Both the House and Senate are in session today, as lawmakers are facing a busy week as they juggle multiple priorities with only days until they are set to leave town on Friday until late April. The looming break has Congress scrambling to wrap up negotiations on bipartisan legislative priorities, including coronavirus aid and Russia trade legislation, while Democrats will also take steps on Monday to allow them to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, by the end of the week. The Senate Judiciary Committee met at 10 a.m. to debate and vote on whether to advance the nomination to the full Senate. The committee meeting could drag on most of the day, with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) indicating he will let all senators on the 22-member committee speak. The committee vote is expected to deadlock in a 11-11 tie, the first time a Supreme Court nominee has faced a tied committee vote since Justice Clarence Thomas’s nomination. Once the committee deadlocks on Jackson’s nomination, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) is expected to move to discharge her nomination from the committee and to the full Senate. That vote is expected to happen tonight, putting her on a path to be confirmed by Friday.
For today, as stated, the Senate will convene at 3:00 P.M. and consider the motion to discharge the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to be Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from the Committee on the Judiciary. Once the motion is made, there would then be up to 4 hours of debate, equally divided, prior to a vote on the motion. That vote is not expected before 5:30 p.m.
The House will reconvene for votes at 6:30 P.M. and is expected to consider four bills under suspension of the Rules from the Energy and Commerce Committee.
