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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.

New DARPA Director Announced

Yesterday the Department of Defense announced Dr. Victoria Coleman will be the new Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). She is an expert in artificial intelligence and has until now been the CEO of Atlas AI. Dr. Coleman is the third woman to ever hold the position. Full story here.

Michael Kratsios Appointed to Key Defense Research Position

US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has named Michael Kratsios to be Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. Until now, Kratsios has been serving as the White House Chief Technology Officer, and will replace former-NASA Administrator Michael Griffin in his new role.

Prior to starting at the White House, Kratsios held several positions in the financial sector of increasing scope and responsibility. He has a BA from Princeton and was a visiting scholar at Tsinghua University in Beijing.