Senate ends debate on three judicial nominees

The Senate voted to end debate on three judicial nominations Thursday.

{mosads}The Senate voted 60-38 to end debate on the nomination of Nancy Moritz to be a U.S. circuit judge for the Tenth Circuit.

Theodore Chuang and George Hazel are nominated to serve as U.S. district judges for Maryland. The Senate voted 54-43 to end debate on Chuang and 55-42 to end debate on Hazel.

Confirmation was nearly certain after Senate Democrats used the “nuclear option” to unilaterally change the rules late last year. Now only a simple majority is needed to advance most nominations instead of the 60 votes previously required.

Final confirmation on the Maryland nominees is expected around 2 p.m. on Thursday. Moritz is expected to be confirmed Monday.