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1 [1] (February 20, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/govesna0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con re &on I flesedrch Service horniig Aecj I ive le a~m 'e1914 0 February 20, 2025 Discharging a Senate Committee from Consideration of a Nomination A routine part of the confirmation process for most nominations submitted by the President to the Senate involves consideration by committee. Under Senate Rule XXXI, nominations are referred to committee unless otherwise ordered. The vast majority of nominations are referred. The Senate does not have a process by which a Senator can make nominations eligible for floor consideration upon receipt, without referral to committee. The Rule XIV process, which allows a Senator to take steps to prevent a bill or joint resolution from being referred to committee, does not apply to nominations. For the Senate to take up a nomination on the floor, the committee of referral must first report the nomination, or the committee must be discharged by the full Senate from further consideration of the nomination. The Senate routinely discharges committees from consideration of a nomination by unanimous consent. Senators who do not support discharge can communicate to their party leader that they would object to an attempt on the Senate floor to discharge the committee from consideration of the nomination by unanimous consent. An objection by any Senator would prevent discharge by unanimous consent. From time to time, Senators are interested in discharging a committee from consideration of a nomination when unanimous consent cannot be obtained. Under Senate rules, it is possible for the full chamber to discharge a committee from consideration of a matter, using a motion or resolution, so that the Senate may consider a nomination that the committee did not report. The discharge process, however, does not allow a simple majority to quickly initiate consideration of a nomination still in committee. It requires several steps, and a motion or resolution to discharge is not subject to a debate limit. Therefore, a cloture process-requiring several days and supermajority support-could be necessary to reach a Senate vote on discharging a committee. (During the 117th Congress, when the Senate was equally divided between the two parties, the power-sharing provisions of S.Res. 27 provided for a debate-limited motion by which a Senate simple majority could discharge a committee of measures or matters in certain circumstances.) This CRS In Focus outlines the steps of the discharge process for nominations. Not all procedural options are discussed in this product; additional resources on the confirmation process are listed at the end. CRS resources provide background and explanatory information. Only the Office of the Senate Parliamentarian can provide authoritative advice regarding Senate proceedings, and consultation with that office regarding any specific floor action is advised. Current DSCharge Process for Nomrnations Senate Rule XVII permits any Senator to submit a motion or resolution that a committee be discharged from the consideration of a nomination, but the Senate must be in executive session, a parliamentary form of the Senate that has its own Journal and Calendar and, to some extent, its own rules of procedure. Typically, the Senate begins each day in legislative session, where bills and resolutions are considered, and enters executive session by unanimous consent or by agreeing to a motion made by the majority leader. Only if the Senate adjourned or recessed while in executive session would the next meeting automatically open in executive session. The process of discharging a committee from consideration of a nomination has several steps: * If the Senate is not already in executive session, a Senator could first move that the Senate enter executive session. That motion is not debatable (under paragraph 1 of Rule XXII), and it would require the support of a majority of those voting, a quorum being present, for approval. * In executive session, a Senator could be recognized to submit a resolution of discharge and ask unanimous consent for its immediate consideration. * If there is an objection to this request, the resolution would have to lie over until the next executive session on another calendar day (under Rule XVII, paragraph 4(a)). To indicate this, starting the next day the resolution would be listed on the Executive Calendar in the status of over, under the rule. (Alternatively, a Senator could move that a committee be discharged, and upon objection to immediate consideration of that motion, it would be placed in the status of over, under the rule in the form of a resolution.) * Once the resolution is in that procedural status on the Executive Calendar, a Senator could make a motion, while in legislative session, that the Senate enter executive session and take up the discharge resolution. * Under the interpretation of a precedent established in 1980, the motion to enter executive session to consider a discharge resolution is not debatable. If a majority of those voting agreed to this motion, the resolution would be before the Senate for consideration in executive

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