Reid chides GOP for blocking Obama nominations

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) berated Republicans for filibustering President Obama’s executive and judicial nominees.

“Let us vote on these nominations,” Reid said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

{mosads}On Monday, Reid filed cloture motions for six nominations. Reid said the nominees deserve an up-or-down vote but that a handful of Republicans are forcing cloture votes to delay the process.

The Senate’s first cloture vote of the week will be on the nomination of Richard Griffin to serve as general counsel to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). That vote will happen after 2:15 p.m. Tuesday.

“Let’s just vote on these nominations,” Reid said. “I can’t imagine why it would be a good thing for this country let alone the Senate to not go forward on this nomination.”

Some Republicans criticized Griffin for being a labor advocate rather than an “umpire” while briefly serving on the NLRB, which settles major disputes between employers and employees.

Griffin’s nomination is slightly controversial because earlier this year the Federal Appeals Court in Washington, D.C., found that Obama unconstitutionally appointed Griffin when Congress wasn’t officially recessed in 2012. The Supreme Court is expected to consider that decision.