The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to wrap later today its third and last day of questioning of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. During the hearing earlier this morning, the committee agreed to officially vote on her nomination next Thursday, October 22, at 1 PM ET.
Category: On the Hill
So It Begins
After much back and forth between the two parties and between Senate Democrats and the White House for the past several weeks, the confirmation process for the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court kicks off today with the first day of her confirmation hearing, which is scheduled to last four days. The rest of Congress is currently in recess. Two of the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, which is holding the hearing, have tested for COVID-19. Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for Vice President, is also a member of the committee.
Read more about the confirmation hearing and the process here and here.
Senate Schedule Scrambled
With a flood of COVID-19-related developments unfolding over the weekend in our nation’s capital, the Senate schedule has been scrambled for at least the next several weeks.
As at least three GOP Senators have tested positive for the illness– Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin– and a number of others are in quarantine as a result of exposure to them, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that Senate floor activities would be postponed at least until the week of October 19. However, he added that the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett would take place as scheduled the week of October 12. Both Tillis and Lee are members of the Judiciary, which will consider the nomination.
Even if the hearings can take place next week– most likely virtually for several Senators– it remains to be seen when votes on the nomination might actually take place in the committee and on the floor, as a quorum must be present for votes to take place. Democrats have argued that it makes no sense to proceed while the floor proceedings are halted.
House Passes Continuing Resolution
The House passed a continuing resolution (“CR”), H.R. 8337, to fund the Federal Government through December 11th, 2020 and avoid a potential shutdown. The bipartisan resolution passed 359-57 and is part of a deal reached by House Democrats, Senate Republicans, and the Administration. The CR must still pass in the Senate and be signed by the President. The full story is available here.
As of now, all 12 FY 2021 appropriations bills have passed in the House, but none have passed in the Senate, indicating a likely long road ahead.
Meanwhile, the FY2021 Appropriations Bills Move Along
While most of the public’s attention is focused on the difficult negotiations that may or may not be taking placing on the next COVID relief package, the clock continues to count down to the start of FY2021.
The House is working to adopt a second “minibus” of spending bills before this weekend. Instead of taking up a seven-bill package as originally planned, the chamber is now considering one made up of six pieces, having removed the almost-always-controversial Homeland Security measure from the minibus. More than 300 amendments are expected to be debated before a vote to adopt the legislation.
This week’s package is made up of: Commerce-Justice-Science; Defense; Energy and Water; Labor-HHS-Education; Financial Services-General Government; and Transportation-HUD bills. Last week, the House cleared the Agriculture, Interior, State-Foreign Operations, and VA-Military Construction measures. This leaves the Homeland Security and Legislative Branch bills for future consideration.
The Senate still has yet to produce any of the 12 bills.