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Article snippet: Republicans are pushing forward with a proposal to change the Senate’s rules to speed up consideration of MORE’s nominees. The move is likely to ramp up tensions surrounding nominations, which had already become a flashpoint during the Trump era. The proposal got a jolt of momentum Wednesday when the Rules and Administration Committee, which includes Majority Leader MORE (R-Ky.), approved the rules change in a 10-9 party-line vote. If approved by the full Senate, the proposal would affect how the chamber handles hundreds of the president’s picks. Currently, nominations need 30 hours of debate time, even after they’ve overcome an initial hurdle that shows they have the simple majority needed to pass. The proposal from GOP Sen. MORE (Okla.) would cut the additional 30 hours of debate down to eight hours. Post-cloture debate for district judge nominees would be further capped at two hours. Republicans argue the change is necessary because Democrats are slow-walking the president’s picks in an attempt to undermine the Trump administration. McConnell said Democrats are “wasting the Senate’s time” by dragging out debate time for uncontroversial nominees. “At some point the question is, what is a constructive use of the Senate’s time?” he said ahead of the vote. Lankford added that he's "not trying to partisan" but "fix" a long-running issue. Democrats "had this [in 2013] and then they added the nuclear option on top of it,” Lankford said. As of late last week, Trump ... Link to the full article to read more