WASHINGTON, DC – At a hearing of the Senate Rules Committee today, U. S. Senator Pat Roberts voted in favor of a resolution to limit post-cloture debate on certain nominations to end partisan gridlock and delay in the Senate. The resolution was favorably reported out of Committee.

“If we are to follow the rules and have 30 hours of debate on each nomination, the Senate will not have the time we need to consider the people’s business,” Roberts said. “The next round of judicial nominations alone will take months of floor time.”

The resolution, introduced by Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), would permanently change Senate rules to allow two hours of debate post-cloture (60 votes) for most nominations. Cabinet level positions, the Supreme Court, Circuit Courts and key federal policy-making commissions would still require 30 hours of debate post cloture.

“The proposal before us today is far more reasonable than that of the nuclear option,” said Sen. Roberts. “Senator Blunt and Senator Lankford’s proposal will not curb the minority. It does not change vote thresholds. It simply ends the snail’s pace we have been forced to adopt.”

The rules change is similar to a 2013 measure passed the Senate by a vote of 78-16, but only governed the rules for the 113th Congress. Democrats at the time held the majority in the Senate.

Senator Roberts is a former ranking member of the Senate Committee on Rules.

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