Good morn­ing! Here’s how Cascadia’s Mem­bers of Con­gress vot­ed on major issues dur­ing the leg­isla­tive week end­ing Sep­tem­ber 30th, 2023.

The House cham­ber (U.S. Con­gress photo)

KEEPING FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OPEN AND AVERTING SHUTDOWN: The House on Sep­tem­ber 30th vot­ed to pass a short term fund­ing bill to keep the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment open and pre­vent a shut­down as of Octo­ber 1st at mid­night. The Sen­ate approved the leg­is­la­tion hours lat­er, and it was signed just before mid­night by Pres­i­dent Joe Biden. It does not include any new aid for Ukraine, but it does con­tain addi­tion­al dis­as­ter assistance.

“I’m sure every bet you had was gov­ern­ment was going to shut down,” House Speak­er Kevin McCarthy told reporters after the vote. “I don’t know how many times you’re going to count us out. But if there’s one thing you should start under­stand­ing, not just that I’ll nev­er give up. But I’m a type of con­ser­v­a­tive that wants to get things done. It’s easy to be a con­ser­v­a­tive that wants to do nothing.”

“The Amer­i­can peo­ple have won. The extreme MAGA Repub­li­cans have lost. It was a vic­to­ry for the Amer­i­can peo­ple and a com­plete and total sur­ren­der by right-wing extrem­ists who through­out the year have tried to hijack the Con­gress,” said House Demo­c­ra­t­ic Leader Hakeen Jef­fries. “Mov­ing for­ward, we will con­tin­ue to work in a bipar­ti­san way to dis­cuss a year-end spend­ing agree­ment con­sis­tent with our val­ues, meet­ing the needs of the Amer­i­can peo­ple, solv­ing prob­lems on their behalf and putting peo­ple over politics.”

The leg­is­la­tion passed with 335 yeas and 91 nays.

A yes vote was to send the stop­gap fund­ing bill to the Senate.

	Vot­ing Yea (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mike Simpson Vot­ing Nay (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Russ Fulcher
	Vot­ing Yea (6): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Val Hoyle, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Andrea Sali­nas; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer
	Vot­ing Yea (10): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 17 yea votes, 1 nay vote

FUNDING SCHOOL OUTDOOR TRAINING PROGRAMS: The House on Sep­tem­ber 26th passed the Pro­tect­ing Hunt­ing Her­itage and Edu­ca­tion Act (H.R. 5110), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mark E. Green, R‑Tennessee, to autho­rize the use of fed­er­al gov­ern­ment funds for buy­ing weapons to train stu­dents in hunt­ing, archery, and oth­er shoot­ing sports. Green said the bill would cor­rect an Edu­ca­tion Depart­ment mis­take in deny­ing fund­ing to such school programs.

Green added that “edu­ca­tion poli­cies ori­ent­ed toward K‑12 schools should place a larg­er focus on get­ting kids out from behind screens and into the great outdoors.”

The vote was 424 yeas to 1 nay.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Yea (6): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Val Hoyle, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Andrea Sali­nas; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer
	Vot­ing Yea (10): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 18 yea votes

BOEBERT AMENDMENT BARRING INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE TRAININGS: The House on Sep­tem­ber 27th passed an amend­ment spon­sored by Rep. Lau­ren Boe­bert, R‑Colo., to the Agri­cul­ture, Rur­al Devel­op­ment, Food and Drug Admin­is­tra­tion, and Relat­ed Agen­cies Appro­pri­a­tions Act (H.R. 4368).

The amend­ment would bar fund­ing for the Agri­cul­ture Depart­ment to do work­place train­ing pro­grams relat­ed to non-het­ero­sex­u­als. Boe­bert said: “Fed­er­al employ­ees devot­ed to pub­lic ser­vice should­n’t be forced to par­tic­i­pate in extreme train­ing ses­sions that con­tra­dict their own val­ues.” An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive San­ford D. Bish­op Jr., D‑Georgia, said it was appro­pri­ate for the Agri­cul­ture Depart­ment to pro­mote “issues such as empa­thy, fos­ter­ing an inclu­sive work­place, or becom­ing an ally to all.” The vote was 217 yeas to 214 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer Vot­ing Nay (4): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Val Hoyle, and Andrea Salinas
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers Vot­ing Nay (8): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strickland

Cas­ca­dia total: 6 yea votes, 12 nay votes

BARRING FUNDING FOR THE FARM TO SCHOOL NETWORK RACIAL EQUITY LEARNING LAB: The House on Sep­tem­ber 27th passed an amend­ment spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Pete Stauber, R‑Minnesota, to the Agri­cul­ture, Rur­al Devel­op­ment, Food and Drug Admin­is­tra­tion, and Relat­ed Agen­cies Appro­pri­a­tions Act (H.R. 4368). The amend­ment would bar fund­ing for the Farm to School Net­work Racial Equi­ty Learn­ing Lab. Stauber said the Lab “seeks to inject crit­i­cal race the­o­ry and iden­ti­ty pol­i­tics into our edu­ca­tion­al insti­tu­tions, per­pet­u­at­ing an agen­da that empha­sizes dif­fer­ences rather than unit­ing us as Amer­i­cans.” An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive San­ford D. Bish­op Jr., D‑Georgia, said the Lab mere­ly “seeks to address racial equi­ty in our farm to school system.”

The vote was 217 yeas to 216 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer Vot­ing Nay (4): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Val Hoyle, and Andrea Salinas
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers Vot­ing Nay (8): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strickland

Cas­ca­dia total: 6 yea votes, 12 nay votes

BLOCKING FUNDING FOR THE CIVILIAN CLIMATE CORPS: The House on Sep­tem­ber 27th passed an amend­ment spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mary Miller, R‑Illinois, to the Agri­cul­ture, Rur­al Devel­op­ment, Food and Drug Admin­is­tra­tion, and Relat­ed Agen­cies Appro­pri­a­tions Act (H.R. 4368), that would bar fund­ing for the Agri­cul­ture Depart­men­t’s Civil­ian Cli­mate Corps.

Miller said the Corps “advances Com­mu­nist Chi­na’s attack on Amer­i­can ener­gy and pro­motes Chi­na’s solar pan­els, lithi­um bat­ter­ies, and windmills.”

An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive San­ford D. Bish­op Jr., D‑Georgia, said: “If we are to address the cli­mate cri­sis, help farm­ers, and strength­en our econ­o­my, we can­not be ham­strung by fund­ing lim­i­ta­tions that deny that cli­mate change is real.”

The vote was 217 yeas to 216 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Yea (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cliff Bentz Vot­ing Nay (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Val Hoyle, and Andrea Sali­nas; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Lori Chavez-DeRemer
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers Vot­ing Nay (8): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strickland

Cas­ca­dia total: 5 yea votes, 13 nay votes

HOULAHAN AMENDMENT TO FUND MILITARY INDUSTRIAL BASE PILOT PROGRAM: The House on Sep­tem­ber 27th passed an amend­ment spon­sored by Rep. Chris­sy Houla­han, D‑Pa., to the Depart­ment of Defense Appro­pri­a­tions Act (H.R. 4365). The amend­ment would move $50 mil­lion from a gen­er­al mil­i­tary spend­ing account to the Defense Pro­duc­tion Act Pur­chas­es account, to fund a pilot pro­gram for devel­op­ing advanced capa­bil­i­ties in the mil­i­tary indus­tri­al base. Houla­han said that by sup­port­ing small busi­ness­es, the pilot pro­gram would “cre­ate new pro­duc­tion lines, decrease defense-cen­tric man­u­fac­tur­ing sup­ply chain vul­ner­a­bil­i­ties, pro­vide advi­so­ry and scal­ing sup­port, and unlock pri­vate equi­ty cap­i­tal for advanced warfight­ing capability.”

An amend­ment oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Ken Calvert, R‑California, cit­ed mil­i­tary bud­get restric­tions as rea­son not to redi­rect fund­ing to a pilot program.

The vote was 240 yeas to 191 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Yea (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cliff Bentz Vot­ing Nay (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Val Hoyle, and Andrea Sali­nas; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Lori Chavez-DeRemer
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers Vot­ing Nay (8): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strickland

Cas­ca­dia total: 5 yea votes, 13 nay votes

BARRING IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PARIS CLIMATE ACCORD: The House n Sep­tem­ber 28th passed an amend­ment spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Matt Gaetz, R‑Florida, to the Depart­ment of State, For­eign Oper­a­tions, and Relat­ed Pro­grams Appro­pri­a­tions Act (H.R. 4665) that would bar fund­ing for imple­men­ta­tion of the Paris Agree­ment on cli­mate change, in which the Biden admin­is­tra­tion re-enlist­ed the Unit­ed States in 2021.

Gaetz said that con­tin­u­ing to imple­ment the Agree­ment would “kill Amer­i­can jobs, kill Amer­i­can man­u­fac­tur­ing, make our coun­try less com­pet­i­tive, dri­ve down our GDP while Chi­na and India play us like fools.” An amend­ment oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Bar­bara Lee, D‑California, said: “With­out inter­ven­tion, our warm­ing plan­et will have irre­versible neg­a­tive impacts on the Unit­ed States and through­out the world.” The vote was 219 yeas to 213 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer Vot­ing Nay (4): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Val Hoyle, and Andrea Salinas
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers Vot­ing Nay (8): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strickland

Cas­ca­dia total: 6 yea votes, 12 nay votes

STATE DEPARTMENT APPROPRIATIONS WITH REPUBLICAN RIDERS: The House on Sep­tem­ber 28th passed the Depart­ment of State, For­eign Oper­a­tions, and Relat­ed Pro­grams Appro­pri­a­tions Act (H.R. 4665), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mario Diaz-Balart, R‑Florida.

The bill would pro­vide $51.5 bil­lion for the State Depart­ment in fis­cal 2024, as well as the U.S. Agency for Inter­na­tion­al Devel­op­ment, Export-Import Bank, and oth­er inter­na­tion­al trade and finance agencies.

Diaz-Balart said that by cut­ting spend­ing on waste­ful and unpro­duc­tive pro­grams, the bill was “able to pri­or­i­tize fund­ing for the nation­al secu­ri­ty threat posed by the Chi­nese Com­mu­nist Par­ty.” An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Bar­bara Lee, D‑California, said it “would impose dev­as­tat­ing cuts on pro­grams meant to keep both Amer­i­ca and the world safe.” The vote was 216 yeas to 212 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer Vot­ing Nay (4): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Val Hoyle, and Andrea Salinas
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers Vot­ing Nay (8): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strickland

Cas­ca­dia total: 6 yea votes, 12 nay votes

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS WITH REPUBLICAN RIDERS: The House on Sep­tem­ber 28th passed the Depart­ment of Defense Appro­pri­a­tions Act (H.R. 4365), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Ken Calvert, R‑California, to pro­vide $826.45 bil­lion of fis­cal 2024 fund­ing for mil­i­tary pro­grams. Calvert said the bill improved U.S. abil­i­ty to deter Chi­nese aggres­sion and anti-drug efforts by the mil­i­tary, while increas­ing pay for junior enlist­ed ser­vice­mem­bers by an aver­age of 30 percent.

An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Rosa L. DeLau­ro, D‑Connecticut, said the bill “harms our mil­i­tary readi­ness by under­min­ing morale and fail­ing to sup­port our ser­vice­mem­bers with its divi­sive pol­i­cy rid­ers” on mat­ters such as abor­tion, sex, and race. The vote was 218 yeas to 210 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer Vot­ing Nay (4): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Val Hoyle, and Andrea Salinas
	Vot­ing Yea (3): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers; Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Marie Glue­senkamp Perez Vot­ing Nay (7): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strickland

Cas­ca­dia total: 7 yea votes, 11 nay votes

AUTHORIZING INSPECTOR GENERAL TO AUDIT AID TO UKRAINE: The House on Sep­tem­ber 28th passed the Ukraine Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance and Over­sight Sup­ple­men­tal Appro­pri­a­tions Act (H.R. 5692), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Thomas H. Kean, R‑New Jer­sey. The bill would estab­lish an inspec­tor gen­er­al office to audit spend­ing to aid Ukraine in its war with Rus­sia, and pro­vide fund­ing for the mil­i­tary’s Ukraine Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Initiative.

The vote was 311 yeas to 117 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mike Simpson Vot­ing Nay (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Russ Fulcher
	Vot­ing Yea (6): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Val Hoyle, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Andrea Sali­nas; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer
	Vot­ing Yea (10): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 17 yea votes, 1 nay vote

HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS WITH REPUBLICAN RIDERS: The House on Sep­tem­ber 28th passed the Depart­ment of Home­land Secu­ri­ty Appro­pri­a­tions Act (H.R. 4367), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive David P. Joyce, R‑Ohio, to pro­vide $63 bil­lion of fis­cal 2024 fund­ing for Home­land Secu­ri­ty, as well as $20 bil­lion for dis­as­ter recov­ery efforts in Maui, Flori­da, and elsewhere.

Joyce said: “This bill returns to a tried-and-true bor­der secu­ri­ty approach by invest­ing in meth­ods to both secure the bor­der and deter those who have no legit­i­mate basis for entry.” An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Rosa L. DeLau­ro, D‑Conn., said the bill “weak­ens our nation­al secu­ri­ty, defunds bor­der secu­ri­ty, harms the Home­land Secu­ri­ty work­force, and leaves Amer­i­cans vul­ner­a­ble to esca­lat­ing dis­as­ters.” The vote was 220 yeas to 208 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer Vot­ing Nay (4): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Val Hoyle, and Andrea Salinas
	Vot­ing Yea (3): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers; Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Marie Glue­senkamp Perez Vot­ing Nay (7): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strickland

Cas­ca­dia total: 7 yea votes, 11 nay votes

REJECTING AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATIONS BILL WITH REPUBLICAN RIDERS: The House on Sep­tem­ber 28th reject­ed the Agri­cul­ture, Rur­al Devel­op­ment, Food and Drug Admin­is­tra­tion, and Relat­ed Agen­cies Appro­pri­a­tions Act (H.R. 4368), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Andy Har­ris, R‑Maryland.

Har­ris said the bill made need­ed spend­ing cuts giv­en recent high deficits and infla­tion­ary bud­gets, and “pri­or­i­tizes crit­i­cal ag research and plant and ani­mal health pro­grams, invests in our rur­al com­mu­ni­ties, pro­vides nutri­tion assis­tance to those in need, and ensures that Amer­i­can con­sumers have a safe food and drug sup­ply.” An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mar­cy Kap­tur, D‑Ohio, said the bill “is rid­dled with divi­sive pol­i­cy rid­ers and detri­men­tal fund­ing cuts galore that will hurt Amer­i­can farm­ers and the Amer­i­can people.”

The vote was 191 yeas to 237 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Yea (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz Vot­ing Nay (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Val Hoyle, and Andrea Sali­nas; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Lori Chavez-DeRemer
	Vot­ing Yea (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers Vot­ing Nay (9): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Dan Newhouse

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 yea votes, 14 nay votes

In the United States Senate

The Sen­ate cham­ber (U.S. Con­gress photo)

KEEPING FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OPEN AND AVERTING SHUTDOWN: The Sen­ate on Sep­tem­ber 30th joined the House in vot­ing to pass a short term fund­ing bill (H.R. 5860, above) to keep the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment open and pre­vent a shut­down as of Octo­ber 1st at midnight.

“As I’ve said from day one, this is a bridge CR [con­tin­u­ing res­o­lu­tion], a tem­po­rary solu­tion,” said Sen­ate Major­i­ty Leader Chuck Schumer.

“We won’t stop fight­ing for more eco­nom­ic and secu­ri­ty assis­tance for Ukraine Majori­ties in both par­ties sup­port Ukraine aid, and doing more is vital for America’s secu­ri­ty and for democ­ra­cy around the world.”

The vote was 88 to 9.

A yes vote was to send the bill to Pres­i­dent Biden, who signed it into law.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 6 yea votes

CLOTURE ON SEPARATE STOPGAP FUNDING BILL: The Sen­ate on Sep­tem­ber 26th passed a motion to invoke clo­ture and pro­ceed to con­sid­er­a­tion of a bill (H.R. 3935), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Sam Graves, R‑Misouri., that would serve as the vehi­cle for a con­tin­u­ing res­o­lu­tion to main­tain fund­ing for gov­ern­ment pro­grams until mid-Novem­ber. A clo­ture sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Susan M. Collins, R‑Maine, said: “My hope is, dur­ing that 45-day peri­od when the con­tin­u­ing res­o­lu­tion is keep­ing gov­ern­ment func­tion­ing at the lev­els that are need­ed, that we can con­tin­ue our progress on the appro­pri­a­tions bills.”

The vote to invoke clo­ture was 77 yeas to 19 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (1): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tor Mike Crapo Not Vot­ing (1): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tor Jim Risch
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 5 yea votes, 1 not voting

PRESERVING PRAIRIE CHICKEN ENDANGERED SPECIES LISTING: The Sen­ate on Sep­tem­ber 28th failed to over­ride Pres­i­dent Biden’s veto of a res­o­lu­tion (S.J. Res. 9), spon­sored by Sen­a­tor Roger Mar­shall, R‑Kansas, that would have dis­ap­proved of and void­ed a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser­vice rule putting pop­u­la­tions of the less­er prairie-chick­en on threat­ened and endan­gered species lists, with accom­pa­ny­ing envi­ron­men­tal reg­u­la­tions for chick­en habitat.

Mar­shall said the list­ing “will fed­er­al­ize mil­lions of acres of ranch­land, increas­ing the reg­u­la­to­ry bur­den for our farm­ers and ranch­ers, ulti­mate­ly increas­ing the cost of food.” The vote to over­ride was 47 yeas to 46 nays, with a two-thirds thresh­old required.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Nay (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Nay (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 2 yea votes, 4 nay votes

PRESERVING LONG-EARED BAT ENDANGERED SPECIES LISTING: The Sen­ate on Sep­tem­ber 28th failed to over­ride Pres­i­dent Biden’s veto of a res­o­lu­tion (S.J. Res. 24), spon­sored by Sen­a­tor Mark­wayne Mullin, R‑Oklahoma, that would have dis­ap­proved of and void­ed a Fish and Wildlife Ser­vice rule list­ing the north­ern long-eared bat as an endan­gered species. The vote to over­ride was 47 yeas to 45 nays, with a two-thirds thresh­old required.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Nay (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Nay (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 2 yea votes, 4 nay votes

TODD GEE, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY: The Sen­ate has con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Todd Gee to be the U.S. Attor­ney for the South­ern Dis­trict of Mis­sis­sip­pi for a four-year term. Gee, an offi­cial in the Jus­tice Depart­men­t’s pub­lic integri­ty pro­gram since 2018, has also been a lawyer on the House Home­land Secu­ri­ty Com­mit­tee and an assis­tant U.S. attor­ney for Wash­ing­ton, D.C.

The vote was 82 yeas to 8 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 6 yea votes

TARA MCGRATH, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY: The Sen­ate on Sep­tem­ber 29th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Tara McGrath to be the U.S. Attor­ney for the South­ern Dis­trict of Cal­i­for­nia. An assis­tant U.S. attor­ney for the Dis­trict from 2008 to 2019, McGrath has also been a judge advo­cate and a lawyer in the Marines. The vote was 52 yeas to 37 nays.

	Vot­ing Nay (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Yea(2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 yea votes, 2 nay votes

Key votes ahead

The House is expect­ed to con­sid­er a res­o­lu­tion to vacate the speak­er­ship after Kevin McCarthy opt­ed to pro­vide Repub­li­can votes to keep the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment open. If McCarthy los­es, leg­isla­tive busi­ness is like­ly to grind to a halt for an unspec­i­fied peri­od of time while a new Speak­er is chosen.

The Sen­ate is plan­ning to con­sid­er sev­er­al judi­cial and exec­u­tive nom­i­na­tions, includ­ing for James C. O’Brien to be Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of State, Bren­dan Abell Hur­son to be a U.S. Dis­trict Court Judge (in Mary­land), and Susan Kim DeCler­cq to be a U.S. Dis­trict Court Judge (in Michigan).

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