BREAKING: Senate ‘nuclear option’ defused — for now

The nuclear option has been defused — for now — after Republican senators said Tuesday they would drop their blockade of Richard Cordray to be the new head of a consumer protection bureau, ending for now what had appeared to be a major crisis.
“We may have a way forward on this, I feel fairly confident,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told his colleagues on the chamber floor moments after the GOP relented on the first of seven controversial nominees that the Democrats were prepared to push through the chamber.