[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 251 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 251

Amending rule XXXI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, to provide for 
                  timely consideration of nominations.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 13, 2017

 Mr. Gardner submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
               the Committee on Rules and Administration

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                               RESOLUTION


 
Amending rule XXXI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, to provide for 
                  timely consideration of nominations.

    Resolved,

SECTION 1. TIMELY CONSIDERATION OF NOMINATIONS.

    Rule XXXI of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs 3 through 7 as paragraphs 4 
        through 8, respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph 2 the following:
    ``3.(a) In this paragraph, the term `basic requirements' means--
            ``(1) an agreement with the Office of Government Ethics;
            ``(2) a financial disclosure form;
            ``(3) a background check conducted by the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation;
            ``(4) a questionnaire of each relevant committee;
            ``(5) tax forms, if required by a relevant committee; and
            ``(6) any other requirements of a relevant committee.
    ``(b) If a nomination has not been confirmed or rejected not later 
than 180 days after the day on which the nominee completes the basic 
requirements, the appropriate committees shall be automatically 
discharged and the nomination shall be eligible for expedited 
consideration in accordance with subparagraph (c).
    ``(c)(1) The majority leader may provide notice that a nomination 
that is eligible for expedited consideration in accordance with this 
subparagraph shall be considered on an expedited basis.
    ``(2) Notwithstanding rule XXII, expedited consideration of a 
covered nomination under this subparagraph, including consideration of 
any debatable motion or appeal in connection therewith shall be limited 
to 2 hours, evenly divided in the usual form.''.
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