Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, over the next couple of days, the Senate will consider two more of the President's nominees: Kristi Noem to be Secretary of Homeland Security and Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense.

A former House Member and current Governor of the great State of South Dakota, Kristi brings both experience and commitment to her new role.

One of the biggest challenges facing the Department of Homeland Security right now is securing our Nation's border. Four years of recordbreaking illegal immigration at our southern border has left our country vulnerable to a whole host of security concerns, from terrorist entries to cross-border criminal activity, like drug trafficking.

Fixing this crisis and restoring respect for the rule of law is one of President Trump and Republicans' top priorities, and it is going to require a decisive and committed leader at the Department of Homeland Security. I believe Kristi has everything it takes to undertake this task.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that with respect to the Hegseth nomination, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; further, that the mandatory quorum call with respect to the Noem nomination be waived.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I join my colleagues in celebrating the career of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Mark Gazelle, who is retiring in January after 34 years of service with the force.

Joining the U.S. Capitol Police in 1991, Officer Gazelle was first assigned to the Capitol Division, First Responders Specialty Unit, before he joined the Mountain Bike Unit. He joined the Senate Chamber Section in 1995 as a plainclothes officer, where he served the remainder of his career on the section. Officer Gazelle has taken command during multiple events as the Senate floor officer and has been instrumental in training and mentoring newer officers and staff around the Chamber.

Officer Gazelle has served in the U.S. Capitol Police Ceremonial Unit, where he rose through the ranks to become the assistant commander of the unit. The Ceremonial Unit is activated in high-profile congressional events, to include Presidential inaugurations, Congressional Gold Medal ceremonies, statue dedications, and lying in state ceremonies.

Officer Gazelle showed an unwavering commitment to keeping others safe, and these Halls undoubtedly remained safer because of his service. Officer Gazelle represents everything that is great about our country, and we are all better off for his selfless sense of duty and his tireless commitment to our safety. I thank Officer Gazelle for his years of service, and I wish him all the best in his retirement.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 38, which is at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the postcloture time on the Noem nomination expire at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 25. I further ask that if cloture is invoked on the Bessent nomination, all postcloture time be considered expired and the Senate vote on confirmation of the Bessent nomination at 5:30 p.m., Monday, January 27; further, that if cloture is invoked on the Duffy nomination, all postcloture time be considered expired and the Senate vote on the confirmation of the Duffy nomination at noon on Tuesday, January 28; finally, that the cloture vote with respect to the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 3, H.R. 23, ripen at 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, January 28.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 9:30 a.m. Saturday, January 25; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that morning business be closed and the Senate proceed to executive session and resume Executive Calendar No. 4, Kristi Noem, postcloture.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. President, I think we all remember the situation just a few short months ago in the lead-up to the election. Democrat Senators and Senate candidates were declaring their commitment to eliminating the filibuster or creating carve-outs that would render it meaningless. The Democratic leader himself made it very clear that the days of the filibuster were numbered, telling a crowd at the Democratic National Convention that his party would be changing the rules to pass the Democrats' Federal takeover of elections. The filibuster, it seemed, was on its way out.

Fast-forward to yesterday. Yesterday, it seems there was a sudden change of heart because yesterday every Senate Democrat--the Democratic leader, new Democratic Senators, long-serving Democratic Senators who had expressed their desire to get rid of the filibuster--joined together and filibustered a bill. That is right. Every Democratic Senator participated in a filibuster of yesterday's legislation.

I will leave aside the disturbing fact that Democrats chose to unite to block a bill to protect living, breathing, newborn children born alive after an attempted abortion.

What I want to talk about today is Democrats' apparent belief that there should be one rule for Democrats and another rule for everyone else. Back in 2017, during President Trump's first term, when Republicans controlled the Senate, 32 Senate Democrats--many of whom, I might add, are still serving today--joined a letter to Senate leadership asking for preservation of the legislative filibuster. Then Democrats took power, and all of a sudden Democrats started to find the legislative filibuster a major inconvenience. They wanted to pass highly partisan legislation like their Federal takeover of elections, and they discovered the filibuster was getting in the way.

Now, Republicans are in power again, and it seems Democrats are back to supporting the filibuster. And the only thing I can gather from that is that Democrats think they should be free to pass any legislation they choose when they are in power but the Republicans should not; that the rules should apply when they serve the aims of the Democratic Party and that the rules should be abolished whenever they interfere with Democrats' far-left agenda; in short, that one party, the Democratic Party, should be making decisions in this country.

That is not a very democratic attitude. It also betrays an elitism, a disdain for half of the electorate that perhaps had something to do with Democrats' electoral defeat in November.

Now, there is no doubt that the filibuster can sometimes be frustrating. I am frustrated that we couldn't pass legislation yesterday to uphold basic human decency by requiring that babies born alive after an attempted abortion receive appropriate medical care. But the filibuster serves a crucial purpose.

The Founders intended the Senate to be a counterbalance to the House. It was designed to be a more stable, thoughtful, more deliberative legislative body to check ill-considered or intemperate legislation or tyranny by the majority. And as time has gone on, the legislative filibuster is the Senate rule that has had perhaps the greatest impact in preserving the Founders' vision of the Senate.

The filibuster acts as a check on imprudent or ill-considered legislation. It forces discussion and compromise, and, critically, it ensures that Americans whose party is not in power also have a

voice in Congress. Preserving the filibuster is crucial to preserving the Senate's checks and balances role in our system of government.

I expect that Democrats will continue to display a renewed enthusiasm for the filibuster during this Congress. And while I may strongly disagree with their choice of when to use it, I will continue to defend their right to do so. Keeping the Senate the Senate and ensuring it continues to fill the role envisioned for it by the Founders is more important than temporary political gain. I hope that when the day comes that Democrats retake the Senate, their time in the minority will have reminded them of the crucial role the filibuster plays and that they will carry their newfound enthusiasm for the filibuster with them when they again find themselves in our shoes.

Mr. President, I will be filing cloture on former Congressman Sean Duffy's nomination to be Secretary of Transportation here shortly.

Yesterday, the Commerce Committee favorably reported Congressman Duffy's nomination in a 28-to-0 vote--in other words, unanimously--and I hope we will be able to move this nominee quickly, as we did with Secretary Rubio, who was also unanimously reported out of committee.

Congressman Duffy is highly qualified for this position. He served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. As the cochair of the Great Lakes Task Force, he played a role in advancing a number of transportation and infrastructure projects. At his hearing last week, he demonstrated his knowledge of the issues that will be his responsibility in this role. Our colleague Senator Baldwin said that he is ``the right person for this job.''

There is no reason to delay this uncontroversial and qualified nominee. If Democrats want to spend their nights and weekends taking votes on uncontroversial nominees, we can do it that way, but one way or the other, these nominees will be confirmed.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 6.

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of Executive Calendar No. 6, Sean Duffy, of Wisconsin, to be Secretary of Transportation.

John Thune, Shelley Moore Capito, Jon Husted, Tom Cotton,

Mike Rounds, Jim Justice, Mike Crapo, Ted Budd, James

Lankford, Dan Sullivan, Todd Young, Cynthia M. Lummis,

Katie Britt, John R. Curtis, Rick Scott of Florida,

Thom Tillis, Ron Johnson.