The U.S. Senate averted a political meltdown Tuesday when Republicans agreed to confirm several of President Barack Obama's executive branch nominees and, in exchange, Democrats agreed to leave existing filibuster rules in place.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, and Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the key Republican negotiator, announced the deal minutes before a scheduled vote on Richard Cordray, Obama's choice to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
The deal paved the way for Cordray, the acting director of the bureau, to be confirmed in a vote Tuesday afternoon. He was nominated in July 2011, but Republicans had refused to confirm him.