Senate Public Health and Welfare committee approves confirmations in a single block

The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee voted to consider a large slate of nominees in a single, block vote and then advised and consented to the group, the committee chair said.

Committee Chair Senator Parker moved to consider the nominees en bloc; the motion carried on a voice vote. After that vote, Senator Parker moved that the committee “advise and consent,” which also carried by voice vote. The chair then moved that the committee “rise and report,” and that motion passed as well.

The chair said the peer committee had flagged some nominees for special attention and asked Senators Blunt and Johnson to review those names. The chair asked members to check with the committee assistant about any items they wished to set aside for separate consideration. “The fact that somebody's asked a question shouldn't be taken as a sign that they're not gonna be confirmed,” the chair said.

Toward the end of the meeting, the chair read a list of conferees to remain after the session to discuss outstanding conference reports and asked those named to “hang around and visit with us.” The names the chair read were Senator Hunter Ford, Hill, Gaines, Blackwell, Johnson, Barnett, Tate, Parker and Wiggins. The chair said the outstanding conference-report items should take about three or four minutes to resolve.

No roll-call tallies were recorded in the transcript; each motion was decided by voice vote. The committee did not record individual yea or nay votes for the motions in the provided transcript.

The committee indicated it will meet again to consider nominees or conference reports that members flagged for further review.