The Senate convened at 9:30 A.M. and voted to move ahead with a confirmation vote for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s nominee for the Supreme Court, bringing her a step closer to becoming the first Black woman to be elevated to the top of the judicial branch. The vote was 53 to 47 to limit debate on Judge Jackson’s nomination, with three Republicans joining all Democrats in the evenly divided Senate to push forward with her essentially assured confirmation. A vote on final confirmation is expected around 1:45 p.m. While Democrats could have confirmed Jackson on their own with yes votes from all 50 members of their caucus, three Republicans have pledged their support: Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah). Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-New York) announcement of a time agreement means that Republicans agreed to speed up Jackson’s confirmation – not using all their post-cloture time – to allow senators to leave today for the two-week recess. If all 30 hours of post-cloture time were used, the vote on final passage would have been Friday.
Earlier, the Senate voted on passage of H.R.7108, Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act and on H.R.6968, Suspending Energy Imports from Russia Act which is a separate bill to codify the Biden administration’s ban on Russian oil imports . The two bills have been effectively linked together in the Senate and were part of a deal announced on Wednesday night. The bills targeting Russia moved after days of negotiation slowed action on House-passed measures which would also reauthorize sanctions under the Magnitsky Act, that target human rights violations and corruption with asset freezes, visa bans and other penalties. Because the Senate made changes to the legislation to satisfy the objections from Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) over Magnitsky Act language, the package will have to go back to the House today for further consideration. The senate language targets “gross” human rights violations, the original designation from the Trump-era executive order. The House had changed it to be “serious” human rights violations.
The House convened at 9 A.M. and took up H.R. 3807 – Relief for Restaurants and other Hard Hit Small Businesses Act of 2022 which is a $55 billion bill to help restaurants and other small businesses harmed by the covid pandemic, $42 billion of which would go toward increasing the Restaurant Revitalization Grant Program’s funding. The bill does not open the program to new applicants, instead it offers reconsideration for applicants who were denied or qualified when previous aid had run dry. As mentioned, the House will also take up the Senate amended bills, H.R.7108, Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act and on H.R.6968, Suspending Energy Imports from Russia Act.
Both the House and Senate are expected to recess today for the two week Easter break, with the House returning on Tuesday, April 26th and the Senate on Monday, April 25th. Washington, D.C. Daily Update will resume publication on Monday, April 25th.
Adam S. Olsen, Washington, D.C.
