{"id":14336,"date":"2014-12-18T01:29:18","date_gmt":"2014-12-18T09:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=14336"},"modified":"2014-12-18T01:29:18","modified_gmt":"2014-12-18T09:29:18","slug":"senate-adjourns-after-confirmation-spree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2014\/12\/18\/senate-adjourns-after-confirmation-spree\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Adjourns after Confirmation Spree"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US Senate is done for the year, but before they went home they confirmed a bunch of Barack Obama\u2019s appointments.  That\u2019s the last thing Republicans wanted, but Democrats got the extra floor time, Because Ted \u201cThe Immigrant\u201d Cruz made a fool of himself.  That\u2019s an easy undertaking for him.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"1218Senate\"The Democratic-controlled Senate confirmed the last batch of President Obama’s judicial appointees and sent the White House legislation extending tax breaks for working-class millions and special interests alike late Tuesday as Congress ended a tumultuous two-year run.<\/p>\n

The Senate adjourned at 11:24 p.m., officially ending the 113th Congress.<\/p>\n

An 11th-hour attempt to renew a program obliging the government to cover part of the cost of terrorism-caused losses was sidetracked by retiring Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who said it was a giveaway to private industry.<\/p>\n

But dozens of Mr. Obama’s nominees to agency positions won approval on the final night of the Congress. Among them were Sarah Saldana to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Nicholas Rasmussen as director of the National Counterterrorism Center at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.<\/p>\n

Rasmussen is currently the deputy director, a post he has held since 2012. He served on the National Security Council from 2007 to 2012, where he was a special assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism.<\/p>\n

In addition, the Senate voted 55-38 to approve the president’s nominee to be Deputy Secretary of State, despite criticism from Sen. John McCain and other Republicans. Tony Blinken, who is replacing the retiring William Burns, joined the White House in 2009 as a top aide to Vice President Joe Biden. He later became Mr. Obama’s deputy national security adviser and a key player on foreign policy issues, including the fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <CBS<\/a>><\/p>\n

This could never have happened had not Democrats changed Senate rules to eliminate filibusters on nominees.<\/font><\/p>\n

Lawrence O\u2019Donnell discussed the rule change and it\u2019s effects with Jeff Merkley (D-OR).  Unfortunately, I can only bring you MSNBC clips, if I can find them on YouTube<\/a>.<\/font><\/p>\n