In a historic vote, Senate Republicans on Thursday crushed "a Democratic blockade" - in Reuters' words - of Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, in a fierce partisan brawl, approving a rule change dubbed the "nuclear option" to allow for conservative judge Neil Gorsuch's confirmation by Friday.
As we previewed last Friday when Senator Clair McCaskill's "No" decision was seen by many "whip counts" as the decisive "final" vote, moments ago Senate Democrats clinched enough support to block Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court, in the process setting up what now appears an inevitable "nuclear" showdown over Senate rules later this week.
Once upon a time Washington was simple: on one hand you had Republican interests, on the other: Democrats, and inbetween them perhaps, the occasional independent or "green." Now... it's less simple. At last check, DC currently boasts at least nine different parties, groups, factions or ideologies. Which is why keeping track of who wants what, and how the various groups allign, in US politics has become quite complicated.
The Republican-controlled Committee on Oversight and Government Reform approved a bill earlier today to allow for a congressional audit of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy, a proposal Fed policymakers have opposed and likely faces a difficult path to final approval in the Senate. Under the bill, the Fed’s monetary policy deliberations could be subject
to outside review by the Government Accountability Office.
When one strips away the partisan rhetoric and posturing, the practical impact of Friday's GOP failure to repeal Obamacare has a specific monetary impact: approximately $1 trillion.