in 2005 mr. kobes represented as a volunteer so-called crisis pregnancy centers seeking to uphold the law to inform women seeking abortions that, quote, the pregnant woman has an existing relationship with the unborn human being and that the relationship enjoys protections under the united states constitution and under the laws of south dakota. end quote. that is not the associate of the law, by the way. mr. farr and mr. kobes are two of the worst of mr. trump's judicial nominees and that is saying a lot. they are two more examples of president trump's relentless pursuit to pack the courts with ideologs who will rule in favor of conservative causes. truly donald trump does not believe in the judiciary written by the framers of our constitution. we see in his single-minded indifference, that he is nominating judges whom he believes will be his political allies. he tells us as much. he believes judges he appoints are trump judges and will be loyal to him and protect him and his policies when the time com

mr. trump's participation in the transactions. in august, trump's former attorney michael cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations. kobe admitted he arranged it with two women. presumably stormy daniels and karen mcdougal. "the journal" also reports cohen has, quote, met with investigators for mr. mueller and with federal prosecutors in new york seeking to provide information that could mitigate his punishment. his sentencing hearing, by the way, is december 12th. in april you will recall president trump told reporters on board air force one that he did not know about the payments to stormy daniels. >> did you know about the $130,000 payment to stormy daniels? then why did michael cohen make it if there was no truth to the allegations? >> you have to ask michael cohen. michael's been my attorney and you'll have to ask michael. >> do you know where he got the money to make that payment? no, i don't know. >> then in august after michael cohen implicated the president, trump said he learned about both payments later on. >> did you know about the payments? >> later on i knew. later on. but you have to understand, what he d

kobes nomination occur at 12:00 noon today. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. cornyn: madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. rubio: madam president, the -- as we saw yesterday, this vote on the yemen war powers resolution has brought to light the broader issue of our alliance with saudi arabia. and this is an issue that people have heard a lot about obviously in the last few weeks with the murder of a journalist and this yemen resolution have become a proxy over that matter. and i have been outspoken in the past about why it matters that we speak out strongly about and against the murder of this journalist khashoggi but also that we talk more broadly about what we need to do about it. and how it applies to our alliance with saudi arabia. so i want to tailor my comments here today briefly by talking about exactly what the implications are based on the questions i get from people. first of all, why does it matter? why does the murder of khashoggi matter and why should we care about it? the first i will tell you is

kobes of south dakota to be united states circuit judge for the eighth circuit. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of jonathan a. kobes of south dakota to be united states circuit judge for the eighth circuit signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: all in favor say aye. opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive to consider calendar number 1064. the presiding officer: all in favor. opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the. the clerk: will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination