Wednesday, May 9, 2018

6:21 p.m. Senate adjourns.

6:18 p.m. ML McConnell wraps up for the evening, the following nomination was confirmed by UC: Vice Adm. Karl L. Schultz to be Admiral in the Coast Guard.

5:05 p.m. Senators Shaheen, Cortez Masto and Brown spoke about net neutrality.

5:00 p.m. Senator Klobuchar spoke on the Brennan nomination and the Iran deal.

4:08 p.m. Senators Markey, King, Wyden, Cantwell, Hassan adn Klobuchar spoke about net neutrality.

3:47 p.m. Senator Cornyn spoke about the Haspel nomination.

3:09 p.m. Senator Blunt spoke about judicial nominations.

2:50 p.m. Senator Johnson spoke in favor of the Brennan nomination.

2:24 p.m. Senator Portman spoke about unemployment.

2:07 p.m. Senator Barrasso spoke about unemployment.

2:02 p.m. Senator Durbin spoke about net neutrality.

1:36 p.m. Senator Grassley spoke in favor of the Brennan nomination; and later on the blue slip issue.

1:10 p.m. Senator Blumenthal spoke on the one year anniversary of President Trump firing James Comey; and the attempted undermining of the work of the FBI and other intelligence agencies.

1:05 p.m. On a party line vote of 49-47, cloture was invoked on the nomination of Michael Brennan to be a US Circuit court judge for the 7th circuit.

Senators not voting: 2 Democrats (Donnelly and Duckworth), 2 Republicans (Graham and McCain).

12:37 p.m. Roll call vote began on cloture on the nomination of Michael Brennan to be a US Circuit court judge for the 7th circuit.

12:36 p.m. The Engelhardt nomination was confirmed 62-34.

Senators in favor:  Republicans, 12 Democrats (Bennet, Coons, Heitkamp, Jones, Klobuchar, Leahy, Manchin, McCaskill, Murphy, Nelson, Tester and Warner; 1 Independent: King.

Senators voting against: 33 Democrats, 1 Independent: Sanders.

Senators not voting: Donnelly, Duckworth, Graham, McCain.

12:01 p.m. The Senate is now voting on confirmation of the Engelhardt nomination.

11:48 a.m. Senator Peters spoke about net neutrality.

11:27 a.m. Senator Hatch spoke about the 3 prisoners in North Korea coming home, the detainment of Joshua Holt in Venezuela and the Haspel nomination. He also paid tribute to Assistant Parliamentarian Michael Beaver.

11:11 a.m. Senator Murphy spoke about healthcare.

10:53 a.m. Senator Thune spoke on tax reform.

10:38 a.m. Senator Schumer spoke about teacher appreciate week, blue slip nominations, against the Brennan nomination, and on net neutrality.

10:00 a.m. Majority Leader McConnell spoke about Secretary of State Pompeo’s trip to North Korea, the Gina Haspel nomination, judicial nominations, and on historian Jim Klotter.

****

The Senate will convene at 10:00 a.m. and resume consideration of the nomination of Kurt Engelhardt to be a US Circuit Judge for the 5th Circuit, post-cloture.

At 12:00 p.m., the Senate will proceed to two roll call votes:

  1. Confirmation of the Engelhardt nomination.
  2. Cloture on the nomination of Michael Brennan to be a US Circuit Judge for the 7th Circuit.

Cloture has also been filed on the following nominations

  • Joel Carson to be a US Circuit Judge for the 10th Circuit
  • John Nalbandian to be a US Circuit Judge for the 6th Circuit
  • Michael Scudder to be a US Circuit Judge for the 7th Circuit
  • Amy St. Eve to be a US Circuit Judge for the 7th Circuit

The cloture motions on each nomination will ripen one at a time, after disposition of the previous nomination. Each is subject to up to thirty hours of post-cloture debate.