mr. benczkowski. that's all it takes. what it boils down to is whether or not any republican senators see a problem with this nomination. i hope that each one of these senators will reflect on the fact that they know a handful of individuals, maybe more, who are more qualified to take on this job than mr. benczkowski. let's put somebody on this job that understands it, has experience. how many people would walk into a lawyer's office and said, i'd like you to represent me. have you ever had case like mine before? and the lawyer says, no, never seen one like this. never represented anybody like you and the client would reply, perfect. that's just what i'm looking for, someone who is so inexperienced and so incapable of representing me. i can't wait to pay your fee. let's not pay the fee of mr. benczkowski. let's return him to his private practice. mr. president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: a senator: mr. president. the

mr. benczkowski. he could even be in a position to share secret grand jury information directly with the president. what is also concerning is that if mr. benczkowski were to be confirmed and deputy attorney general rosenstein were removed, the president under the federal vacancy format could simply install mr. benczkowski as the acting attorney general, the man who is representing the trump bank right up until the time he was representing -- representing the putin bank right up until the time he was nominated to this position. so what do we have? we have mr. benczkowski, under those circumstances, having direct control over the special counsel's investigation. he would even have the power to stop the special counsel's probe. gosh, you wonder. did that ever occur to somebody at the white house that he could suddenly stop mr. mueller from his investigations? well, on qualifications, a man who will be head of the criminal division has never tried a case, never handled any criminal matter, never had anyt

mr. benczkowski poses, even if he were qualified for the post. this combination, mr. president, of lack of qualifications, flagrant, flat-out unqualified nominee here, and risk of contamination in an environment in which there are abundant political efforts to interfere with this investigation, that is a combination no senator ought to accept, not for this man, not for this job, not at this time. if mischief is afoot, and if these dark prospects should come to pass, senators, we will have been warned. we will have been warned. i yield the floor, mr. president, and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the provisions of rule 22, all postcloture time on executive calendar 639 be considered expired at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow and the senate

mr. benczkowski to be in charge of 600 federal prosecutors despite the fact that mr. enczkowski has never, never as a lawyer been at a trial, never. never been in a courtroom. never been in a trial. was named by president trump to head up the criminal division of the department of justice. that may not be the worst part. mr. benczkowski also chose in his private law practice in washington to represent a russian bank, the alfa bank with deep ties to vladimir putin. and despite the fact that when he was called on, he said he would not recuse himself from this russian investigation despite his involvement with this bank. furthermore, this vote occurred as president trump and house republicans had been looking for an excuse to fire attorney general -- deputy attorney general rosenstein who is overseeing the mueller investigation. should rosenstein be fired? mr. benczkowski easily could be tasked by the president with overseeing the russian investigation. that would be an unmitigated legal disaster. enough is enough. today is the day. i hope my colleagues, democrat and repu

the benczkowski nomination and that all time during adjournment, leader remarks and morning business count postcloture on the nomination. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the the presiding officer: the the u.s. senate confirmed mark bennett to be a judge on the court of appeals. they also voted to go to conference on the defense authorization bill. tomorrow more work on executive branch nominations. there's a number of senate floor speeches about the president's nomination of bret cavanaugh to the u.s. supreme court. mitch mcconnell leads off the comment. >> president trump has made a superb selection to serve as associate justice of the supreme court of the united states. judge cavanaugh of the d.c. circuit possesses an impressive resume, an outstanding legal mind and an exemplary judicial temperament. he served 12 years nominations most consequential circuitt court. he has proven to be one a most thorough and thoughtful in the country. that demonstrates an understanding of the proper role in our constitution

mr. president, i come to the floor today to raise concerns, concerns both about the next vote we will take, a vote that will or will not confirm president trump's nominee, brian allen benczkowski to lead the criminal division of the united states department of justice to be the assistant attorney general supervising the department of criminal justice, a division of criminal justice, and to express my concern about our president's actions at the nato summit and his upcoming meeting with vladimir putin, the president of the russian federation. let me start with mr. benckowski. i come to the floor today to speak in opposition to our proceeding to his confirmation. mr. benckowski has been nominated to serve as the assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal division at the united states department of justice. how big a division is that? 10, 50, 100? it's actually got 900 employees and 600 career federal prosecutors. the u.s. department of justice takes up and handles, investigates, prosecutes cases of an unbelievable range and complexity of every district in the entire united states. and one would have to assume that to take on such a significant, such as important role a