This Week in the Senate: 12/7/2020

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This week, the Senate is holding votes on five nominations, including one to the judiciary, and the Judiciary Committee will convene an executive business meeting.

Floor Action:¹
Monday:
  • The Senate will vote at 5:30 pm to invoke cloture on the nomination of Schaerr Jaffe partner Stephen S. Schwartz to be a Judge of the Court of Federal Claims. Democrats oppose Schwartz for his work on voter ID litigation, among other cases. If confirmed, he would fill a vacancy from 2018.
Tuesday:
  • The Senate will vote to confirm Schwartz, and will then vote to invoke cloture on (and confirm) the nomination of Nathan Simington to the Federal Communications Commission.
Wednesday:
  • The Senate will vote to confirm the nominations of Allen Dickerson, Shana Broussard, and Sean Cooksey to be Members of the Federal Election Commission.
Thursday:
  • The Senate will consider the conference report for H.R. 6395, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, and H.R. 8900, a one-week continuing resolution.
Friday:
  • The Senate will vote to adopt the conference report for the NDAA and will vote to pass the continuing resolution.
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):
    Court of Appeals:
    1. Thomas L. Kirsch II, to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit (2)
      District Court / Court of Federal Claims:
      1. Charles Edward Atchley, Jr., to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee (2)
      2. Katherine A. Crytzer, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee (2)
      3. Joseph Dawson III, to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of South Carolina (2)
      4. Zachary N. Somers, to be a Judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims (2)
              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.

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