Reports out of the Senate suggest a deal to allow for a confirmation vote for Richard Cordray to head up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been struck. We'll know in a matter of minutes, as the voting is slated to begin at 11 ET. This is what Majority Leader Reid's staff says about the Cordray vote:
If cloture is invoked on Cordray at 11, it will be with no preconditions.
— @AJentleson
No preconditions presumably means this is a stand-alone vote out of the full seven nominations that are now on the floor. At the same time, there appears to be a deal in the works on the National Labor Relations Board.
Senate Ds willing to replace two NLRB noms with new noms as long as they're picked by Obama & fast-tracked to confirmation by Aug. 27.
— @sahilkapur
This presumably means that Reid continues to reserve the right to use the nuclear option in the future. However, it does set a bad precedent in allowing the minority to interfere with presidential nominations, which is a bad idea.
Call Harry Reid and tell him so: 202-224-3542. Or send him an email telling him to not back down with bad deals.
8:13 AM PT: BTW:
This Cordray (CFPB) cloture vote is coming after
730 DAYS of obstruction from Senate Republicans.
— @JoshDorner
8:25 AM PT: Stabenow is the 60th vote, followed by McCaskill. Cloture on Cordray is achieved. Now we see if Republicans insist on eating through eight hours of debate before the final vote, or they move on to the next set of nominees.
8:32 AM PT:
Flashback: Here's McConnell's letter from February claiming CFPB Director would not be confirmed.
http://t.co/...
— @fshakir
That letter was signed by 43 Republican senators. So, yeah, this is a satisfying vote.
