Some of Biden's nominees could be stalled until McConnell and Schumer cut a deal on a resolution outlining how they'll share power in the Senate.

That's because the power-sharing agreement will specify how many senators will sit on the various committees.

Without a deal, the committee ratios from the last Congress -- when GOP maintained control of the Senate -- will continue. And that means that Biden will need cooperation from Republicans to begin committee consideration, or he'll have to wait until McConnell-Schumer cut a deal

That raises the stakes for the talks between McConnell and Schumer, which hit a snag on Tuesday. The GOP leader wants Schumer to take off the table the possibility that Democrats may try to gut the filibuster

Many Democrats have called for changes to filibuster rules to reduce the threshold to 51 votes, but Schumer lacks enough support within his caucus to invoke the so-called nuclear option to change the rules. Schumer has yet to take it off the table