Senate Advances Texas District Court Nominee Angela Colmenero

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 52-43 Tuesday to end debate on Angela Veronica Colmenero’s nomination to be a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Texas. The vote advanced her nomination but did not confirm her. 1 2

The vote was called cloture. Cloture is a Senate procedure that ends debate and allows the Senate to move toward a separate final vote. In this case, it set up a later vote on whether to confirm Colmenero.

The roll call was 52 yeas and 43 nays. Five senators did not vote: Bill Cassidy, Chris Coons, Ruben Gallego, Chris Murphy and Sheldon Whitehouse. The Congressional Record listed them as necessarily absent but did not give reasons for their absences. 2

Under a Senate order, the confirmation vote was to occur at a time set by the majority leader in consultation with the Democratic leader, no later than Friday, Sept. 25. The schedule for Wednesday, Sept. 23, called for the Senate to enter executive session at 2:15 p.m., execute the order on Colmenero’s nomination and return to legislative business after disposing of it. 3 4

District judges exercise federal trial-court authority. If confirmed, Colmenero would serve on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The cloture vote alone did not give her the judgeship.

The Senate also voted 70-21 to end debate on an amendment to the Protect College Sports Act. That wider-margin vote concerned a separate college-sports measure, not Colmenero’s nomination, showing that the two matters drew different voting coalitions. 5

Colmenero’s nomination remained pending a separate confirmation vote.