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Today on the Hill: Judicial Nominations and Naming Post Offices

June 17, 2014

The House will spend the day on the critical duty of naming post offices, while the Senate plans to finish work on some of President Obama’s judicial nominations. On the Senate floor today are confirmation votes for three judicial nominees and a cloture vote on an assistant attorney general nominee. The upper chamber will convene at 10:00 am, and around 11:00 am will proceed to a series of roll call votes on the following:

  • confirmation of Salvador Mendoza, Jr. (Executive Calendar #740) of Washington to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington;
  • confirmation of Staci Michelle Yandle (Executive Calendar #741) of Illinois to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Illinois;
  • confirmation of Darrin P. Gayles (Executive Calendar #778) of Florida to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida; and
  • motion to invoke cloture on Peter Joseph Kadzik (Executive Calendar #572) of New York to be an Assistant Attorney General.

The House plans to meet at noon today, and will take up 17 bills under suspension of the rules, which bars amendments, limits debate to 40 minutes, and requires a two-thirds majority for passage. Fourteen of the bills will name post offices, Department of Veterans Affairs facilities and a U.S. Forest Service facility. Other legislation on the House floor includes: a bill to authorize the General Services Administrator to convey land in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the Amy Biehl High School Foundation; a bill authorizing the General Services Administrator to convey federal property in Alaska to the municipality of Anchorage, Alaska; and a bill to authorize the use of the Capitol Rotunda for a ceremony to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Off the floor, the campaigning for majority leader and majority whip is sure to preoccupy House Republicans, who have a leadership election on Thursday. The leadership shakeup follows Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) loss in last week’s Virginia Republican primary; Cantor said he would step down from his leadership post on July 31. Frontrunner Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is said to have shored up support for the position, although he faces a challenge from sophomore Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID), who appeals to some the GOP’s more conservative members. McCarthy’s ascendancy to majority leader also opens up the race for majority whip, the No. 3 spot in the conference. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) is said to be the frontrunner in the race, but Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) also has a strong cadre of “establishment” support that is expected to fuel a close race. Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) has also announced a bid for the spot, presenting an alternative for Republicans who may not find Scalise to be “sufficiently conservative.”