5:00 p.m. The Senate adjourned and will reconvene at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, March 5. They will resume consideration of Karen Gren Scholer to be U.S. District Judge for TX. There will be 3 votes at 5:30 p.m.
- Karen Gren Scholer to be U.S. District Judge for TX
- Tillman Self III to be U.S. District Judge for GA
- Terry Doughty to be U.S. District Judge for LA.
During wrap-up, the following Executive nominations were confirmed en bloc by voice vote:
- Gregory Doud to be Chief Agricultural Negotiator
- Jason Kearns to be a Member of the U.S. International Trade Commission
- Dennis Shea to be Deputy U.S. Trade Representative
- C.J. Mahoney to be a Deputy U.S. Trade Representative
Executive Calendar numbers 700-709 were also confirmed en bloc by voice vote.
The following bills were confirmed by voice vote:
- S. 1621-require the FCC to establish a methodology for the collection by the Commission of information about commercial mobile service.
- H.R. 3656-amend title 38
- S. 2248-amend title 38
- S. 2372-amend title 38
- S. Res. 419
- S. Res. 420
- S. Res. 421
- S. Res. 422
- S. Res. 423
4:28 p.m. Senator Markey spoke about North Korea.
2:06 p.m. ML McConnell moves to proceed to S. 2155, and files cloture on the motion.
2:05 p.m. Cloture was invoked on the Doughty nomination, 94-2; with Senators Hirono and Merkley voting no and Senators Cardin, Flake, McCain and Rounds not voting.
1:30 p.m. Roll call vote began on cloture on the nomination of Terry Doughty to be US District Judge for the Western District of Louisiana.
1:23 p.m. Senators Klobuchar and Smith paid tribute to Minnesotans who participated in the recent winter Olympics.
1:02 p.m Senator Wicker spoke on Iran.
1:01 p.m Cloture was invoked on the Self nomination, 85-12. Senators voting against: 11 Democrats: Booker, Gillibrand, Harris, Hirono, Markey, Menendez, Merkley, Peters, Schatz, Stabenow and Warren; 1 Independent: Sanders.
12:44 p.m. Roll call vote began on cloture on the nomination of Tilman Self to be US District Judge for the middle district of Georgia.
12:43 p.m. Cloture was invoked on the Scholer nomination, 96-1, with Senator Hirono voting no and Senators Flake, McCain and Rounds not voting.
12:25 p.m. Roll call vote began on cloture on the nomination of Karen Scholer to be US District Judge for the Northern District of Texas.
12:24 p.m The Quattlebaum nomination was confirmed 69-28.
Senators voting in favor: 50 Republicans, 18 Democrats (Baldwin, Bennet, Carper, Coons, Cortez Masto, Donnelly, Hassan, Heitkamp, Hirono, Jones, Kaine, Manchin, McCaskill, Nelson, Reed, Shaheen, Warner and Whitehouse), 1 Independent (King).
Senators voting against: 27 Democrats, 1 Independent (Sanders).
Senators not voting: 3 Republicans: Flake, McCain and Rounds.
11:46 a.m. The Senate began voting on confirmation of A. Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr. to be U.S. District Judge for the District of South Carolina.
11:42 p.m. Senator Rubio spoke about Stop School Violence Act.
11:27 p.m. Senator Gillibrand spoke about the Parkland shooting and the NRA.
11:17 a.m. Senator Sanders spoke about war powers.
11:03 a.m. Senator Kaine spoke about firearm legislation.
10:44 a.m. Senator Cornyn spoke about William Barrett Travis, tax cuts, and the shooting in Sutherland Springs TX.
10:24 a.m. Senator Cardin spoke about students protesting gun violence.
10:05 a.m. Majority Leader McConnell spoke about the late Rev. Billy Graham and about tax cuts.
10:04 a.m. H.R. 1665, Disaster Declaration Improvement Act was read for a second time and placed on the calendar (Rule 14).
10:00 a.m. The Senate convened and resumed consideration of A. Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr., of South Carolina, to be United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina, post cloture.
*****
The Senate will convene at 10:00 a.m. and resume consideration of the nomination of Marvin Quattlebaum to be a United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina, post-cloture.
There will be 3 votes beginning at 11:45 a.m.:
- Confirmation of the Quattlebaum nomination.
- Cloture on the nomination of Karen Scholer, to be US District Judge for the Northern District of Texas.
- Cloture on the nomination of Tilman Self to be US District Judge for the Middle District of Georgia.
There will be 1 vote at 1:30 p.m.
Cloture on the nomination of Terry Doughty to be US District Judge for the Western District of Louisiana.
If cloture is invoked on any of the nominations, the confirmation votes will occur at 5:30pm on Monday, March 5th, in the order in which cloture was invoked:
- Confirmation of the Scholer nomination.
- Confirmation of the Self nomination.
- Confirmation of the Doughty nomination.