WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014
3:50 p.m. — The following nominations were confirmed by voice vote:
- Kevin W. Techau to be United States Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
- Andrew Mark Luger to be United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota
- Robert L. Hobbs to be United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Texas
- Gary Blankinship to be United States Marshal for the Southern District of Texas
- Amos Rojas, Jr. to be United States Marshal for the Southern District of Florida
- Peter C. Tobin to be United States Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio
- Anthony Luzzatto Gardner to be Representative of the United States of America to the European Union, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Robert A. Sherman to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Portuguese Republic
3:30 p.m. — By a vote of 67-31, cloture was invoked on the motion to concur with the House amendment to S. 540 (House vehicle for Debt Ceiling).
By a vote of 55-43, the Senate passed the motion to concur with the House amendment to S. 540 (House vehicle for Debt Ceiling)
By a vote of 95-3, the Senate passed the motion to concur with the House message to S. 25 (Military COLA)
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12:35 p.m. — On a voice vote, the Senate confirmed Catherine Ann Novelli’s nomination to be Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment.
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12:34 p.m. — On a vote of 97 to 0, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Catherine Ann Novelli to be U.S. Alternate Governor of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for a five-year term and to be U.S. Alternate Governor of the Inter-American Development Bank for a five-year term.
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12:15 p.m. — On a vote of 98 to 0, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Daniel Bennett Smith to be Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research.
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12 p.m. — On a vote of 98 to 0, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Tina S. Kaidanow to be counter-terrorism coordinator.
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11:28 a.m. — The Senate agreed to a new order to proceed to this sequence of votes at 1:45 p.m.:
- The motion to invoke cloture on the House-passed vehicle for debt limit extension (S. 540);
- If cloture is invoked, the motion to concur in the House-passed debt limit vehicle;
- The motion to concur in the House-passed vehicle for the military pension bill (S. 25)
If cloture is not invoked on the debit-limit measure, the Senate will move directly to the vote on the military pension measure.
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9:59 a.m. — The majority leader got unanimous consent for a vote at about 2 p.m. on S. 25, the House-passed vehicle for the bill to restore cost-of-living-adjustments to military pensions. The vote will follow a debate of up to 30 minutes, to begin at about 1:30 p.m.
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The Senate will convene at 9:30 a.m.
There may be votes today on the debt limit bill and the military pay bill.
There will be morning business until 11 a.m., when up to 30 minutes of debate will begin on as many as four nominations.
At about 11:30 a.m., votes will begin on whether to confirm the nominations listed below. After the first vote, roll-calls will be 10 minutes in duration. At least one of the confirmations may be by voice vote.
– Tina S. Kaidanow of the District of Columbia to be Coordinator for Counterterrorism, with the rank of Ambassador at Large (Executive Calendar #525);
– Daniel Bennett Smith of Virginia to be Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research (Executive Calendar #595);
– Catherine Ann Novelli of Virginia to be United States Alternate Governor of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for a term of five years and United States Alternate Governor of the Inter-American Development Bank for a term of five years (Executive Calendar #527 );
– Catherine Ann Novelli of Virginia to be Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment (Executive Calendar #529).