Senate Democrats use rare Saturday session to push judicial, administration confirmations

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

An informal, bipartisan agreement was reached on Friday night in the Senate to smooth the passage of a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September. Then, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) staged a late-night challenge of the bill, citing immigration, The Associated Press reports.

That prompted Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to call an all-day Senate session, during which Democrats have tried to confirm as many as 20 of President Barack Obama's nominees, both for judicial and administration posts.

Measures to avert a government shutdown have yet to pass, despite a Saturday at midnight deadline. But lawmakers from both parties told the AP there is little chance of the bill not eventually passing, and NPR notes that the Senate will likely extend the government's spending authority deadline to midnight on Thursday.

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Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.