8:37 p.m. The The Senate adjourned and will reconvene at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 17. They will resume consideration of the nomination of Atul Atmaram Gawande to be an Assistant Administrator of the USAID with a cloture vote on the nomination to occur at 10:00 a.m. Further roll call votes are expected throughout the day.

Confirmed during wrap up:
Cal. #622-Thomas Barrett to be Ambassador to Luxembourg
Cal. #629-Shannon Corless to be Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis , Dept. of Treasury
Cal. #630-Kurt DelBene to be an Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Cal. #595-Lisa Wang to be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce
Cal. #596-Maria Lago to be Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade
Cal. #607-Rear. Adm. Collin Green to be Vice Admiral
Cal. #608-Adm. Christopher Grady to be Admiral

8:26 p.m. Senator Sullivan spoke about the Alaskan of the Week.

8:15 p.m. Senator Hasan spoke in favor of changing Senate rules to allow for consideration of voting rights legislation.

8:10 p.m. Senator Cantwell asked for U.C. to confirm Grant Harris, to be Asst Secy of Commerce and Mohsin Raza Syed, VA, to be Asst Secy of Transportation. Senator Scott, FL, objected.

7:41 p.m. Senator Tester asked for UC to confirm Amitabha Bose, NJ, to be Admin of the Federal Railroad Administration. Senator Scott (FL) objected.

7:40 p.m. Senator Tester asked UC to confirm Meera Joshi to be Administrator for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Senator Scott (FL) objected.

7:21 p.m. Senator Baldwin offered an unanimous consent to confirm Christopher Coes, GA, to be Asst Secy of Transportation. Senator Scott of Florida objected.

7:18 p.m. Senator Cantwell offered an unanimous consent to confirm Max Vekich, WA, to be Federal Maritime Commission. Senator Scott of Florida objected.

7:15 p.m. Senate confirmed Karen Hedlund, CO, to be Member of the Surface Transportation Board by unanimous consent. Senator Cantwell spoke on Maritime issues.

7:10 p.m. H.R. 3537 passed by unanimous consent.

7:05 p.m. By a vote of 85 to 5 the Senate confirmed the nomination of Rashad Hussain, VA, to be Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom.

6:24 p.m. By a vote of 76-13, the nomination of Ramin Toloui, IA, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Economic and Business Affairs).

6:55 p.m. The Senate began voting on the nomination of Ramin Toloui, IA, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Economic and Business Affairs).

6:51 p.m. By a vote of 75-18, the nomination of Nicholas Burns to be Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China was confirmed. Voting no: Senators Blackburn, Boozman, Braun, Cotton, Hagerty, Hawley, Hoeven, Hyde-Smith, Inhofe, Lankford, Lee, Marshall, Paul, Rubio, Scott (FL), Scott (SC), Tuberville, Wicker. Not voting: Cassidy, Cramer, Ernst, Fischer, Johnson, Lummis, Rounds.

5:08 p.m. The Senate began a roll call vote on confirmation of Nicholas Burns to be Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China.

5:04 p.m. Senator Menendez spoke on the Burns, Toloui, and Hussain nominations.

4:53 p.m. Senator Leahy spoke on the Burns, Toloui, and Hussain nominations as well as the NDAA.

4:51 p.m. Senator Risch spoke in support of the Burns, Toloui, and Hussain nominations.

4:36 p.m. Senator Sullivan spoke on the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act anniversary.

4:19 p.m. Senator Lee spoke opposing vaccine mandates.

3:50 p.m. Senator Murkowski spoke on elections, voting laws and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

3:25 p.m. Senator Klobuchar spoke on elections and voting laws.

3:23 p.m. By a vote of 50-46, the Senate agreed to the motion to discharge from Judiciary PN1169 Holly A. Thomas to be US Circuit Judge for the 9th Circuit.

Not voting: Senators Cassidy, Cramer, Lummis and Rounds.

2:39 p.m. The Senate began a roll call vote on the motion to discharge the nomination of Holly A. Thomas to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit from the Judiciary Committee.

2:38 p.m. Senator Durbin spoke in support of the Thomas nomination.

2:31 p.m. Senator Sullivan spoke against the Thomas nomination.

2:29 p.m. Senator Durbin spoke about the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization.

2:13 p.m. Senator Murkowski spoke on the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization.

2:09 p.m. Senator Feinstein spoke on the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization and in support of the Holly Thomas nomination.

2:00 p.m. Senator Ernst spoke on violent convicted criminals owning firearms.

12:45 p.m. The Senate adopted by unanimous consent H.R. 6256, to ensure that goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China do not enter the United States market, and for other purposes, and then, as part of the unanimous request, at 4:30 p.m. the Senate will have 3 votes:

• Confirmation of Exec. Cal. #525, R. Nicholas Burns, MA, to be Ambassador to China
• Confirmation of Exec. Cal. #626, Ramin Toloui, IA, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Economic and Business Affairs)
• Confirmation of Exec. Cal. #619, Rashad Hussain, VA, to be Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom

12:33 p.m. Senator Lankford spoke about Build Back Better.

12:27 p.m. Senator Hirono spoke about voting rights and Build Back Better.

11:51 a.m. Senator Barrasso spoke on crime and the Rollins nomination.

11:29 a.m. Senator Cornyn spoke about Russia, the filibuster, government spending and immigration.

11:02 a.m. Senator Cardin spoke about nominations and asked unanimous consent for P.N. #231 Dilawar Syed be confirmed as Deputy Administer for the Small Business Administration. Senator Paul objected.

10:50 a.m. Senator Thune spoke about government spending and abortion.

10: 33 a.m. Senator Durbin paid tribute to Senate Bill Clerk Sara Schwartzman and Lithuania.

10:23 a.m. RL McConnell spoke about the tornadoes in Kentucky, spending, voting rights and paid tribute to Senate Bill Clerk Sara Schwartzman.

10:11 a.m. ML Schumer spoke about Senator Reed reaching his 8,000 vote in the Senate, the upcoming nominations and paid tribute to Senate Bill Clerk Sara Schwartzman, who is leaving the Senate to work for NASA.

The Senate will convene at 10am and following Leader remarks, will resume consideration of Executive Calendar #528 Atul Gawande to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

The Senate will recess from 1:00pm until 2:00pm to allow for a Democratic caucus meeting.

We expect ML Schumer to move to discharge the nomination of Holly Thomas to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit from the Judiciary Committee. Once the motion is made, there would be up to 4 hours of debate prior to a vote on the motion to discharge. This vote is expected this afternoon. Further votes are possible during today’s session.

As a reminder, ML Schumer filed cloture on the following nominations last night (would ripen on Friday):

1. Atul Gawande to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

2. Linda Lopez to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of California.

3. Jinsook Ohta to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of California.

4. David Urias to be United States District Judge for the District of New Mexico.

5. Maame Frimpong to be United States District Judge for the Central District of California.

6. Jane Beckering to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Michigan.

7. Shalina Kumar to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan.

8. Jennifer Thurston to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of California.

9. Katherine Menendez to be United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota.

10. Mary Dimke to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington.

11. Julissa Pantaleon to be Ambassador to Spain and Andorra.

12. Rahm Emanuel to be Ambassador to Japan.

13. Jack Markell to be Representative of the United States of America to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

14. Bathsheba Crocker to be Representative of the United States of America to the Office of the United Nations.

15. Mark Gitenstein to be Representative of the United States of America to the European Union.

16. Denise Bauer to be Ambassador to the French Republic and Monaco.

17. Nicholas Burns to be Ambassador to China.

18. Claire Cronin to be Ambassador to Ireland.

19. Marcela Escobari to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

20. Marc Evans Knapper to be Ambassador to Vietnam.

21. Rufus Gifford to be Chief of Protocol with the rank of Ambassador.

22. Gabriel Sanchez, of California, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit.