Since 2001, Senate rules require a unanimous vote to change the presidency. During his presidency, he backed many nominations and some public policy positions of Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá. Some nominations failed to obtain the Senate's consent, two through rejection, others through inaction or withdrawal by the governor following the Senate president's "advice" to do so. He participated in the multilateral negotiations between the governor, the Speaker, McClintock, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Juan, the Episcopal bishop for the Diocese of Puerto Rico and several Protestant leaders, in breaking the logjam that led to the end of a two-week-long government shutdown in May 2006.