ms. collins: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: i ask unanimous consent that proceedings under the call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be called up en bloc and reported by number. senator kirk's amendment numbered 3997, senator tester's

amendment 3998, senator perdue's amendment 3933, senator mikulski's amendment 4030, senator daines amendment 4008, senator brown's amendment 3920, senator inhofe's amendment 3969, senator boxer's amendment as modified numbered 3935, senator flake's amendment 4038, senator manchin's amendment 4043, senator flake's amendment 3980, senator feinstein's amendment 3944 senator johnson's amendment 3993, senator klobuchar's amendment 3910, senator heller's amendment 4005,

senator durbin's amendment 4029, senator sasse's amendment 4023. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report by number. the clerk: the senator from maine, ms. collins proposes en bloc amendments numbered 3997, 3998 3933, 4030, 4008, 3920, 3969 3935 as modified 4038, 4043 3980, 3944, 3993, 3910, 4005 4029 and 4023. ms. collins: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that the senate now vote on these

amendments en bloc. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. collins: i know of no further debate on these amendments. the presiding officer: is there further debate? if not all in favor say aye. those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the amendments are agreed to en bloc. ms. collins: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22, at 11:15 a.m. on thursday, may 19, that all postcloture time be considered expired on the blunt-murray amendment numbered 3900. further, that if cloture is invoked on the collins substitute amendment numbered 3896 the cornyn amendment numbered 3899 and the nelson amendment numbered 3898 be withdrawn, that it be in order

for senator collins or her designee to call up amendment numbered 3970, and that there be no second-degrees in order to the collins amendment 3970 or the lee amendment 3897. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. collins: for the information of all senators, at 11:15 tomorrow the senate is expected to proceed to three roll call votes -- a motion to waive the budget with respect to the blunt-murray zika amendment adoption of the blunt amendment and cloture on the pending substitute. senators should expect additional votes to complete action on the bill and any pending amendments during tomorrow's session of the senate.

mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session for consideration of calendar item number 547 through 551 and all nominations on the secretary's desk in the foreign service, that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the nominations to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, and that the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. so ordered.

ms. collins: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that the senate now proceed to the consideration of senate resolution 471 national public works week, submitted earlier today. the clerk: senate resolution 471, designating the week of may 15-may 21, 2016, as national public works week. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. ms. collins: i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that the committee on veterans' affairs be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 2814 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 2814, an act to

name the department of veterans' affairs community-based outpatient clinic in sevierville, tennessee the danny az carr veterans outpatient clinic. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. it is discharged. and the senate will proceed to the measure. ms. collins: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. thursday, may 19. following the prayer and the pledge, the morning business be deemed expired the journal of proceedings be approved to date and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. further, that following leader remarks, the senate then resume

consideration of h.r. 2577, with the time until 11:15 a.m. equally divided between the managers or their designees. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until the senate continued debate on spending for housing programs as well as military construction and veterans affairs. unless an agreement is reached procedural votes on the spending bills are expected when the senate convenes tomorrow. chambers also expected to hold another procedural vote on the $1.1 billion amendment for anti-zika virus research and programs. >> at "politico".com this

headline donald trump's goldplated convention, sort of where celebrity apprentice meets the republican party. the reporting of how dos goal. it's safe to say this is not going to be your fathers or grandfathers are public and convention. what can we expect when the gavel comes down in cleveland? >> with donald trump has the presumptive nominee you can expect trump side version of the convention the unveiling of his vice presidential pick at the convention itself verses beforehand and quite a few other surprises including the nominee speaking every week and quite you might want to call an upgrade to an otherwise considered a normal state convention of just the speaker on the stage. >> i would be a significant change. normally the nominee comes on the final night and sometimes they make an appearance via video screen but what you are saying is the possibility of her night the convention delegates

and public will hear from donald trump. >> yes i mean donald trump is the master the media and he is quite a bit of experience and how to attract cameras and he is probably weighing right now what will attract the most attention and is probably thinking to himself you know i'm the nominee so why wouldn't i speak every single night tech. >> in the past that these relatively new sloth conventions public relations for the democrats and republicans, so what is happening behind the scenes? what are the negotiations like between the trump organization and the rnc? >> right now there are still even though it's only a few months away they are still trying preliminary negotiations on what it will look like and likely it's going to be a mixture of the rnc trying to make sure the party elites and the people in charge still have some say over it and then also taking it into account what trump has to say. they fully recognize that he has

a great power over the media and knows how to maximize that. i am sure that the rnc knows that can only help them in reaching millions of potential voters. i expect the ratings for this convention to blow while the other conventions out of the water. >> who is working with donald trump to put this production this television production together? >> donald trump has a famously small campaign team so the same people who are working with him on his campaign and with the rnc and the whole convention team they are talking two different consultants about how to do it and you know with the trunk campaign usually at the end of the day it's up to donald trump. he is the ultimate, if anything he has left his delicate operations in the and bolts things to his things to a staff

but when it comes to something like this you can rest assure that donald trump will be involved in every single detail. >> you quoted the john kane commence in any talk about the quicken loans arena which is a relatively tight space especially when you have the media and delegates inside that arena. saluja stickley what's this all going to look like? >> logistically you are going to have all of your delegates and you are also going to have a huge number of media. at the feeling we will be in a situation where perhaps the media outnumbers the delegates there. you are going to have all of your dignitaries. you are going to have a staff. you are going to have other candidates, pass candidates and all of their staff and all of their families. the press file is actually a mile away with specialized shuttles to bring the press from the press file into the actual convention arena and there is

new credentialing processes in place which means that everybody who is going to be in certain areas including the media has to go through special background screenings. it's going to be different not only in how it looks and terms of donald trump rearranging how the convention will be presented but also in terms of how the press experiences the convention. >> you are focusing primarily on how the republican party is going to have a very different in mid-january the celebrity billionaires revamping everything about the gop's dog and pony show. my question is does is put any pressure on the democrats and the likely nominee hillary clinton and what the democrats will put together in philadelphia this summer? >> i definitely think the democrats are keeping that in mind especially because similar to how they debate have drawn in so many more viewers, it's a question of their message is getting out there to more people than the democrats message and

they are definitely probably going to keep that in mind. the dnc is keeping a close to heart exactly what they are doing especially since there is no nominee yet. once there is a nominee you will have a better idea in more conversations and what that will look like but i doubt we can expect an attempt to ramp this up a little bit and they are going to be focusing if it is hillary clinton is a historic convention. it will be the first convention with the first female nominee and they will definitely be focusing on that and you'll almost assuredly expect that all the celebrities that come out to help h katy perry will be there in full force. >> the bottom line for donald trump and the republicans come a tradition is likely to go by the wayside in cleveland this july. >> definitely. we have seen that with trump is entire campaign. tradition in the way things are normally done is not how he operates. >> hadas gold is media writer for "politico" port.

joining us on the phone in washington. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> current and former colleagues are present upon the supreme court nominee merrick garland run capitol hill talking about his legal qualifications next on c-span2.