6:43 p.m. The Senate adjourned until 3:00 p.m. on Monday April 19th.
6:37 p.m. ML Schumer wrapped up for the evening.
4:40 p.m. Majority Leader Schumer filed cloture on the following: Lisa Monaco to be Deputy Attorney General and re-appointing Gary Gensler to be a Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission until 2026.
4:39 p.m. The motion to discharge the Gupta nomination from the Judiciary Committee was agreed to on a party line tally of 49-34.
Senators not voting: 16 Republicans: Barrasso, Braun, Burr, Daines, Inhofe, Lummis, Marshall, Moran, Paul, Portman, Risch, Romney, Rounds, Thune, Tillis and Toomey; 1 Democrat: Tester.
3:55 p.m. The Senate began a vote on the motion to discharge from the Judiciary committee PN79-4, Vanita Gupta, to be Associate Attorney General.
1:54 p.m. Senators Lee, Durbin, Klobuchar, Coons, Cornyn, Whitehouse, Blackburn, Cramer, Cruz and Braun spoke on the Gupta nomination.
1:28 p.m. Senator Reed spoke on bringing troops home from Afghanistan.
1:20 p.m. Senator Cotton spoke against the Gupta nomination.
1:11 p.m. Senator Kaine spoke supporting the Gupta nomination and supporting S. 937.
12:46 p.m. Senator Durbin spoke supporting the Gupta nomination.
12:43 p.m. The Senate began up to 4 hours of debate on the motion to discharge the Gupta nomination.
12:42 p.m. By a vote of 49-45 the Senate moved to proceed to Executive Session for the consideration of the motion to discharge from Judiciary Committee, Vanita Gupta, of Virginia, to be Associate Attorney General. This was a party line vote. Senators Marshall, Moran, Portman, Sanders and Tillis did not vote.
12:00 p.m. The Senate began a vote on the motion to proceed to Executive Session in order to discharge the nomination of Vanita Gupta from the Committee on the Judiciary.
11:21 a.m. Senator Kennedy spoke about drug pricing. Senator Kennedy asked unanimous consent to call up and pass the related bill, S. 1132. Senator Crapo objected.
10:49 a.m. Senator Thune spoke on the infrastructure package.
10:34 a.m. Senator Blumenthal spoke supporting the Gupta nomination.
10:25 a.m. RL McConnell spoke on the filibuster, on the passing of Carol Barr and the Carol Act, and on departing staffer Katelyn Bunning.
10:13 a.m. ML Schumer spoke supporting S. 937, Covid-19 Hate Crimes legislation and on the Gupta nomination.
10:00 a.m. The Senate convened.
*****
The Senate will convene at 10:00 a.m. Following Leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S.937, a bill to facilitate the expedited review of COVID-19 hate crimes, and for other purposes, post-cloture.
At 12:00 p.m., all post-cloture time will be considered expired and the motion to proceed to S.937 will be agreed to. At that time, a vote is expected on the motion to proceed to Executive Session in order to move to discharge the nomination of Vanita Gupta to be Associate Attorney General from the Committee on the Judiciary.
There will then be up to 4 hours of debate on the motion to discharge. Upon the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate will vote on the motion to discharge the Gupta nomination from the Committee on the Judiciary.
