• Republican senators joined Democrat colleagues in advancing multiple judicial nominees from a Senate panel after a weekslong pause due to the absence of a Democrat senator.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee discharged seven nominees from President Joe Biden on April 20 as at least one Republican joined all remaining Democrats on the panel.
• Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), though, said he’d spoken to GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham and had chosen to hold the first hearing in weeks to vote on the nominees.
• “Our agenda includes a number of judicial nominees who have been sitting on the agenda for some time. Some have bipartisan support. There’s nothing to prevent us from calling and voting on these nominees today even in Sen. Feinstein’s absence,” he said. “I understand we now have agreement to vote on several of them. I’ve spoken to Sen. Graham.”

Tagged: Capitol Hill