Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
BUSINESS BEFORE THE SENATE
Here are the agenda items Schumer touched on:
- Nominations of Jason Miller — to be Deputy OMB Director, Janet McCabe — to be Deputy EPA Administrator, and Colin Kahl — to be Undersecretary of Defense
- The water infrastructure bill
NOMINATIONS
Schumer rehashed the success of the Democrat majority in President Biden’s first 100 days. He also highlighted the “most diverse Cabinet in history, [confirmed] faster than under both Presidents Trump and Obama, and all of them with bipartisan support.”
He noted that Janet Yellen is the first non-white and non-male Treasury Secretary, that Lloyd Austin is the first Black Defense Secretary, that Michael Regan is the first Black man to be EPA Administrator, that Deb Haaland is the first Native American cabinet member, and that Pete Buttigieg is the first openly gay cabinet member.
He also pointed to Vanita Gupta (first woman of color and civil rights attorney to be Associate AG) and Rachel Levine (first openly transgender federal official in US History)
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
FENTANYL
McConnell raised concern that penalties against traffickers of Fentanyl were set to expire and asked his colleagues to side with him on what he saw as “a crystal-clear choice” in permanently enforcing these penalties rather than “punting” them a few months into the future.
McConnell: “It is very clear: Congress should schedule these fentanyl analogs permanently.”
NOMINATION OF JANET GARVIN MCCABE
McConnell criticized McCabe for being the chief author of the Clean Power Plan of 2015. He called her a job-killer and further raised issue with the Biden administration’s rejoining the Paris Climate Accords. He also criticized the decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline and said McCabe was “a proven veteran from the War on Coal.”
FOREIGN POLICY
McConnell then criticized Biden’s “meager defense budget proposal” and how it paled in comparison to China or Russia. He quoted the head of the US Strategic Command who said the US “will be “at risk of losing credibility in the eyes of our adversaries.””
Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD)
TAX LEGISLATION
Thune criticized the Biden plan to pay for his infrastructure bill with a notable increase in the corporate tax rate. Thune harkened back to the GOP Tax Cuts in 2017 and said that the tax cuts carried the intention of boosting job creation and improving opportunities for American workers. Thune praised the tax cuts and then again roundly criticized the Biden tax hike as it would make the top tax rate on corporations in the US “higher than that imposed by every one of our major trading partners and competitors, including China.”
Thune said that the tax hikes were backwards because these corporations hired people and pointed to 99% of the businesses in South Dakota which were taxed as individuals. He then said that the tax hikes would punish middle class, working Americans.
Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE)
INFRASTRUCTURE
Fischer criticized the Infrastructure Bill saying that the American people “know what actual infrastructure is” and “also know what infrastructure is not.” Fischer brought up the familiar statistic that less than 6% of the proposal would go to roads and bridges and, following Thune, criticized the tax hikes which “would hit our small, family Main Street businesses.”
Fischer then went into the bipartisan history of the Senate when it came to Infrastructure pointing to the 2015 FAST Act, FAA reauthorization under President Trump, and water development bills and Fischer’s pipeline safety bill. She then touted the Republican alternative bill which would match the funding levels in the FAST Act and said that the spending outlined by Democrats was not sustainable.
Senator Gary Peters (D-MI)
NOMINATION OF JASON SCOTT MILLER
Peters rose in support of Jason Miller to be Deputy OMB Director touting his “extensive track record” and “diverse experience.”
VOTE ON MILLER NOMINATION
The nomination was confirmed 81–13.
Voting NAY were Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Braun (R-IN), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), John Kennedy (R-LA), Mike Lee (R-UT), Jim Risch (R-ID), Tim Scott (R-SC), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)
Not Voting were Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Richard Shelby (R-AL). If present, Scott would have voted NAY.
Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
NOMINATION OF JANET GARVIN MCCABE
Capito rose to “vehemently oppose [McCabe’s] nomination.” She criticized her role in the Clean Power Plan, and said she “didn’t listen” and “wouldn’t come to West Virginia.”
Senator Tom Carper (D-DE)
NOMINATION OF JANET GARVIN MCCABE
Carper quickly urged a vote for cloture on McCabe, pointing out that 9 former EPA Deputy Administrators supported her nomination, including 4 Republicans.
CLOTURE MOTION ON NOMINATION OF JANET MCCABE
VOTE ON CLOTURE MOTION
The motion passed 52–42.
49/50 Democrats voted AYE, the lone exception being Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) who voted NAY.
41/44 Republicans voted NAY. The 3 exceptions were Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).
Not Voting were Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Richard Shelby (R-AL).
Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK)
NOMINATION OF COLIN HACKETT KAHL
Inhofe took to the Senate Floor to “urge my colleagues strongly to vote against the nomination of Colin Kahl” and pointed out that Kahl was the first Biden nominee to receive zero Republican votes on the Senate Floor.
Inhofe also looked at some of Kahl’s tweets which had raised the concern of GOP Senators. In 2018, Kahl “alleged that Israel was trying to goad America into war” after Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that Israel had seized a major nuclear archive from Iran.
Inhofe claimed that Kahl was unable to “accept facts” when they “undercut his policy preferences” and said he couldn’t “recall a single nominee for a top DOD position in the past 40 years who didn’t garner at least one vote from the other party.”
Senator Tom Carper (D-DE)
NOMINATION OF JANET GARVIN MCCABE
Carper rose to urge confirmation of McCabe saying she understood the challenges and opportunities of working as a director and calling her a “steady hand who has built a 30-year career of leadership in environmental protection.”
He also said that McCabe had the support of “48 leading environmental organizations” and 9 former EPA Deputy Administrators and Acting Administrators, including 4 Republicans. He also emphasized the endorsement she received from the Edison Electric Institute “that speaks for companies that provide power to 220 million Americans.”
He also praised her for demonstrating “time and again that environmental and economic progress go hand in hand.” According to Carper, McCabe would also “ensure that everyone who has a stake in our environment and our economy has a seat at the table” and Carper pointed out that she would not “play a significant role in crafting new public policies” and would be more of a “chief operating officer.”
Carper urged his colleagues to vote to confirm her.
VOTE ON MCCABE NOMINATION
The nomination was confirmed 52–42.
49/50 Democrats voted AYE, the lone exception being Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) who voted NAY.
41/44 Republicans voted NAY. The 3 exceptions were Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).
Not Voting were Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Richard Shelby (R-AL).
CLOTURE MOTION ON NOMINATION OF COLIN KAHL
VOTE ON CLOTURE MOTION
The motion passed 49–44 in a party-line vote. All 49 present Democrats voted AYE. All 44 present Republicans voted NAY.
Not Voting were Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Rick Scott (R-FL), Richard Shelby (R-AL), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). If present, Scott and Shelby would have voted “nay.”
Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD)
DRINKING WATER AND WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE ACT OF 2021
Cardin urged his colleagues to “approve this legislation promptly,” pointed out that the Act received a unanimous vote out of the EPW Committee, and congratulated Senators Carper and Capito for their leadership on the committee, as well as complimenting Senators Cramer (R-ND), Duckworth (D-IL) and Lummis (R-WY) who chaired relevant subcommittees.
Cardin broke down the nuts and bolts of the legislation: $35B of desperately needed funding for water infrastructure, and some of the bipartisan provisions that were included:
- “a pilot program that will establish 40 grants around the Nation” which would help low-income families with their water bills
- the “Clean Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Program” which would “help all of us plan for how we deal with water infrastructure in a way that can deal with our modern challenges.”
- “The Water Resources Research Amendments Act” which helped research for “effective and efficient new ways to deal with water treatment facilities”
Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ)
PUBLIC SERVICE RECOGNITION WEEK
Sinema rose to introduce a bipartisan resolution which would recognize millions of Americans who “go to work every day to serve their fellow citizens, protect our communities and make our country a stronger place.” She made mention of healthcare workers, Border Patrol agents, VA employees, postal employees, firefighters, police officers, public health officials, and teachers.
She also shouted out Sandra Day O’Connor, “the first woman to lead the Arizona State Senate and to be appointed to the US Supreme Court” and “[Sinema’s] personal hero, Senator John McCain.” She re-addressed her bipartisan resolution with Senator James Lankford (R-OK) which recognized the work of public servants and said she was “honored to thank these employees.”
Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO)
METHANE
Bennet opened by talking about the difficulties Colorado had been having with rampant wildfires and said that anywhere you asked, people would tell you it was happening because the state was becoming “hotter and drier each year” and thus even in “a purple state… there is absolutely a consensus that we have a moral responsibility to deal with climate change”
He then threw his support behind a “big bipartisan vote” to reverse the Trump administration’s “terrible, counterproductive, self-destructive policy on methane pollution.” Bennet pointed to Colorado’s very successful measures instituted by then-Governor Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO) which limited methane pollution for oil and gas facilities and the growth in their natural gas production.
He then criticized the Trump administration for its overlooking of Colorado’s approach to the problem and encouraged the adoption of “something called American climate policy” and said that methane pollution was “the perfect place to start” dealing with the climate problem.
Bennet said that the resolution would “restore EPA’s obligation to regulate all sources of methane emissions… protect the environment and create jobs, and it will show the world that America can come together and that this Senate can come together in a bipartisan way to deal with climate change.” He urged his colleagues to cast a vote for the methane resolution.
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)
BORDER SECURITY
Cornyn opened by noting that President Biden would make his first State of the Union address on Wednesday. He said he expected Biden to praise the $2T COVID relief bill that was passed earlier this year and the similarly large infrastructure bill, but Cornyn expressed a desire for an announcement on a plan “to address the crisis at our southern border.”
Cornyn then raised some “eye-popping” statistics about the record number of border crossings in March (172,000) and that 19,000 of these were unaccompanied children. He criticized the Biden administration for refusing to call the border situation a “crisis” and VP Harris’ inaction despite being tapped to lead the effort against the crisis, as she hadn’t visited the border yet.
Cornyn then rehashed some of his conversations with constituents living near the border as well as migrants crossing the border and revealed that the Border Patrol Chief showed him that these migrants were coming from 54 different countries. He criticized the smugglers who were bringing across large caravans of migrants and said he had heard stories of “physical and sexual abuse” that occurred at their hands.
Cornyn said he believed the American people deserved to hear from President Biden about the border crisis. He then introduced the “Bipartisan Border Solutions Act” from himself, Senator Sinema, and Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) and Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23) which would:
- “establish four regional processing centers to streamline the processing of migrants”
- “provide protections for migrant children who come into the country without a parent or any relatives.”
- “reduce the immigration court backlog and remove a major pull factor for migrants who do not have a legitimate asylum claim.”
Cornyn said that these were “commonsense reforms” and that it was important for Democrats and Republicans, as well as the president, to work on this issue.
Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK)
DRINKING WATER AND WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE ACT OF 2021
Inhofe rose to support the Water Infrastructure Act, saying that it increased federal funding for local projects by 123% and “would help Oklahoma achieve its comprehensive water plan, meeting its goal of using no more freshwater in 2060 than was used in 2010.” He also said the bill empowered “rural communities to work with technical experts” and that it had an “eye on the future” because it supported “cutting-edge water research” and that the bill would “more than double the funding for the enhanced aquifer recharge research program.”
SURFACE TRANSPORTATION PLAN
Inhofe also urged Congress to “reauthorize the new surface transportation plan before October 1” and said he knew it could be done because he did it twice with former Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA). He then praised Senator Capito’s infrastructure proposal and criticized Democrats for not even “waiting to read it” and said that the “extreme left wants to hijack the popularity of infrastructure to pass their Green New Deal agenda.”
He compared the Biden bill to then-President Obama’s “Recovery Plan” — according to Inhofe, only 5% of the bill went into infrastructure and the rest of the $800B went into the Obama climate agenda. He then wondered whether members of the chamber were old enough to remember when “the biggest problem we had in the highway trust fund was that we had too much money, that we had too much surplus.”
Inhofe praised a “user pays; user benefits” model of the highway system and that in a recent EPW hearing, the panel was in agreement. He then ripped the Biden plan’s “tax-and-spend approach,” particularly the increase in corporate tax rates.
Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
DRINKING WATER AND WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE ACT OF 2021
Capito urged her colleagues to vote for the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021 (DWWIA). Capito expressed particular pride with how the bill “ provides flexibility to both rural and urban areas and lets them decide how they can best address their needs.” She said the bill introduced several solutions to water challenges, including funding for those already being served by intractable water systems, funding to install environmentally sound, decentralized wastewater systems, and funding to improve quality of life and address public health and environmental concerns.
She also pointed to the importance of infrastructure resiliency and the importance of not wasting any water through leaky pipes due to its preciousness and protections against natural and manmade threats. Capito also talked about the importance of the “resilience of America’s water utility workforce by addressing recruitment, training, and retention challenges” and said the bill would increase funding to help water systems grow their workforce through apprenticeships, training programs, and retention efforts.
Capito also addressed cybersecurity threats in water systems, harkening back to hackers who accessed a Florida water treatment facility computer system and raised sodium hydroxide levels in the water. She also looked at the ability of the water infrastructure system to handle large volumes of water.
Capito concluded by saying that this was “core infrastructure” that was easily passable and used it as “proof that we can work together on infrastructure”
Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK)
NOMINATION OF COLIN HACKETT KAHL
Sullivan opened by explaining that he tries his best to support Democratic nominees to DOD positions such as Lloyd Austin and Kathleen Hicks but that he did not believe Kahl had “the temperament or judgement to do the job” of Undersecretary of Defense.
Sullivan then brought up a letter written by Senate Democrats which expressed opposition to Anthony Tata to assume the same position as Kahl where they cited his record of “offensive and inflammatory comments which would disqualify you from serving in your current position and the position for which you have been nominated.” Sullivan said that this was “almost the identical situation.”
Sullivan looked at Kahl’s tweets where he said the GOP was “the party of ethnic cleansing” and were “part of a death cult” as well as his retweets of Lincoln Project attacks and his own attacks on the President.
Sullivan then addressed Kahl’s “judgement” saying he was “an advocate on being soft on Iran” and brought up his statements where he said that Senators who opposed the JCPOA wouldn’t be happy until there was a war. He also pointed out that Kahl tweeted that “Trump has started a war with Iran and Iraq” after the assassination of Qasem Soleimani. Sullivan also briefly mentioned John Kerry in addressing Iran.
Sullivan also said that Kahl wanted to “stamp out ‘systemic racism’ within the ranks of the military.” Sullivan criticized Kahl for making this statement despite never having served in the ranks and accused him of “besmirching a big portion of the force, with no credible data to back it up” and cited this as an example of poor judgement.
Sullivan concluded by quoting Kahl when he said that the position of undersecretary of defense requires a nonpartisan appointee: “I don’t believe Dr. Kahl has lived up to his own assessment of what is required to serve in the Pentagon’s third most important defense role.”
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX)
NOMINATION OF COLIN HACKETT KAHL
Cruz said that Colin Kahl’s judgement “is irreparably marred by obsessive animosity toward Israel.” He briefly criticized Kahl’s tweets and then moved into a focus on what he viewed as anti-semitism. He pointed to Kahl’s criticism of Israel after finding an Iranian nuclear archive, his suggestion that Trump’s policies regarding Iran were linked to donations from Sheldon Adelson (a Jewish billionare). He also pointed to Kahl’s opposition to moving the Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and brought up Kahl’s criticism of Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, when Menendez opposed the appeasement of the Iranian regime.
Cruz then briefly touched on John Kerry, saying he should resign if the reports about him leaking classified intelligence to Iran were true. He then continued, saying Kahl was “prominent in shaping Obama-Biden policies on Israel and Iran, and he has been credibly accused of weaponizing and leaking classified information.” Cruz concluded saying that Kahl was “the most virulently anti-Israel nominee who would serve in the entire Biden administration.”
VOTE ON KAHL NOMINATION
The nomination was agreed to 49–45.
All 49 present Democrats voted AYE. All 45 present Republicans voted NAY.
Not Voting were Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and Richard Shelby (R-AL). If present, Shelby would have voted “NAY.”
CLOTURE MOTION ON THE BILL TO AMEND THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT AND THE FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT
The motion was agreed to 92–2.
All 49 present Democrats voted AYE. 43/45 present Republicans also voted AYE.
Voting NAY were Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO).
Not Voting were Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and Richard Shelby (R-AL).