After invoking cloture during a rare weekend session, the Senate is set to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court later today. This vote is likely to be the last vote before the elections.
News and updates
What We’re Reading this Week (October 19th-23rd, 2020)
Keep up with what’s happening in DC. Below is a selection of articles the Federal Relations team read this week.
SCOTUS Confirmation: The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to confirm Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court, with Democrats absent in protest. Democrats later forced a closed-door session in a failed attempt to stall bringing her nomination to the floor. The full Senate vote is scheduled for Monday. Full story.
Presidential Debate: In the final presidential debate on Thursday, candidates Biden and Trump squared off. Recap here.
Sudan-Israel Policy Win: The White House announced, alongside Israel and Sudan, that Sudan and Israel will normalize relations, following a similar move by the UAE and Bahrain. The announcement came after Sudan agreed to pay over $300 million to compensate victims of terrorism, and the US agreed to remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Story here.
Facebook and Twitter Subpoenaed: The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve subpoenas for the CEOs of Facebook and Twitter. The majority is seeking a hearing, before election day, to review how the two companies restricted a NY Post story about Hunter Biden. The story was being checked for misinformation, according to the platforms, and contained “hacked material”. More here.
Judge Rules in Air Force Lawsuit: Judge Michael Fitzgerald of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled that a sexual assault lawsuit against Air Force Gen. John Hyten can proceed. Gen. Hyten, now serving as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is accused of assaulting a now-retired colleague in a hotel room. Full story.
Supreme Court Nominee Heads to Senate Vote
As expected, the Senate Judiciary Committee cleared yesterday the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court.
With the committee Democrats boycotting the Judiciary Committee activities, her nomination was approved 12 – 0 by the Republicans. The full Senate could take up her nomination as soon as next Monday. Read more about the developments here and here.
Committee to Vote on SCOTUS Nomination as Dems Boycott
With the committee Democrats boycotting, the Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans are scheduled this morning to vote on the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett. Democrats have argued that the committee Republicans are violating the rules of the committee by voting without the presence of at least two members of the minority party. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has scheduled a vote on Judge Barrett’s nomination before the full Senate for next Monday.
Stimulus Bill Fails in Senate
The Senate today voted on a GOP-introduced $500 billion stimulus package, however the bill failed on a 51-44 vote.
Negotiations continue between House Democrats and the Administration. The two sides are potentially very close to reaching a deal on an almost $2 trillion package. Senate Majority leadership reportedly does not support such a large price tag. An agreement would need to be reached between the House, Senate, and Administration in the next few days in order to pass both chambers and be signed into law before the November 3rd elections.
Updates here.