THE U.S. SENATE voted Thursday 75-20 to advance the nomination of Callista Gingrich to be the United States ambassador to the Holy See, the independent sovereign entity in Rome encompassing the Vatican. Five senators could not bring themselves to cast a vote.

Callista Gingrich is the third wife of Newt Gingrich, the Republican speaker of the House from 1995 to 1999. Newt Gingrich vociferously attacked then-President Bill Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky, even as he was simultaneously cheating on his second wife Marianne with then-Callista Bisek, a former Republican congressional aide. Gingrich led the impeachment effort against Clinton.

The Senate vote in favor of Gingrich came roughly at the same time that Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., announced his resignation. After it was revealed this week that Murphy pressured a woman to have an abortion, he voted to support a ban on abortion after 20 weeks.