Senate expected to deal with nominations in extraordinary session

The island Senate is expected to tackle today the nominations sent by outgoing Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia last week.

After the House of Representatives opted to close the session indefinitely (sine die), arguing a lack of consensus among New Progressive Party (NPP) lawmakers on 10 bills, Pierluisi amended the call for the extraordinary session, asking the Senate to consider 24 nominations. The appointments entail the renomination of 14 judges, two promotions of prosecutors and eight new appointments.

“All renominations are for positions held by appointed judges, whose terms expired or expire before December 31,” La Fortaleza said in a written statement. In the original call for the extraordinary session, the governor only included 10 bills and resolutions, but he left the door open to amend the summons and submit appointments that are exclusively evaluated by the Senate, such as nominations. The eight new nominations are for six judges, a registrar, and a member of the General Services Administration Tender Board, which was recommended by the commonwealth comptroller.