This Week in the Senate: 3/11/2019

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This week, the Senate is holding votes on three nominations, and the Judiciary Committee will convene a nominations hearing and possibly a business meeting.

Floor Action:
Monday:
  • The Senate will vote at 5:30 pm to invoke cloture on the nomination of Lowenstein Sandler partner Paul B. Matey to be a judge of the Third Circuit. Matey formerly was a counsel to former Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ), and his nomination is opposed by both Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), so this vote will be on party-lines. If Matey is confirmed, he would flip the Third Circuit's en banc composition from 6–6 evenly split to 7–6 Republican (I fully acknowledge how crude this method is to determine the general ideological tilt of the court).
Tuesday:
  • The Senate will vote to confirm Matey and invoke cloture on the nomination of Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Neomi Rao to fill the D.C. Circuit seat vacant by now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh's elevation. Having received a party-line vote in committee, it's likely that Rao will face a similar level of opposition on the floor. Despite the brief period her nomination appeared to be in peril after opposition from Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Tom Cotton (R-AR), they have subsequently made lukewarm statements of support, so she probably will not face any trouble from Republicans on the floor. 
Wednesday:
  • The Senate will vote to confirm Rao and invoke cloture on the nomination of William Beach to be Commissioner of Labor Statistics.
Thursday:
  • The Senate will vote to confirm Beach and will also likely debate the resolution of disapproval relating to President Trump's national emergency declaration.
On Tuesday, the Judiciary Committee will hold a nominations hearing to receive testimony from Munger, Tolles & Olson partner Daniel Collins and Jenner & Block partner Kenneth Lee, both for California vacancies on the Ninth Circuit. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) have been ardently opposed to these nominees moving forward, so this will be one to watch.

On Thursday, the Judiciary Committee might will not hold an executive session to vote on and/or hold over the following nominations (the number in the parentheses appearing after the nominee's name signifies whether this is the first or second time appearing on the agenda; first-time appearances are typically held over and nominees appearing for the second time usually receive votes):
Court of Appeals:
  1. None
District Court:
  1. James Wesley Hendrix, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas (1)
  2. Sean D. Jordan, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas (1)
  3. Mark T. Pittman, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas (1)
Department of Justice:
  1.  None announced
The Senate could consider the reported Rules Committee resolution changing postcloture time rules this week, but a vote has not been scheduled.

Update # 1 (3/22/2019): The executive business meeting did not occur.

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