halligan did not.ould also point out that she co-authored an amicus brief before the supreme court in the 2009 case of almari. ms. halligan's brief in that case took a position similar to the 2004 report with respect to military detention of terrorists. in that case she argued that the authorization for use of military force law did not authorize the seizure and indefinite military detention of a lawful permit resident alien who conspired with al qaeda to execute terror attacks on our country. the fact that ms. halligan co-authored this brief pro bono suggests to me she supported the conclusions reached by the 2004 report and again this issue is particularly troublesome for a nominee to the d.c. circuit where, as i've already said, many of these questions are heard. there are a number of other aspects of the record concerning me -- concerns me. most, for instance, she authored an informal opinion on behalf of attorney general spitzer regarding new york's domestic relations law. that opinion evoked a th

halligan has distinguished herself throughout her career. he shoos established a commitment to fairness, reasoned intellect, steadfast integrity and profound respect for the law. i look forward to supporting caitlin halligan's confirmation to the united states court of appeals for the district of columbia, and i urge my fellow colleagues in supporting her nomination. mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, we're soon going to roll call vote edgardo ramos of connecticut to be u.s. district judge for the southern district of new york. we also have three others on here. andrew carter jr. of new york to be u.s. district judge for the southern district of new york. james rodney gilstrap for the eastern district of texas. dana l. christensen to be united states district judge for the district of montana. i'd ask consent th

caitlin halligan, 54 in favor, 45 against. that means none of those things passed. >> the senate voted along party lines against confirming former ohio attorney general richard cordray. >> the senate voted down both republican and democratic compromise proposals to exten t the payroll tax break. >> the headline, senate rejects cloture on d.c. circuit nominee caitlin halligan. t the cloture word is important. all these things, that judge nomination, the consumer protection nominations, payroll tax cut extension, they all got majority yes votes in the senate. they still did not pass. because republicans did something that's called a filibuster. so a majority vote doesn't count. it's not enough to pass something. republicans do this on everything. everything over the past few years. every vote of substance. they have taken a rule that used to be for exceptional extreme circumstances only and they are applying it basically to every vote now. effectively changing the constitutional structure of our government so one house of congre

halligan is not being treated in an unfair manner. in fact, her nomination is proceeding far better than many phenomenon natured to this court. by remind my colleagues that previous nominees were subjected

the fact is, if we can't confirm halligan, this won't go down as a vote about caseload. this will be recorded as a new bar for nominees. in conclusion, mr. president, when caitlin halligan drove with her father from her home in kansas city to harvard, or when she was a standout student at georgetown law, or when she started her law for the new york attorney general's office, i'm sure that she could not have imagined that someday she would be the topic of the debate in the united states about whether she was too radical or lacked the candor to be a judge. i hope that when we vote and the debate is over my colleagues recognize the truth here: halligan is a sterling example of a public servant who has worked hard, earned every honor she has received and fits squarely within the mainstream of judicial thought. she deserves an up-or-down vote today, and i will be proud to cast my vote for cloture on caitlin halligan's nomination. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned

just yesterday, caitlan halligan was nominated by president obama to join the d.c. circuit court. yesterday she had a vote. 54 votes in favor, but not enough to clear the republican filibuster, the first filibuster of a senior judicial nomination in over five years. now, look, we've seen this sort of thing before. democrats and republicans both do it. remember this name? miguel estrada. he was nominated by president bush to serve on the same d.c. circuit court and he was blocked by senate democrats at the time. not because he wasn't a respected conservative jurist, also a honduran immigrant, but ironically like catlin halligan feared they might become superior court nominees. the filibuster stops government from working. leads to broken government. remember the movie "mr. smith goes to washington"? it's one of my favorite movies. in it, jimmy stewart stands on the floor of the senate, at risk of kidney, fighting for what he believed for and it used to be that way. now it's a parliamentary maneuver. staffers file paperwork and the numbers grown in filibusters from one to over 70 a

just yesterday, caitlan halligan was nominated by president obama to join the d.c. circuit court. yesterday she had a vote. 54 votes in favor, but not enough to clear the republican filibuster, the first filibuster of a senior judicial nomination in over five years. now, look, we've seen this sort of thing before. democrats and republicans both do it. remember this name? miguel estrada. he was nominated by president bush to serve on the same d.c. circuit court and he was blocked by senate democrats at the time. not because he wasn't a respected conservative jurist, also a honduran immigrant, but ironically like catlin halligan feared they might become superior court nominees. the filibuster stops government from working. leads to broken government. remember the movie "mr. smith goes to washington"? it's one of my favorite movies. in it, jimmy stewart stands on the floor of the senate, at risk of kidney, fighting for what he believed for and it used to be that way. now it's a parliamentary maneuver. staffers file paperwork and the numbers grown in filibusters from one to over 70 a

as a reminder, cloture was filed on the nomination of kaitlin joan halligan to be u.s.district judge for the district of columbia. that cloture vote will occur at 12:00 noon on tuesday. if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until the federal government has spent $170 billion to support fannie mae and freddie mac since 2008. next the head of fannie and freddie testified the house subcommittee hearing and discuss the oversight role of the federal housing financing agency. we will also a share from the acting director of the agency edward demarco. texas congressman is the chairman. >> this hearing will come to order. we will have opening statements by each side and remind all members their entire written statement will be made a part of the record. also i ask unanimous consent that mr. garate and mr. miller be allowed to sit in with this committee. they are not a member but a member of the financial services committee as well.

her name is kaitlyn cal hin -- caitlin halligan, who has argued many cases before the supreme court, i don't have a resume in front of me. i spoke to her nomination last week. she was found unanimously well qualified by the american bar association and yet she was filibustered by the republicans. and we couldn't come up, we couldn't come up be with -- only one republican vote to support us. only one. all the rest said filibuster continues. to put that in historic perspective, a few years ago we had a big confrontation in the senate before the president was elected. so i don't implicate him in any way but before this president, there was an argument about whether you should filibuster federal nominees. a group of 14 bipartisan group said only under extraordinary circumstances. last week with this filibuster on this nominee they completely forgot that except for one, senator hurricanes of alaska -- murkowski of alaska. she joined us breaking to -- she joined us voting to break the filibuster, it wasn't enough. that one nominee fell by the wayside. one filibuster a week wasn't enough fo

yesterday we saw an incredible, astonishing republican filibuster of the nomination of caitlin halligan to serve on the d.c. circuit court of appeals. the fact of the matter is those voting against her nomination couldn't come up with a good reason. she had been found by the a.b.a. to be unanimously well qualified. she had an amazing resume. and she was rejected on a filibuster initiated by the republican side. that is unfortunate. i would just say to my senate republican colleagues, i think that richard cordray has the background and experience to lead this agency. he should be given a chance. i know that the banks aren't happy that anybody is watching them. these financial institutions, payday lenders and the rest would rather do their business without anybody looking over their shoulder. holly petraeus is the wife of general petraeus. she's been working with the consumer financial protection bureau to stop the exploitation of men and women in the military service. she came by my office to talk about what this agency is doing to protect those families. sadly, some of these families ar