garnered such ringing endorsements their review will produce a strong bipartisan vote to confirm michael b. brennan to serve as judge on the united states court of appeals. mr. president, that concludes my prepared remarks about what a quality judge and skwraourlt -- jurist judge brennan will be. i have to say i'm very disappointed at the partisan nature of the cloture vote. it is unfortunate it was completely party line for somebody i have described that has bipartisan support within the wisconsin legal community. so, mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent the judiciary committee majority issued an excellent memorandum dated november 2, 2007. i'd like to discuss and address the primary objection which led to that unfortunate party-line vote on cloture. i'm really hoping our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will take this to heart and take the background, the bipartisan work from the wisconsin legal community when they cast their final vote on confirmation. but rather than -- again, i'd ask that this be entered into the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. johnson: t

the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, michael b. brennan of wisconsin to be the u.s. circuit judge for the seventh circuit. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: are we in a quorum? i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: well, madam president, later today, the senate will vote on the confirmation of michael brennan to the seventh circuit. over the objection of one of his home state senators, senator baldwin, who has not returned a blue slip on his nomination. it's an abject breach of senatorial courtesy that both parties have long respected. in fact, the seat mr. brennan will fill on the seventh circuit has been held open for six years by the senior senator from wisconsin, senator johnson, via the same process, the blue slip. when barack obama was president, when patrick leahy was chairman of th

baldwin: i rise this afternoon to urge my colleagues to oppose the confirmation of michael b. brennan in the united states court of appeals for the seventh circuit. by bringing mr. brennan's nomination forward without my support, chairman grassley and leader mcconnell are breaking with a long-standing senate tradition that has guaranteed a voice for home state senators regardless of party in the consideration of judicial nominees. the blue slip is an important part of this institution, and its historic respect for the rights of each senator as well as the rights of the minority party. as the chairman of the judiciary committee, mr. grassley, himself wrote in 2015, this tradition is designed to encourage outstanding nominees and consensus between the white house and home state senators. over the years the judiciary committee and its chairs of both parties have upheld a blue-slip process, including most recently senator patrick leahy of vermont, who steadfastly honored the tradition, even as some in his own party called for its demise. i appreciate the value of the blue-slip process and

the clerk: the judiciary, michael b. brennan of wisconsin to be united states circuit judge for the seventh circuit. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, madam president. i ask that the quorum call be lift fundamental there is one. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. the senator is recognized. mr. blumenthal: thank you. one year ago today, the president of the united states did the unthinkable. he did at least what many people thought was unthinkable. he fired the director of the federal bureau of investigation james comey. shortly thereafter, he acknowledged the reason. he told nbc leicester holt that he fired james comey because he was thinking about, quote, this russia thing with trump, end quote, and how unjustified he thought the investigation was. he later told officials of vladimir putin's government. in the oval office, he said this firing relieved him of the pressure he was feels as a result of the russia investigation. the one