Reid: ‘Thank goodness’ for use of nuclear option

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday defended the rule changes last year to advance most nominations by a simple majority.

“It’s unfortunate that we still have scores and scores of good men and women on the executive calendar waiting to be confirmed,” Reid said while opening the Senate for the day.

{mosads}”As everyone knows, we changed the rules related to judges. Thank goodness we did that. Justice can move forward in our country,” Reid said.

Reid said that the Senate in the coming days would begin consideration of the Workforce Investment Act, a rare bipartisan election-year deal that authorizes job training programs. He said it was a departure from other bills that have become bogged down in the dispute over amendments in the Senate.

Reid called it a “nice, important piece of legislation” that “is a picture of what we should be doing here on legislation generally.”