WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senate leadership clashed again
Thursday during speeches on the chamber floor about confirmation of the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's director and six other presidential
appointees.

The Majority Leader, Sen. Harry Reid, threatened to leverage
the voting support he believes he has in the Senate to eliminate the chance for
a filibuster and force lawmakers to finally decide if CFPB director Richard
Cordray should remain at his post, a role he gained when President Obama made a
recession appointment two years ago.

"It is a disturbing trend when Republicans are willing to
block executive branch nominees even when they have no objection to the
qualifications of the nominee. Instead, they are blocking qualified nominees to
circumvent the legislative process, force wholesale changes to laws or
restructure entire executive branch departments. They are blocking qualified
nominees because they refuse to accept the law of the land," Reid said during a
Senate floor speech on Thursday.

"A perfect example is the nomination of Richard Cordray to
lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau," Reid continued. "Mr. Cordray
was nominated by the President in July of 2011 — more than 23 months ago. There
is no doubt about Mr. Corday's ability to do the job. Indeed, he has won high
praise from both Republicans and Democrats. He has a stellar track record. If
Mr. Cordray received a fair, up-or-down vote, he would be confirmed
immediately.

"But the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continues to
operate without a leader because Republicans want to roll back a law that
protects consumers from the greed of big Wall Street banks," Reid went on to
say. "Republicans refuse to confirm Richard Cordray's nomination because they
refuse to accept the law of the land. Yet the Republican Leader says there is
no problem here. The status quo is fine."

The Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell, responded on
the chamber floor, calling Reid's move to possibly deny filibuster action as a
way to "concoct a phony crisis over three unlawfully appointed nominees to
alter the rules of the Senate." McConnell's concerns also stem from the nominations
of Thomas Perez to run the Labor Department and Gina McCarthy to lead the Environmental
Protection Agency.

"Senate Democrats are gearing up to make one of the most
consequential changes to the United States Senate in the history of our nation.
And I guarantee you, it is a decision that, if they actually go through with
it, they will live to regret," McConnell said.

"It's an open secret at this point that Big Labor and others
on the Left are putting a lot of pressure on Senate Democrats to change the
rules of the Senate — and to do so by breaking the rules," he continued. "That
would violate every protection of minority rights that have defined the United
States Senate for as long as anyone can remember.

"Let me assure you: this Pandora's Box, once opened, will be
utilized again and again by future majorities – and it will make the meaningful
consensus-building that has served our nation so well a relic of the past,"
McConnell went on to say.

According to a report from Bloomberg, at least one Senate
Democrat is unsure of executing Reid's plan.

Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat and advocate of an
overhaul of filibuster rules, told Bloomberg that he thinks changing the rules
during the session sets a bad precedent.

"You can't be changing rules every month or two months,"
Harkin said in this report. "There has got be some game plan for at least one
Congress."

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