In what is shaping up to be a busy day, the House reconvened at 11:00 A.M. for the purpose of receiving, in a Joint Meeting with the Senate, His Excellency Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic.
At 2:30 P.M., the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R.7691, a bill to provide aid to Ukraine, post-cloture. Last night, the Senate voted to advance the package of $40 billion in more aid for Ukraine in its war against Russia, setting the stage for a vote on the bill possibly later this week, after the military and humanitarian assistance was delayed due to opposition from Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky). Paul said he wanted an inspector general to be appointed to oversee the funds but declined an offer from Senate leaders to hold an amendment vote on his proposal. Changing the bill would force the House to vote on it again, causing further delay. The tally was 81 to 11 on the first of a potential three procedural votes paving the way for final Senate passage of the funding. The Republican senators who voted against the Ukraine aid are: Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee), John Boozman (Arkansas), Mike Braun (Indiana), Mike Crapo (Idaho), Bill Hagerty (Tennessee), Josh Hawley (Missouri), Mike Lee (Utah), Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming), Roger Marshall (Kansas), Rand Paul (Kentucky) and Tommy Tuberville (Alabama).
The Senate is also expected to consider Motions to invoke cloture on the nominations of Jennifer Louise Rochon to be US District Judge for the Southern District of New York, Trina L. Thompson to be US District Judge for the Northern District of California and Sunshine Suzanne Sykes to be US District Judge for the Central District of California.
The House is expected to take up fourteen bills under suspension of the Rules, as well as a bill naming a post office. The House is also expected to complete Consideration of H.R. 7309 – Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2022 and begin work on H.R. 6531 – Targeting Resources to Communities in Need Act of 2022.
