The Senate voted 52-43 Tuesday to confirm Lael Brainard, a member of the Federal Reserve Board, to become vice chair, but fell short of the votes needed to move forward with Lisa Cook’s nomination to join the board. Democrats didn’t have the votes needed to invoke cloture and limit debate on Cook’s nomination after Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Chris Murphy of Connecticut tested positive for COVID-19. With Vice President Kamala Harris also out because of COVID-19, the Democrats wouldn’t have been able to even break a tie and it failed, 47 to 51. Previously, a Banking Committee vote to advance Cook’s nomination to the floor ended in a 12-12 tie, requiring the Senate to take an additional vote to discharge her nomination from committee. The tally was 50-49 in that vote. Tuesday’s vote is unlikely to be the end of Cook’s nomination, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) changing his vote to no and filing a motion to reconsider Cook’s nomination at a later date. Leader Schumer followed the Cook vote by withdrawing his motion to invoke cloture on Alvaro Bedoya to be a member of the Federal Trade Commission, avoiding a similar outcome for another nominee. Harris broke a Senate tie last month to discharge his nomination from committee. Bedoya’s confirmation would break a partisan 2-2 deadlock on the commission.
For today, the Senate will consider the nomination of Sherilyn Peace Garnett to be United States District Judge for the Central District of California.
The House convened at 12:00 P.M. and is considering 15 bills under suspension of the Rules including H.Res. 336 – Calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to provide evidence or to release United States citizen Paul Whelan.
Senate Democrats said Tuesday they are planning to combine new supplemental appropriations for Ukraine, which President Joe Biden is expected to formally request later this week, with a COVID-19 aid measure that stalled earlier this month in an effort to move both quickly to President Biden’s desk. But Republicans warned that pairing the more popular Ukraine aid with the $10 billion pandemic funding measure would not guarantee smooth passage if Senate Majority Leader Schumer declines to allow amendments. Republican senators said Tuesday they prefer the COVID-19 and Ukraine aid remain separate but if combined they will still demand an amendment vote codifying the Title 42 directive that has allowed Customs and Border Protection to deny U.S. entry to asylum-seeking migrants on public health grounds. The Biden administration has said it would lift Title 42 by May 23rd. But Republicans and a growing number of Democrats have expressed support for allowing Title 42 to remain in place through the duration of the public health emergency. The original $10 billion pandemic aid package only included funds for domestic needs and left out $5 billion for international aid to provide vaccines and other supplies to vulnerable populations overseas. As Senate Democrats eye a single bill combining COVID-19 and Ukraine aid, they said the pandemic funding will likely go beyond the $10 billion initially proposed. That $10 billion came from a bipartisan agreement Leader Schumer negotiated with Senator Mitt Romney, (R-Utah), and other Republicans based on how much offsetting funds they could agree to from repurposing unspent funds from other pandemic aid accounts.
