Every Supreme Court Nominee Deserves Timely Consideration Act

Bill: 118-s-859
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
Introduced: 2023-03-16
Policy area: Congress
Latest action: action_date: 2023-03-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-03-16
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Every Supreme Court Nominee Deserves Timely Consideration Act</b></p> <p>This bill establishes procedures under Senate rules through which any Senator may expedite the vote on a nominee for the Supreme Court.</p> <p>Currently, most nominations, including for Supreme Court Justices, must be referred for consideration to the Senate committee with relevant jurisdiction before the nominations receive a vote in the Senate. A committee considering a nomination may (1) report out the nomination favorably, unfavorably, or without recommendation; or (2) choose to take no action. Nominations that are pending when the Senate adjourns at the end of a session or recesses for more than 30 days are typically returned to the President.</p> <p>Under this bill, if the Judiciary Committee fails to report out a nomination for a Supreme Court Justice within 60 continuous days of session, any Senator may publish a notice of intent to discharge the nomination from the committee in the <i>Congressional Record</i>. Next, if 30 Senators support discharging the nomination within the 20 days following the publication of the notice, the nomination must be placed on the Senate calendar for debate and vote.</p> <p>The bill limits the duration of the debate and permits Senators to object to the consideration of debatable motions and appeals related to the nomination. The vote on the nomination must be held immediately following the debate.</p>

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 859 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 16, 2023 Mr. Merkley introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration A BILL To provide for the expedited consideration of nominations for the Supreme Court of the United States.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Every Supreme Court Nominee Deserves Timely Consideration Act . 2. Supreme court judicial review procedure (a) Discharge In the Senate, if the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate has not reported a nomination for the Chief Justice of the United States or an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States at the end of 60 continuous days of session after the date on which the nomination is referred to such committee, any Member may submit to the Congressional Record a notice of intent to discharge the nomination. At the end of 20 calendar days after the notice of intent to file such petition, such committee may be discharged from further consideration of such nomination upon a petition supported in writing by 30 Members of the Senate, and such nomination shall be placed on the calendar. Debate on the motion, and on all debatable motions and appeals in connection therewith, shall not be in order. (b) Consideration (1) Debate In the Senate, debate on the nomination, and on all debatable motions and appeals in connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than 30 hours, which shall be divided equally between those favoring and those opposing the nomination. A motion further to limit debate is not in order and not debatable. A motion to postpone, a motion to proceed to the consideration of other business, or any amendment thereto, is not in order. A one-time nondebatable motion to extend the consideration of the nomination an additional 30 hours shall only be in order when supported in writing by 30 Members of the Senate. (2) Vote In the Senate, immediately following the conclusion of the debate on a nomination described in subsection (b)(1), and a single quorum call at the conclusion of the debate if requested in accordance with the rules of the Senate, the vote on the confirmation of the nomination shall occur. (c) Rules of the senate This section is enacted by Congress— (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate, and as such it is deemed a part of the rules of the Senate, and it supersedes other rules only to the extent that it is inconsistent with such rules; and (2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of the Senate to change such rules (so far as relating to the procedure of the Senate) at any time, in the same manner, and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of the Senate.