This Week in the Senate: 5/20/2019

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

Floor Action:
Monday:

• The Senate will vote to invoke cloture on the nomination of Munger, Tolles & Olson partner Daniel P. Collins to be a judge on the Ninth Circuit at 5:30 pm. Collins does not have blue slips from either of California's Democratic senators, and thus this cloture vote will be along party lines.

Tuesday:

• No votes are expected, due to all 30 hours of post-cloture debate likely to be used on the Collins nomination. The Senate will vote to confirm the Collins nomination, and then will vote to invoke cloture on and confirm the nominations of Cooper & Kirk partner Howard Nielson (for the District of Utah, in Salt Lake City) and Stephen Clark (for the Eastern District of Missouri, in St. Louis). Nielson faces opposition from many senators over his involvement in the California Proposition 8 litigation, and Clark faces controversy over his membership with pro-life groups and associated legal work. 

Wednesday:

• The Senate will vote to confirm the Collins nomination, and then will vote to invoke cloture on and confirm the nominations of Cooper & Kirk partner Howard Nielson (for the District of Utah, in Salt Lake City), Stephen Clark (for the Eastern District of Missouri, in St. Louis), WilmerHale partner Carl Nichols (for the District of Columbia), and McGuireWoods partner Kenneth Bell (for the Western District of North Carolina, in Charlotte). Nielson faces opposition from many senators over his involvement in the California Proposition 8 litigation, and Clark faces controversy over his membership with pro-life groups and associated legal work. Nichols is opposed by Democrats due to work in the Bush Justice Department, and his representation in a religious liberty case. Bell has also been an advocate for pro-life causes, and he called for indicting Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign. As such, all four of these district court nominees are very controversial, and are not expected to receive much Democratic support.

Thursday:

• The Senate will wrap up any business from earlier in the week that runs over. Votes on a compromise disaster aid package are also possible.

On Wednesday, the Judiciary Committee will hold a nominations hearing for the following nominees:

Court of Appeals:

1. Daniel Aaron Bress, to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit

District Court:

1. Michael S. Bogren, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Michigan
2. Stephanie Dawkins Davis, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan
3. Jason K. Pulliam, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Texas
4. Frank William Volk, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia

Court of Federal Claims:

1. David Austin Tapp, to be a Judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims

On Thursday, the Judiciary Committee will 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):

District Court / Court of Federal Claims:

1. Ada E. Brown, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas (2)
2. Steven D. Grimberg, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Georgia (2)
3. David John Novak, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia (2)
4. Matthew H. Solomson, to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (2)

Update # 1 (5/20/2019): Updated floor schedule.
Update # 2 (5/22/2019): Executive Business meeting is not occurring this week.