Congress clears bill to speed up presidential appointments

http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-congress/2012/07/congress-clears-bill-to-speed-up-presidential-appointments-130707.html?hp=l6

Congress moved a bit closer Tuesday to easing gridlock on Capitol Hill – at least on lower level nominations.

A bill that passed the House Tuesday allows nearly 170 presidential appointments to bypass Senate confirmation – meant to ease the backlog of nominations that get jammed in a narrowly-divided Senate. It already passed the Senate last summer, so it now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.

The legislation was part of a so-called “gentleman’s agreement” between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in January 2011 that preserved the filibuster.