The 'but judges' argument for Trump will be quickly put to the test

In 2013, when Democrats controlled 53 of 100 Senate seats, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., invoked the so-called ‘nuclear option’ in order to expedite the appointment of certain executive branch positions and also federal judges below the Supreme Court level. This meant that the next president would have a much freer hand appointing his cabinet. But it also meant that President Obama’s federal district and circuit court judges could be pushed through without Reid having to make concessions the minority party was seeking.