Nominations a test for McConnell, says Maine senator

Nominations will be an early test of incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s pledges to change the way the Senate is run, independent Sen. Angus King (Maine) said Monday.

King said he’s been encouraged by McConnell’s statements about changing the Senate to allow more votes and amendments, but he suggested the proof will be in the pudding.

{mosads}“One of the early tests will be, are we able to move nominations, or is that going to get squashed during the lame duck,” King said on MSNBC.

King did not specifically mention President Obama’s nomination of U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch to be attorney general, but it is looming as a high-profile fight.

Republicans have said Lynch will be given fair hearing.

Democrats are thinking about pressing through dozens of other Obama nominations before they give up control of the Senate next year, an effort that could further poison relations between the two parties before McConnell (R-Ky.) takes the chamber’s reins.

McConnell complained that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) stifled the minority’s rights and cut back debate. He’s pledged to run the Senate differently.

“He’s making all the right noises,” King said. “I’ve talked to Republicans privately; they say that he’s telling them privately that he’s going to open the Senate up; he’s going to have amendments; he’s going to have votes; there’s going to be more comity.”

King acknowledged Reid sought to help his party by controlling the Senate floor tightly.

“There’s no question that there was a strategy going up to the elections to protect vulnerable Democrats from difficult votes. I mean, everybody knows that,” King said. “It didn’t work. In retrospect, maybe it would have been better to let ‘em vote, let things happen, let the president take some heat, veto some bills, instead of having the Senate be the stopper.”