Along with the week’s roll call votes, the Senate also passed a resolution (S. Res. 229), recognizing the devastating attack on a girls’ school in Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 8, 2021, and expressing solidarity with the Afghan people.

There were no key votes in the House this week.

SENATE VOTES

NEW JERSEY JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Julien Xavier Neals to serve as a U.S. district court judge for the New Jersey district. Since 2006, Neals has been a lawyer for the city of Newark and, starting in 2015, Bergen County, New Jersey. A supporter, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said: “His tremendous breadth of experience, even temperament, and sound judgment make him a superb candidate to serve on the federal bench.” The vote, on June 8, was 66 yeas to 33 nays.

YEAS: Susan Collins, R-Maine; Angus King, I-Maine

COLORADO JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Regina M. Rodriguez to serve as a judge on the U.S. district court for Colorado. For the past 32 years, Rodriguez has been alternately a private practice lawyer in Denver and a prosecutor or defense lawyer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Colorado. A supporter, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., said: “She has blazed trails in Colorado and in Colorado law through the sheer force of her intellect, hard work, and character.” The vote, on June 8, was 72 yeas to 28 nays.

YEAS: Collins, King

SPENDING ON TECHNOLOGY: The Senate has passed the United States Innovation And Competition Act (S. 1260), sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. The bill would take a variety of measures to promote development of new technologies, including the creation of a Directorate for Technology and Innovation at the National Science Foundation and other strategic government plans to support innovation. Schumer said of the need for the bill: “If we want American workers and American companies to keep leading the world, the federal government must invest in science, basic research, and innovation, just as we did in the decades after the Second World War.” An opponent, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said it would likely result in wasteful spending, and increase an already excessive national debt burden. The vote, on June 8, was 68 yeas to 32 nays.

YEAS: Collins, King

EMPLOYER SEX DISCRIMINATION: The Senate has rejected a cloture motion to end debate on a motion to consider the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 7), sponsored by Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Conn., to adopt a variety of measures aimed at preventing wage discrimination on the basis of sex or sexual status. A bill supporter, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said: “It is more clear than ever that we must take steps to close loopholes that allow for pay discrimination and empower women to hold their employers accountable when pay discrimination occurs.” The vote, on June 8, was 49 yeas to 50 nays.

NAYS: Collins

YEAS: King

SECOND NEW JERSEY JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Zahid N. Quraishi to serve as a judge on the U.S. district court for New Jersey. Quraishi has been a U.S. magistrate judge in New Jersey since 2019; before that, he was a federal government lawyer and a private practice lawyer in the state. A supporter, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., cited Quraishi’s well qualified rating from the American Bar Association and “an amazing public service career.” The vote, on June 10, was 81 yeas to 16 nays.

YEAS: Collins, King