Thursday, January 23, 2025

2:24 p.m. By a vote of 74-25, the Senate confirmed the nomination of John Ratcliffe to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

1:49 p.m. The Senate began voting on confirmation of the Ratcliffe nomination.

1:25 p.m. Senator Wicker spoke in suppport of the Hegseth nomination.

12:45 p.m. Senators Shaheen and Reed spoke against the nomination of Pete Hegseth to be the Secretary of Defense.

12:08 p.m. Senator Cornyn spoke on inflation.

11:54 a.m. Senator Hawley spoke about abortion.

11:53 a.m. By a vote of 72-26, The #enate invoked cloture on the nomination of John Ratcliffe to be Director of the CIA.

  • Senators Fetterman and Hagerty did not vote
  • Senators who are Democratic/independents voting in favor- Alsobrooks, Bennett, Booker, Coons, Durbin, Gallego, Gillibrand, Hassan, Hickenlooper, Kaine, Kelly, Kim, King, Klobuchar, Peters, Rosen, Shaheen, Slotkin, Warner, and Whitehouse.

11:09 a.m. The Senate is now voting on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of John Ratcliffe to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

10:59 a.m. Senator Durbin spoke against the nomination of Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense and then spoke on drug costs.

10:53 a.m. Senator Barrasso spoke in favor of the nominations of John Ratcliffe to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Pete Hegselth to be Secretary of the Department of Defense and other pending cabinet level nominations.

10:40 a.m. Democratic Leader Schumer spoke against the nominations of John Ratcliffe to be CIA Director, Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense and Russell Vought to be Director of OMB. He then spoke on the recent executive orders signed by President Trump.

10:30 a.m. Majority Leader Thune filed cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 23, Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act

10:29 a.m. Majority Leader Thune filed cloture on the nomination of Sean Duffy to be Secretary of the Department of Transportation.

10:23 a.m. Majority Leader Thune spoke about the filibuster. He then spoke in favor of the nomination of Sean Duffy to be Secretary of the Department of Transportation.

10:03 a.m. Senator Grassley spoke on Chinese adoptions and the 30 year anniversary of the Contract with America.

10:00 a.m. The Senate convened.

***

The Senate will convene at 10:00 a.m. and following any Leader remarks will be in a period of morning business.

At approximately 11:00 a.m., the Senate vote on cloture on the nomination of John Ratcliffe to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

If cloture is invoked, there will be up to 2 hours of debate. Following the use or yielding back of time, the Senate will proceed to two roll call votes:

1. Confirmation of the Ratcliffe nomination.
2. Cloture on the nomination of Peter Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense.

If cloture is invoked, there are up to 30 hours of debate prior to a vote on confirmation of the Hegseth nomination.

Further votes are possible.

Cloture has also been filed on the following nominations:
1. Kristi Noem to be Secretary of Homeland Security.
2. Scott Bessent to be Secretary of the Treasury.