Reply #5: Democrats could delay confirmation [View All]

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Democrats expect a nine-hour debate on Condoleezza Rice’s nomination
The Democratic Senate leadership expects to reach an agreement with Senate Republicans for a nine-hour debate on the confirmation of Condoleezza Rice next Tuesday, a senior Democratic Senate source told RAW STORY Wednesday evening.

The agreement, which must be reached by unanimous consent, but which is very much expected, will allow Democratic senators not on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to voice their thoughts about Rice on the Senate floor.Senate Republicans can derail the discussion with a cloture vote of 60 senators–which would have to include some Democrats–but that is not expected, the high-level official said.

Ranking Democratic leader Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-NV) office disclosed Wednesday afternoon that several members planned to debate Rice’s nomination on the Senate floor next week, but Senate offices are mum on this chilly inaugural eve on who exactly will speak. Reid’s office declined to name any of the members who have expressed interest in speaking, saying it is traditional for the minority leader’s office to allow the senators to come forward on their own time. The spokesman asserted that it was “not a filibuster.”“There are a number of Democrats not on the committee that want to have a chance to debate her nomination,” another Reid spokesman told the Associated Press.
http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=565


The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted Wednesday to approve Condoleezza Rice’s nomination to be secretary of state, but after two days of strenuous questioning on the Bush administration’s handling of Iraq, Democrats planned to delay her widely expected confirmation by the full Senate, NBC News reported.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6842774/