This Week in the Senate: 9/21/2020

This week, the Senate is holding votes on three nominations to the judiciary and three for the executive branch, and the Judiciary Committee will convene a nominations hearing and an executive business meeting.

Floor Action:¹
Monday:

• The Senate will vote at 5:30 pm to invoke cloture on the nomination of Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner partner Edward H. Meyers to be a Judge of the Court of Federal Claims. Meyers, a former law partner of White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, was among the counsel to some of the subjects of the Wisconsin "John Doe" investigation during the Scott Walker administration. Democrats oppose him because of his work in that case and his membership in the National Rifle Association. If confirmed, Meyers would fill a vacancy from January 2016.

Tuesday:

• The Senate will vote to confirm Meyers, and will then vote to invoke cloture on the nominations of Andrea Lucas (R) and Jocelyn Samuels (D) to be members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In the afternoon, the Senate will vote to confirm Lucas and Samuels, and will then vote to invoke cloture on the nomination of Keith Sonderling to be a member of the EEOC. If confirmed, these nominees would fill all of the vacancies on the commission.

Wednesday:

• The Senate will vote to confirm Sonderling, and then will vote to invoke cloture on the nomination of Pima County Superior Court Judge John C. Hinderaker to be a Judge of the District of Arizona, in Tucson. Hinderaker, who was selected by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), is opposed by Republicans for his views on the Second Amendment. If confirmed, he would fill a judicial emergency from March 2019. In the evening, the Senate will vote to invoke cloture on the nomination of Magistrate Judge Roderick C. Young to be a Judge of the Eastern District of Virginia. Young's nomination is noncontroversial, and if confirmed, he would fill a vacancy from August 2019, and could be the first district judge to sit in Newport News in almost 200 years.

Thursday:

• The Senate will vote to confirm Hinderaker and Young.

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

District Court / Court of Federal Claims:

1. The agenda has not yet been announced.

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:

1. Benjamin Joel Beaton, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Kentucky (1)
2. Kristi Haskins Johnson, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi (1)
3. Taylor B. McNeel, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi (1)
4. Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Florida (1)
5. Thompson Michael Dietz, to be a Judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims (1)

Notes:

¹The floor schedule is an approximate guide to when votes may occur. It may not necessarily be completely accurate due to things changing in the Senate during the week.

Update # 1 (9/22/2020): Nominations hearing has been canceled.