7:15 p.m. Leader McConnell  adjourned the Senate at 7:15 until Wednesday, July 11, 2018 at 10:00 a.m.

• When the Senate convenes at 10:00am and resume consideration of the nomination of Brian Allen Benczkowski to be an Assistant Attorney General, post-cloture.

• At  12:00pm, the Senate will proceed to Legislative Session. The Chair will lay before the Senate the message to accompany H.R. 5895 (appropriations minibus I – Energy and Water/Legislative Branch/Military Construction/VA Appropriations).
  • The Majority Leader, or his designee, will be recognized to insist on the Senate amendment, agree to the request for a conference, and authorize the Chair to appoint conferees [to make the compound motion to go to conference]. The Senate will then vote on that compound motion to go to conference.

• • • If the compound motion is agreed to, Senator Cassidy (relative to the National Flood Insurance Program) and Senator Corker (relative to tariffs) will each be recognized to offer a motion to instruct conferees. The Senate will then vote on the two motions to instruct, in the order listed.  There will be two minutes of debate between each vote, equally divided in the usual form.
    • Following disposition of the Corker motion to instruct and the appointment of conferees, the Senate will resume Executive session.

• At 2:00pm, the Senate will proceed to a roll call vote on confirmation of the Benczkowski nomination.

 

• Following disposition of the Benczkowski nomination, the Senate will proceed to a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Paul C. Ney, Jr. to be General Counsel of the Department of Defense.

 

5:40 p.m. Senator Whitehouse spoke about the Russia investigation and the Kavanaugh nomination.

5:35 p.m. The motion was agreed to by a roll call vote of 91-8.  Senators Cornyn and Reed to offered motions to instruct conferees.  The Senate then proceeded to vote on the Cornyn motion to instruct [CFIUS] which was agreed to by a vote  97-2 followed by the Reed [NATO] motion to instruct which was also agreed to by a vote  97-2.

4:58 p.m. The Senate began voting on the compound motion to go to Conference on H. R. 5515 NDAA.

4:54 p.m. Senator Inhofe spoke about NDAA and the motion to go to Conference.

4:38 p.m. Senator Grassley spoke about the Kavanaugh nomination.

4:24 p.m. Senator Durbin spoke about NATO.

4:14 p.m. Senator Reed spoke about his motion to instruct conferees on NATO.

4:03 p.m. Senator Murphy spoke about Russia and the annexation of Crimea.

3:59 p.m. Senator Schumer spoke about NATO.

3:45 p.m. Senator Menendez spoke about NATO and Crimea.

3:28 p.m. Senator Sasse spoke about the Kavanaugh nomination.

3:19 p.m. Senator Peters spoke about Tom Stevenson, Senator for a Day through the Make A Wish Foundation.

3:07 p.m. Senator Thune spoke about the Kavanaugh nomination.

3:06 p.m. The Senate invoked cloture on the nomination of Brian Benczkowski to be Assistant Attorney General by a vote of 51-48.

2:45 p.m. The Senate began voting on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Brian Benczkowski to be Assistant Attorney General.

2:46 p.m. The Senate confirmed Mark Jeremy Bennett to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit by a vote of 72-27. Senator McCain did not vote.

27 Republican Senators voted against (Barrasso, Blunt, Boozman, Burr, Cotton, Crapo, Cruz, Daines, Enzi, Ernst, Fischer, Flake, Gardner, Heller, Hoeven, Inhofe, Isakson, Lankford, Moran, Paul, Portman, Risch, Rounds, Sasse, Scott, Sullivan, and Thune).

2:15 p.m. The Senate began voting on confirmation of Mark Bennett to be a judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

12:35 p.m. The Senate stands in recess to accommodate the weekly caucus lunches.

12:34 p.m. ML McConnell asked u.c. that the Senate proceed to legislative session and proceed to the Senate message to H.R. 5515, NDAA and moved to insist on the Senate amendment, agree to the request for a conference, and authorize the Chair to appoint conferees (the compound motion to go to conference).  ML McConnell announced that at 5:00 p.m. the Senate will proceed to up to 3 votes on the following in relation to H.R.5515, NDAA: 1) Compound motion to go to conference on H.R.5515 2) Cornyn motion to instruct conferees 3) Reed motion to instruct conferees.

12:26 p.m. Senator Murray spoke against the Kavanaugh nomination.

12:17 p.m. Senator Jones spoke about the bombing of the 16th street baptist church.

11:32 a.m. Senator Durbin spoke about the Kavanaugh nomination and the Benczkowski nomination.

11:19 a.m. Senator Murphy spoke about the Kavanaugh nomination.

11:01 a.m. Senator Cornyn spoke about the Kavanaugh nomination.

10:40 a.m. Senator Hatch spoke about the Kavanaugh nomination.

10:25 a.m. Minority Leader Schumer spoke about the Kavanaugh nomination.

10:03 a.m. Majority Leader McConnell spoke about Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

******

The Senate will convene at 10 a.m. and will resume post-cloture consideration of the nomination of Mark Jeremy Bennett of Hawaii to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The Senate will recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. for the weekly policy lunches.

At 2:15 p.m., there will be two votes:

1. Confirmation of the Bennett nomination. 
2. Cloture on the nomination of Brian Allen Benczkowski of Virginia to be an assistant attorney general.

Cloture has been filed on the nomination of Paul C. Ney, Jr. of Tennessee to be general counsel of the Defense Department.

At a time to be determined, the Senate will begin consideration of the nomination of James Blew of California to be an assistant secretary of education for planning, evaluation and policy development.