The "Gang of 14" Returneth

The National Journal and Roll Call are reporting that the "Gang of 14" will meet at 1:15 this afternoon, to -- as Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) put it -- "touch[] base." Insiders suggest the gang "is likely to focus most heavily on Haynes' nomination," but other controversial nominees still on the Senate's radar -- Terrence Boyle, William Myers and Michael Wallace -- could also come up. As Roll Call noted, however, "with the election season in full swing and only seven weeks of scheduled legislative time left on the calendar, the chance that the gang will again be called upon to broker a deal on Haynes or another controversial circuit court nominee appear slim." Not that that would prevent certain Republican senators from pulling trigger on the nuclear option to score some election-year points with the base. Some, after all, are still itching for a vote on Haynes, a man Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said is simply "not fit to sit on the bench."