Among other subversions, he introduced the minority-party tactic of refusing to give unanimous consent to provide for debate on bills introduced by the majority.
What the Democrats want to do is intimidate people to give unanimous consent, and that is not in the tradition of the Senate".
(Most recently, Mr. McConnell refused to give unanimous consent to allow the Democrats to fix a typo in a short-term measure to finance the government).
The Senate gave unanimous consent Thursday to give to the anti-doping agency at least some of the evidence from the prosecution of four people connected to Balco, the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative in Burlingame, Calif.
In a less partisan environment, both parties typically would give "unanimous consent" to let a batch of nominees receive votes, with little fanfare.
The Senate on Thursday was asked to give unanimous consent to pass resolutions ― which are basically messaging documents and have no force of law ― as a way to challenge Trump. .
CLARIFICATION: Language in this story has been changed to better explain how long it will take to move judicial nominees if Republican senators decline to give "unanimous consent" to letting the nominees receive a vote.
Under an obscure Senate rule, senators must grant unanimous consent to hold hearings beyond two hours.
Four of them are known to have given their unanimous consent to Aamer's transfer: the US Justice Department, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The New Orleans Saints, the first team to vote, gave their unanimous consent last Monday, and the union's executive director, DeMaurice Smith, will ask players to give their approval when he visits teams this fall.
Under the compromise, the democratic-controlled Senate will pass, by unanimous consent, the Republican House bill.
