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

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

McRenolyds confirmed 59-38:

NAYs ---38
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blackburn (R-TN)
Boozman (R-AR)
Braun (R-IN)
Burr (R-NC)
Cassidy (R-LA)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Cotton (R-AR)
Cramer (R-ND)
Crapo (R-ID)
Cruz (R-TX)
Daines (R-MT)
Fischer (R-NE)
Hagerty (R-TN)
Hawley (R-MO)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Johnson (R-WI)
Kennedy (R-LA)
Lankford (R-OK)
Lee (R-UT)
Lummis (R-WY)
Marshall (R-KS)
McConnell (R-KY)
Paul (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
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)
Young (R-IN)

Not Voting - 3
Duckworth (D-IL)
Heinrich (D-NM)
Manchin (D-WV)

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1392963397768126481?s=20

Graves, Jr. confirmed 89-7:

NAYs ---7
Barrasso (R-WY)
Cotton (R-AR)
Cruz (R-TX)
Hawley (R-MO)
Scott (R-FL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Tuberville (R-AL)

Not Voting - 4
Heinrich (D-NM)
Lummis (R-WY)
Manchin (D-WV)
Thune (R-SD)

[Virginiá]

Somewhat unrelated but, maybe we won't see a SCOTUS confirmation battle

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1394247477650468864

[Geoffrey Howe]

Here's the link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/us/justice-breyer-retirement.html?searchResultPosition=1

He is certainly a good communicator. I shall repeat that Kamala Harris should have been sworn in by Barrett, but that's another matter.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Somewhat unrelated but, maybe we won't see a SCOTUS confirmation battle

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1394247477650468864

Breyer, no! In an ideal world he's probably right but our world is far from ideal. No more unilateral disarmament in the face of the modern GOP!

[brucejoel99]

Somewhat unrelated but, maybe we won't see a SCOTUS confirmation battle

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1394247477650468864

Not necessarily: with just 5 months to go 'til OT2021, Sotomayor's still hired only 2 clerks, even though she was fully hired up for OT2020 by Jan. 2020 (i.e., at least 9 months beforehand), & even though 2 clerks is more than the 1 that a retired justice is allotted, only hiring 2 by now is still a plausible indicator that she's at least considering retirement this year, given that were she to do so, she'd just work with 1 of the clerks this fall while either deferring the other to OT2022 (i.e., what Kennedy did with his OT2018 clerks) or transferring them over to either Breyer or Kagan's chambers, so a (nevertheless surprising) Sotomayor retirement this year followed by a Breyer retirement next summer still can't be ruled out as of yet.

[brucejoel99]

Martin's actually retiring instead of going senior, but either way, Stacey Abrams is gonna have a circuit judge in the family:

https://twitter.com/johnpcollinsjr2/status/1394613086359855104

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1394776608599314433

Collins voted Yes, Murkowski and Stabenow did not vote.

[cg41386]

Somewhat unrelated but, maybe we won't see a SCOTUS confirmation battle

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1394247477650468864

Not necessarily: with just 5 months to go 'til OT2021, Sotomayor's still hired only 2 clerks, even though she was fully hired up for OT2020 by Jan. 2020 (i.e., at least 9 months beforehand), & even though 2 clerks is more than the 1 that a retired justice is allotted, only hiring 2 by now is still a plausible indicator that she's at least considering retirement this year, given that were she to do so, she'd just work with 1 of the clerks this fall while either deferring the other to OT2022 (i.e., what Kennedy did with his OT2018 clerks) or transferring them over to either Breyer or Kagan's chambers, so a (nevertheless surprising) Sotomayor retirement this year followed by a Breyer retirement next summer still can't be ruled out as of yet.

I was about to post a smartass reply along the lines of "why would she retire so soon" thinking she wasn't that old, but she is a bit older than I thought. I still don't think she's going to retire yet, she still has time left.

[brucejoel99]

Somewhat unrelated but, maybe we won't see a SCOTUS confirmation battle

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1394247477650468864

Not necessarily: with just 5 months to go 'til OT2021, Sotomayor's still hired only 2 clerks, even though she was fully hired up for OT2020 by Jan. 2020 (i.e., at least 9 months beforehand), & even though 2 clerks is more than the 1 that a retired justice is allotted, only hiring 2 by now is still a plausible indicator that she's at least considering retirement this year, given that were she to do so, she'd just work with 1 of the clerks this fall while either deferring the other to OT2022 (i.e., what Kennedy did with his OT2018 clerks) or transferring them over to either Breyer or Kagan's chambers, so a (nevertheless surprising) Sotomayor retirement this year followed by a Breyer retirement next summer still can't be ruled out as of yet.

I was about to post a smartass reply along the lines of "why would she retire so soon" thinking she wasn't that old, but she is a bit older than I thought. I still don't think she's going to retire yet, she still has time left.

Yeah, & she's at a heightened medical risk compared to your avg. 66-year-old justice due to the pre-existing condition from which she suffers (type 1 diabetes), so she might not be as likely to make it to ~82/83 as somebody like Breyer was, & based on how the dynamics of presidential/Senate control play out after the midterms, that could mean that this summer (or next) could very well be her last chance to retire with a Democratic president capable of nominating a liberal replacement who could be confirmed by a Democratic Senate. Otherwise, if the Democrats lose the Senate next fall, then after that, she could be risking being trapped on the Court for who knows how long, just like Marshall, Brennan, & RBG were: wanting to retire but ideologically unable to because there's either a Republican president or a Democratic president who can't get a liberal nominee confirmed with a Republican Senate, & we know how well trying to wait worked for them.

[brucejoel99]

https://twitter.com/CraigCaplan/status/1395401137466060803

[brucejoel99]

https://twitter.com/CraigCaplan/status/1395402829678907392https://twitter.com/CraigCaplan/status/1395407412186730497

[brucejoel99]

https://twitter.com/Tierney_Megan/status/1395373553705488389https://twitter.com/johnpcollinsjr2/status/1395384492278353922

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Next week:

Cal. #117 Brooks La-Sure to be Administrator of the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services
Cal. #124 Clarke to be an Assistant Attorney General

Close votes are expected on both nominees, and depending on attendance, Harris may be needed.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

Any updates on Julie Su's nomination?

[brucejoel99]

Any updates on Julie Su's nomination?

She was already advanced out of the HELP committee nearly a month ago now, so perhaps they're just waiting for her to finish closing up shop on anything that she's recently been tending to back home in CA before they vote to confirm?

[Not Me, Us]

Somewhat unrelated but, maybe we won't see a SCOTUS confirmation battle

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1394247477650468864

Not necessarily: with just 5 months to go 'til OT2021, Sotomayor's still hired only 2 clerks, even though she was fully hired up for OT2020 by Jan. 2020 (i.e., at least 9 months beforehand), & even though 2 clerks is more than the 1 that a retired justice is allotted, only hiring 2 by now is still a plausible indicator that she's at least considering retirement this year, given that were she to do so, she'd just work with 1 of the clerks this fall while either deferring the other to OT2022 (i.e., what Kennedy did with his OT2018 clerks) or transferring them over to either Breyer or Kagan's chambers, so a (nevertheless surprising) Sotomayor retirement this year followed by a Breyer retirement next summer still can't be ruled out as of yet.

I was about to post a smartass reply along the lines of "why would she retire so soon" thinking she wasn't that old, but she is a bit older than I thought. I still don't think she's going to retire yet, she still has time left.

Yeah, & she's at a heightened medical risk compared to your avg. 66-year-old justice due to the pre-existing condition from which she suffers (type 1 diabetes), so she might not be as likely to make it to ~82/83 as somebody like Breyer was, & based on how the dynamics of presidential/Senate control play out after the midterms, that could mean that this summer (or next) could very well be her last chance to retire with a Democratic president capable of nominating a liberal replacement who could be confirmed by a Democratic Senate. Otherwise, if the Democrats lose the Senate next fall, then after that, she could be risking being trapped on the Court for who knows how long, just like Marshall, Brennan, & RBG were: wanting to retire but ideologically unable to because there's either a Republican president or a Democratic president who can't get a liberal nominee confirmed with a Republican Senate, & we know how well trying to wait worked for them.

Speaking as a type one diabetic, as long as she keeps her blood sugar in check, which I'm assuming she does, there's no reason why she couldn't live live as long or longer than a non-diabetic.

[brucejoel99]

Somewhat unrelated but, maybe we won't see a SCOTUS confirmation battle

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1394247477650468864

Not necessarily: with just 5 months to go 'til OT2021, Sotomayor's still hired only 2 clerks, even though she was fully hired up for OT2020 by Jan. 2020 (i.e., at least 9 months beforehand), & even though 2 clerks is more than the 1 that a retired justice is allotted, only hiring 2 by now is still a plausible indicator that she's at least considering retirement this year, given that were she to do so, she'd just work with 1 of the clerks this fall while either deferring the other to OT2022 (i.e., what Kennedy did with his OT2018 clerks) or transferring them over to either Breyer or Kagan's chambers, so a (nevertheless surprising) Sotomayor retirement this year followed by a Breyer retirement next summer still can't be ruled out as of yet.

I was about to post a smartass reply along the lines of "why would she retire so soon" thinking she wasn't that old, but she is a bit older than I thought. I still don't think she's going to retire yet, she still has time left.

Yeah, & she's at a heightened medical risk compared to your avg. 66-year-old justice due to the pre-existing condition from which she suffers (type 1 diabetes), so she might not be as likely to make it to ~82/83 as somebody like Breyer was, & based on how the dynamics of presidential/Senate control play out after the midterms, that could mean that this summer (or next) could very well be her last chance to retire with a Democratic president capable of nominating a liberal replacement who could be confirmed by a Democratic Senate. Otherwise, if the Democrats lose the Senate next fall, then after that, she could be risking being trapped on the Court for who knows how long, just like Marshall, Brennan, & RBG were: wanting to retire but ideologically unable to because there's either a Republican president or a Democratic president who can't get a liberal nominee confirmed with a Republican Senate, & we know how well trying to wait worked for them.

Speaking as a type one diabetic, as long as she keeps her blood sugar in check, which I'm assuming she does, there's no reason why she couldn't live live as long or longer than a non-diabetic.

Oh yeah, she obviously manages it pretty well (& although she'd become more noticeably overweight in recent years, she recently lost a bunch of it during quarantine), but she's had it since childhood, & the average life expectancy after age 20 for women with type 1 diabetes is only an additional 48 years (i.e., 2 years from now for her) compared to an additional 61 years for women without it (i.e., a comparative loss of 13 years for women with type 1 diabetes), so given the potential presidential & Senate dynamics at play, a possible decade or longer of having to wait for another opportunity like this could just end up being a long time in which anything can happen & the way that things are going now can completely change.

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

https://twitter.com/SenatePress/status/1396958399733145600

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

The #Senate confirmed Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to be Administrator of @CMSGov, 55-44 with Senators Blunt, Burr, Collins, Moran & Murkowski joining Democrats/Independents in favor. Kennedy is absent today.

Clarke passes CLOTURE 51-48 with Collins in favor

[President Johnson]

https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1397255658643263491

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Clarke confirmed by the same 51-48 vote.

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1397346368650465281?s=20
https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1397346588943605775?s=20

[LtNOWIS]

https://twitter.com/connorobrienNH/status/1397723687336484865

I remember when Trump couldn't fill this position until November 2017. It got real old seeing acting guys on the command wall. And it was the same way across the federal government, vacancies across the board.

Biden's getting the right people in the slots. Qualified professionals who are going to make positive change.

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

https://twitter.com/connorobrienNH/status/1397723687336484865
I remember when Trump couldn't fill this position until November 2017. It got real old seeing acting guys on the command wall. And it was the same way across the federal government, vacancies across the board.

Biden's getting the right people in the slots. Qualified professionals who are going to make positive change.

I was wondering why @senatecloakroom wasn't mentioning this, then I saw this:

https://twitter.com/connorobrienNH/status/1397758115819442176

Not sure what happened.