Immediately after, the Senate voted to end debate on the nomination of Heather Higginbottom to be deputy secretary of State for Management and Resources. A vote on that nomination is due before noon today.

The Senate will also vote before noon to end debate on Anne Patterson to be assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. Debate on that nomination will expire Friday afternoon, after which a vote will be held.

Then, the Senate would vote to end debate on the nomination of Jeh Johnson to be secretary of Homeland Security. If Reid and McConnell can’t reach a scheduling agreement, a vote on Johnson would happen late Saturday night, at around 10:30.

Reid also said he would like to finish work quickly on nominations so the Senate can pass the budget deal and the National Defense Authorization Act, both of which were passed by the House on Thursday before leaving for the year.

“I would like the Senate to process these important bills as quickly as possible,” he said. 

The House is done with legislative work for the year, and is not in Friday. However, the House returns Monday at 11 a.m. for a pro forma session.

The House may look to pass an adjournment resolution sometime next week, when most members are gone. House Democrats promised to protest any effort to adjourn, but Republicans did not make a formal move to adjourn after wrapping up work on Thursday.