Biden Cabinet Confirmation Live Thread ***hearings, votes, etc.***

[AndyHogan14]

Well we see now why Mitch didn't let Garland have a hearing. He would have been confirmed easily.

Yeah, it's too bad that the President of the Senate doesn't have any real power...it would have been nice to have Biden stroll into the Senate and force a vote. Ha!

The president of the senate is Queen Kamala, not Joe Biden.

But when Garland was nominated to fill Scalia's seat, Biden was indeed King of the Senate.

[AndyHogan14]

Cloture has been filed for Granholm.

[AndyHogan14]

Motion to limit debate (cloture) on Linda Thomas-Greenfield is agreed to, 75-20.

EDIT: It seems like the final vote on Thomas-Greenfield will be immediately after the Vilsack vote.

EDIT (2): So, I was a little confused, but I think I have it now. Tomorrow, they will first vote on LTG as US representative to the UN Security Council (at 11:30am) followed by a cloture vote for her to be the representative to the UN General Assembly (immediately following). Then, there's the Vilsack vote at 2:30 and then, the final LTG vote immediately following that.

[AndyHogan14]

UPDATED SCHEDULE:
February 23
9:30am • Garland (Hearing; Judiciary • Day 2)
9:30am • Haaland (Hearing; Energy)
10:00am • Becerra (Hearing; HELP)
11:30am • Thomas-Greenfield (Senate Vote; Sec. Council)
Thomas-Greenfield (Cloture; Gen. Assembly)*
2:45pm • Vilsack (Senate Vote)
Thomas-Greenfield (Senate Vote; Gen. Assembly)*
*Immediately following the previous vote

February 24
10:00 • Tanden (Committee Vote; HSGAC)
2:30pm • Guzman (Committee Vote; SBE)
TBA • Tanden (Committee Vote; Budget)

February 25
10:00am • Tai (Hearing; Finance)

March 1
TBA • Garland (Committee Vote; Judiciary)

***

Non-Cabinet-Level
Adeyemo (Hearing, 2/23 at 10am)
Burns (Hearing, 2/24 at 10am)
Murthy/Levine (Hearing, 2/25 at 10am)
Gensler/Chopra (Hearing, 3/2 at 10am)

***

Confirmed
Blinken, Yellen, Austin, Buttigieg, McDonough, Mayorkas, Haines

Awaiting Full Senate Vote
Vilsack (2/23), Thomas-Greenfield (2/23), Raimondo (TBA), Fudge (TBA), Granholm (TBA), Walsh (TBA), Cardona (TBA), Rouse (TBA), Regan (TBA)

Awaiting Committee Vote
Guzman (2/24), Garland (3/1), Tanden (2/24; HSGAC), Tanden (2/24; Budget)

Awaiting Committee Hearing
Garland (2/23), Haaland (2/23), Becerra (2/23), Tai (2/25)

Committee Hearings Not Yet Scheduled
Lander

***

So it's down to Murkowski (or some GOP Senators not showing up) to save Tanden at this point...she's hanging on by a thread. Today, Schumer filed cloture for Granholm, but no dates have been set for any votes (he did say that both Granholm and Cardona are next to be confirmed). Thomas-Greenfield's nomination to the UN Security Council was advanced by a 75-20 vote and her final vote for that position will be tomorrow morning at 11:30. Her second post (General Assembly) will have a cloture vote directly following the 11:30am vote with a final vote for that post coming after the Vilsack vote. So, we have four votes tomorrow (albeit for two people), hopefully that is the pace that we will see going forward to break the logjam of committee approved nominees.

[AndyHogan14]

Linda Thomas-Greenfield is easily confirmed to her first position as representative to the UN Security Council, 78-20. There is now going to be a vote on limiting debate (cloture) on her second post as representative to the general assembly.

Later on in the afternoon, there will be a vote on Tom Vilsack followed by LTG's final vote.

[AndyHogan14]

Cloture has been invoked for Linda Thomas-Greenfield's nomination (77-20) to be representative to the UN General Assembly with the final vote coming later on this afternoon. Earlier, she was confirmed (78-20) to be US representative to the Security Council. Vilsack's vote is expected to take place at 2:15 and right after that is when Thomas-Greenfield's final vote will take place.

[AndyHogan14]

Debate has begun for the Vilsack nomination. A vote will take place after 40 minutes of debate, so I'd say that the vote will probably take place at around 3pm ET.

EDIT: Debate wrapped up early (I probably should have expected that). They are voting now.

[AndyHogan14]

Vilsack is easily confirmed 92-7 but he comes up just short of matching Lloyd Austin for the most voting "aye" (Austin got 93). The final vote for Thomas-Greenfield is happening right now.

The nays for Vilsack were:
Sullivan
Rubio
Scott (FL)
Paul
Hawley
Cruz
Sanders

EDIT: Shaheen was the Senator not voting.

[AndyHogan14]

The final vote of the day is now over and Linda Thomas-Greenfield has now been confirmed as representative to the UN Security Council and General Assembly. For both votes, she received 78 ayes and 20-21 nays (Toomey didn't vote in the morning).

The nays for Thomas-Greenfield were as follows (20-21):
Shelby
Tuberville
Cotton
Rubio
Scott (FL)
Braun
Ernst
Grassley
Marshall
Hawley
Daines
Sasse
Cramer
Hoeven
Lankford
Toomey*
Scott (SC)
Blackburn
Hagerty
Cruz
Barrasso

Not Voting (1-2):
Toomey*
Paul**
Shaheen***

*Toomey did not vote when they were considering her nomination to the Security Council, but voted nay in the General Assembly vote.
**Paul did not vote in the morning, but voted aye in the afternoon.
***Shaheen voted aye in the morning vote, but did not vote in the afternoon.

EDIT: I originally had Paul as not voting in both situations, he did not vote in the morning and voted aye in the afternoon and it was the exact opposite for Shaheen.

[AndyHogan14]

Schumer just filed cloture for Cardona (he did the same for Granholm yesterday).

[AndyHogan14]

UPDATED SCHEDULE:
February 24
10:00am • Tanden (Committee Vote; HSGAC)
10:00am • Haaland (Hearing; Energy)
2:00pm • Becerra (Hearing; Finance)
2:30pm • Guzman (Committee Vote; SBE)
4:00pm • Granholm (Cloture Vote)
TBA • Tanden (Committee Vote; Budget)

February 25
10:00am • Tai (Hearing; Finance)

March 1
TBA • Garland (Committee Vote; Judiciary)

***

Non-Cabinet-Level
Burns (Hearing, 2/24 at 10am)
Murthy/Levine (Hearing, 2/25 at 10am)
Gensler/Chopra (Hearing, 3/2 at 10am)

***

Confirmed
Blinken, Yellen, Austin, Vilsack, Buttigieg, McDonough, Mayorkas, Haines, Thomas-Greenfield

Awaiting Full Senate Vote
Granholm (Cloture; 2/24), Raimondo (TBA), Fudge (TBA), Walsh (TBA), Cardona (TBA), Rouse (TBA), Regan (TBA)

Awaiting Committee Vote
Guzman (2/24), Tanden (2/24; HSGAC), Tanden (2/24; Budget), Garland (3/1)

Awaiting Committee Hearing
Haaland (2/24), Becerra (2/24), Tai (2/25)

Committee Hearings Not Yet Scheduled
Lander

***

With Vilsack and Thomas-Greenfield getting confirmed, we finally have some new members of the cabinet for the first time in a while! Tomorrow is shaping up to be another busy day with more hearings on both Haaland and Becerra as well as the committee votes for Tanden—it will be very interesting to see if she clears both committees tomorrow. Also, Granholm will get her cloture vote tomorrow with a full Senate vote probably coming on Thursday. With Schumer filing cloture for Cardona today, I would probably expect a cloture vote on Thursday with a final vote on Friday but we will see. It also seems as if Raimondo is going to be next after Granholm and Cardona.

EDIT: Tanden's committee votes have been postponed.

[AndyHogan14]

Guzman received a 15-5 vote today by the Small Business Committee. She has now been added to the logjam waiting for a full Senate vote.

[AndyHogan14]

Voting has begun to invoke cloture on Granholm's nomination.

[AndyHogan14]

Motion to limit debate (cloture) for the Granholm is agreed to, 67-32. I'm assuming Schumer will schedule a cloture vote for Cardona and a final vote for Granholm soon...

EDIT: Earlier today, Schumer filed cloture for Raimondo and Rouse. They will be next, after Granholm and Cardona.

[AndyHogan14]

https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1364714399634710531?s=20

[AndyHogan14]

UPDATED SCHEDULE:
February 25
10:00am • Tai (Hearing; Finance)
12:05pm • Granholm (Senate Vote)
1:30pm • Cardona (Cloture)

February 26
Possible/Expected Votes (not confirmed):
TBA • Cardona (Senate Vote)
TBA • Raimondo (Cloture)
TBA • Rouse (Cloture)

March 1
TBA • Garland (Committee Vote; Judiciary)
Possible/Expected Votes (not confirmed):
TBA • Raimondo (Senate Vote)
TBA • Rouse (Senate Vote)

***

Non-Cabinet-Level
Murthy/Levine (HELP Hearing, 2/25 at 10am)
Gensler/Chopra (Banking Hearing, 3/2 at 10am)
Mallory/McCabe (Environment Hearing, 3/3 at 10am)
Trottenberg (Commerce Hearing, 3/3 at 10am)
Young (Budget Hearing, 3/3 at 11am)

***

Confirmed
Blinken, Yellen, Austin, Vilsack, Buttigieg, McDonough, Mayorkas, Haines, Thomas-Greenfield

Awaiting Full Senate Vote
Granholm (2/25), Cardona (2/25; Cloture • Final; 2/26), Raimondo (TBA • Cloture; 2/26 • Final; 3/1), Fudge (TBA), Walsh (TBA), Cardona (TBA), Rouse (TBA • Cloture; 2/26 • Final; 3/1), Regan (TBA), Guzman (TBA)

Awaiting Committee Vote
Garland (3/1), Haaland (TBA), Becerra (TBA; HELP), Becerra (TBA; Finance), Tanden (TBA; HSGAC), Tanden (TBA; Budget)

Awaiting Committee Hearing
Tai (2/25)

Committee Hearings Not Yet Scheduled
Lander

***

Cloture was invoked today for Granholm (67-32) and she will get her final Senate vote tomorrow followed by the cloture vote for Cardona. It seems likely that Cardona will be confirmed on Friday. Today, Schumer also filed cloture for Raimondo and Rouse today meaning we could see cloture votes for them on Friday with final votes on Monday. Isabel Guzman was also reported out of committee today with a 15-5 vote. As far as Tanden is concerned, I am surprised that she hasn't been pulled yet...perhaps there is a GOP vote out there for her but I doubt it. We will see...

NOTE: It seems like there is a pattern here and I have added in my best guesses for some of the full Senate cloture/final votes. They are in italics.

[AndyHogan14]

Voting has begun on the Granholm nomination.

[AndyHogan14]

Granholm was confirmed 64-35 and voting on the cloture motion for Cardona is going on now.

The GOP AYES for Granholm were:
Burr (R-NC)
Collins (R-ME)
Cramer (R-ND)
Crapo (R-ID)
Daines (R-MT)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Johnson (R-WI)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Portman (R-OH)
Risch (R-ID)
Romney (R-UT)
Rounds (R-SD)
Young (R-IN)

The NAYS for Granholm were:
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blackburn (R-TN)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Braun (R-IN)
Capito (R-WV)
Cassidy (R-LA)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Cotton (R-AR)
Cruz (R-TX)
Ernst (R-IA)
Fischer (R-NE)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hagerty (R-TN)
Hawley (R-MO)
Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Kennedy (R-LA)
Lankford (R-OK)
Lee (R-UT)
Lummis (R-WY)
Marshall (R-KS)
Moran (R-KS)
Paul (R-KY)
Rubio (R-FL)
Sasse (R-NE)
Scott (R-FL)
Scott (R-SC)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Tillis (R-NC)
Toomey (R-PA)
Tuberville (R-AL)
Wicker (R-MS)

Not Voting:
Sullivan (R-AK)

[AndyHogan14]

snip

What about Mitch?

Surprised Johnson voted aye, lmao.

Whoops! How can I forget him? It's now fixed.

[AndyHogan14]

https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1365028670151274496?s=20
https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1365029970381336578?s=20
They won't be doing anything tomorrow. Must be nice to have so many three-day weekends. 🙄

[AndyHogan14]

snip

WTF, why are they wasting a whole day?

I have no idea. I know the Senate often likes to take Fridays off, but it's not like it is required or a scheduled day off (as far as I can tell on the calendar) so there's no reason that I can gather why they couldn't be in session tomorrow.

All I know is that I just called the offices of both Feinstein and Padilla complaining about it! Ha!

[AndyHogan14]

UPDATED SCHEDULE:
March 1
1:00pm • Garland (Committee Vote; Judiciary)
5:30pm • Cardona (Senate Vote)
Raimondo (Cloture) immediately following the Cardona vote

March 2
Possible/Expected Votes (not confirmed):
TBA • Raimondo (Senate Vote)
TBA • Rouse (Cloture)

March 3
Possible/Expected Votes (not confirmed):
TBA • Rouse (Senate Vote)

***

Non-Cabinet-Level
Gensler/Chopra (Banking Hearing, 3/2 at 10am)
Mallory/McCabe (Environment Hearing, 3/3 at 10am)
Trottenberg (Commerce Hearing, 3/3 at 10am)
Young (Budget Hearing, 3/3 at 11am)
Turk (Energy Hearing, 3/4 at 10am)
Young (HSGAC Hearing, 3/3 at 10:15am)
Monaco (Judiciary Hearing, 3/9 at 9am)

***

Confirmed
Blinken, Yellen, Austin, Vilsack, Buttigieg, Granholm, McDonough, Mayorkas, Haines, Thomas-Greenfield

Awaiting Full Senate Vote
Cardona (3/1), Raimondo (3/1; Cloture • Final; 3/2), Fudge (TBA), Walsh (TBA), Cardona (TBA), Rouse (TBA • Cloture; 3/2 • Final; 3/3), Regan (TBA), Guzman (TBA)

Awaiting Committee Vote
Garland (3/1), Haaland (TBA), Becerra (TBA; HELP), Becerra (TBA; Finance), Tanden (TBA; HSGAC), Tanden (TBA; Budget), Tai (TBA)

Awaiting Committee Hearing
None

Committee Hearings Not Yet Scheduled
Lander

***

The Senate is taking a three-day weekend (ugh) so there will be no votes tomorrow (2/26). The final vote on Cardona will be on Monday and it will be immediately followed by a cloture vote for Raimondo. It can be easily assumed that her final Senate vote will be Tuesday. Rouse is likely next and I would guess that Garland will probably move ahead of everyone else once he clears committee on Monday. Today, Granholm was confirmed (and sworn in) with a 64-35 vote and cloture was invoked for Cardona with a 66-32 vote.

NOTE: I have added in my best guesses for some of the full Senate cloture/final votes. They are in italics.

[AndyHogan14]

Voting has begun on the Cardona nomination.

[AndyHogan14]

Cardona has been confirmed 64-33. All Democrats voted yea with 14 Republicans, 3 did not vote. The vote to invoke cloture on Raimondo is next.

Republican Yeas (14):
Murkowski (AK)
Rubio (FL)
Grassley (IA)
McConnell (KY)
Cassidy (LA)
Collins (ME)
Fischer (NE)
Burr (NC)
Tillis (NC)
Portman (OH)
Cornyn (TX)
Romney (UT)
Capito (WV)
Johnson (WI)

Democratic Nays (0):
None

Not Voting (3):
Moran (KS)
Blunt (MO)
Blackburn (TN)

[AndyHogan14]

Cloture has been invoked for Raimondo, 84-15. All Democrats voted yea with most Republicans voting yea as well. There were 15 Republican nays and 1 not voting.

Democratic Nays (0):
None

Republican Nays (15):
Shelby (AL)
Tuberville (AL)
Cotton (AR)
Rubio (FL)
Scott (FL)
Kennedy (LA)
Hawley (MO)
Sasse (NE)
Hoeven (ND)
Cramer (ND)
Scott (SC)
Hagerty (TN)
Cruz (TX)
Barrasso (WY)
Lummus (WY)

Not Voting (1):
Blackburn (TN)

EDIT: Two roll call votes have been scheduled for tomorrow. At 2:15pm, Raimondo will have her final vote and immediately following that, there will be a cloture vote on Rouse.