When Congress finally passed a jobs bill through to the Senate last week as promised, it seemed that the violent storm between Republicans and Democrats had ceded for just a bit. However, true to form, the winds have picked up once again and the storm is approaching fast. The JOBS Act that was set to smoothly pass through to the Senate and ease regulations on small businesses seems to be stalled on account of 17 judicial nominees.
According to TPM, ever since President Obama “used his recess appointment power to install the director of a powerful consumer protection agency and members of the National Labor Relations Board,” Republicans in the Senate have threatened to hold many of his other nominees. In particular, 17 judicial nominees that mostly all passed the Judiciary Committee unanimously.
In response to the Republicans hold up of these judicial nominees, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took actions that basically said he did not mind holding up the passing of the JOBS Act in order to get these judicial nominees through. Reid took actions this past Monday to force action on the 17 stalled nominees, and as a consequence the JOBS Act will sit in the Senate until this matter can be cleared up first. Reid’s decision to force action on these nominees leaves Republicans in a peculiar situation. They can either stand firm and let Reid continue with his forced action- leaving the JOBS Act to sit for weeks until the situation gets cleared- or they can let the judicial nominees pass- handing the Democrats 17 federal judges on their side.
The situation is tricky, but all too common among Republicans and Democrats. However, this time, its the new JOBS Act hanging in the mix that may or may not speed up job market growth that has already been taking place as of late. Even though the JOBS Act in question is a mild attempt by House Republicans to appease the need for action on the poor job market, it would ease current regulations that are placed on small businesses and allow them to grow and expand- thus ideally creating more jobs for the market.
Reid may be playing hardball with Senate Republicans, but the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says that he will not bend to Reid’s will and has no intention of confirming these nominees. In fact, he blamed Democrats for holding up the JOBS Act. “Look: This is completely transparent, and it’s completely irresponsible,” he said of Reid’s move. “If the Democrat-controlled Senate turns to something contentious instead it’ll prove that they’re not serious when they say they’re focused on jobs and would rather spend their time manufacturing gridlock.”
Just when we thought that we were starting to make some progress, the politics and slights from each party have once again put a halt to it. Though mild, the JOBS Act could be very beneficial to our market. However, no one will get a chance to see it do its work if it sits on the Senate desk for weeks while they figure out this judicial nominee mess. And the storm keeps a blowin’.
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