Under the current rule, the Senate has the power to reconsider any of its previous actions, so long as one Senator makes a motion to do so and a majority of Senators present vote in favor.
The rule applies to Senate actions on presidential appointments, which require a 2/3-majority Because of this rule several presidential appointees who failed to reach the majority votes be reconsidered only to once again not receive the majority votes. In a committee report of the Senate Committee of the Whole, it stated that to remedy this problem, “this resolution amends the rule governing motions to reconsider, to require that a motion to reconsider receive at least seven affirmative votes in order to be adopted.”The report said that there is a “higher threshold for motions to reconsider presidential appointments will allow the Senate to quickly resolve debate over presidential appointments that are less likely to receive final confirmation, while preserving other appointments that are more likely to be confirmed for further discussion. This in turn will allow for a more efficient system under which the Senate will conduct its important confirmation function.”The adopted resolution however said the new rule will require seven affirmative votes.
