the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, patrick j. bumatay of california to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of patrick j. bumatay of california to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit, signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous 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: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. those opposed, 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 session and consider executive calendar number 534. the presiding officer: the question is on the moti

we have nominated patrick j. bumatay. mr. patrick j. bumatay is a graduate of yale, practiced in the private sector and served in a variety of roles with the department of justice. mr. van dyke graduated from montana state university and harvard law school. his career included a clerkship with the d.c. circuit, spent time as a solicitor general and service as deputy assistant attorney general at the department of justice. each is well qualified, each has widespread respect from legal peers and now they are the 49th and 50th circuit judges nominated by president trump and confirmed by the senate in the last three years. as i've said before, these kinds of milestones are emphatically not partisan achievements. it is not one party or the other that benefits when our federal courts consist of men and women who understand that a judge's job is to follow the law, not to make the law. the entire country benefits from that. our constitutional system benefits from that as well. if judges applying our laws and our constitution, as they are written

the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, patrick j. bumatay, of california, to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit. mr. mcconnell: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. schumer: madam president? are we in a quorum? the presiding officer: we are. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: for years president trump has speculated wildly about a, quote, deep state conspiracy, unquote, against his presidency. based on the claim that the f.b.i. opened an investigation into the president's campaign with political bias with the explicit purpose that they were out to get him. yesterday the department of justice inspector general released a report that puts this conspiracy theory to bed. the report conclusively debunks the baseless conspiracy that the investigation into mr. trump's campaign and its ties to russia originated with political bias. in fact, the report quotes the f.

the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, patrick j. bumatay of california to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask that with respect to the hall berlin -- halpern nomination, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the president be notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, after months of headlines about the dangers of vaping and a litany of mysterious medical conditions, we have hit a pretty concerning milestone last week. vaping-related lung injuries have now been reported in all 50 states. alaska became the state number 50 with the identification of a teen suffering from these illnesses. i said a teen. the teen reported regularly vaping bot