Last Week In Congress: How Cascadia’s U.S. lawmakers voted (November 27th-Dec. 1st)

Good morn­ing! Here’s how Cascadia’s Mem­bers of Con­gress vot­ed on major issues dur­ing the leg­isla­tive week end­ing Decem­ber 1st, 2023.

EXPELLING GEORGE SANTOS: The House on Decem­ber 1st passed a res­o­lu­tion (H. Res. 878), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Michael Guest, R‑Mississippi, to expel George San­tos from the House. The cit­ed grounds for removal includ­ed: cam­paign finance fraud, false state­ments on House finan­cial dis­clo­sure forms, and lying to receive unem­ploy­ment benefits.

Guest said there was “a com­plex web of unlaw­ful activ­i­ty involv­ing Rep­re­sen­ta­tive San­tos’ cam­paign, per­son­al, and busi­ness finances.” San­tos said: “I have done the best I can to serve in this body and to deliv­er the best I can in my cam­paign promis­es to vote as a con­ser­v­a­tive voice in this body.” The vote to expel San­tos, on Dec. 1, was 311 yeas to 114 nays, with 2 vot­ing present.

	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 (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 Not Vot­ing (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 16 yea votes, 1 nay vote, 1 not voting

VOIDING CFPB RULE ON DISCLOSURE OF SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT APPLICATION INFO: The House on Decem­ber 1st passed a res­o­lu­tion (S.J. Res 32), spon­sored by Sen­a­tor John Kennedy, R‑Louisiana, to dis­ap­prove of and void a Con­sumer Finan­cial Pro­tec­tion Bureau agency rule issued this May that requires banks and oth­er finan­cial com­pa­nies to sub­mit small busi­ness cred­it appli­ca­tion infor­ma­tion to the Bureau. A res­o­lu­tion sup­port­er, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Roger Williams, R‑Texas, said the rule was over­ly broad, bur­den­some, dis­cour­aged lend­ing because of com­pli­ance costs, con­tained imple­men­ta­tion prob­lems, and could leave lenders vul­ner­a­ble to unjust attacks from left-wing activist groups.

An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Max­ine Waters, D‑California, said the rule “would sim­ply require lenders to col­lect and report data on small busi­ness lend­ing. This data will help dri­ve com­pe­ti­tion in the mar­ket, low­er­ing small busi­ness costs, and help com­bat discrimination.”

The vote was 221 yeas to 202 nays, with 1 vot­ing present.

Pres­i­dent Biden is expect­ed to veto the resolution.

	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): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Marie Glue­senkamp Perez; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Dan Newhouse Vot­ing Nay (7): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strickland Not Vot­ing (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 6 yea votes, 11 nay votes, 1 not voting

RELEASE OF HOSTAGES HELD BY HAMAS: The House on Novem­ber 28th passed a res­o­lu­tion (H. Res. 793), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Haley M. Stevens, D‑Michigan, call­ing for Hamas to imme­di­ate­ly release the hostages it took in its attack on Israel in Octo­ber. Stevens said: “We must con­demn the ter­ror­ists who seek to attack the Jew­ish state. They have bru­tal­ly killed rel­a­tives, neigh­bors, and fel­low Israelis. We must con­tin­ue to push to return the remain­ing hostages.”

The vote was unan­i­mous with 414 yeas.

	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

SOLIDARITY WITH ISRAEL: The House on Novem­ber 28th passed a res­o­lu­tion (H. Res. 888), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mike Lawler, R‑New York., to reaf­firm Israel’s right to exist, con­demn Hamas’s attack on Israel, and deem the denial of Israel’s right to exist a form of anti-Semitism.

Lawler said: “Con­gress must nev­er stop push­ing back against Israel’s oppo­nents, and we must reject biased attempts to destroy our great­est ally.”

The vote was 412 yeas to 1 nay, with 1 vot­ing present.

	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

SANCTIONS AGAINST FIRMS HELPING FACILITATE IRANIAN ACCESS TO FUNDS: The House on Novem­ber 30th passed the No Funds for Iran­ian Ter­ror­ism Act (H.R. 5961), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Michael T. McCaul, R‑Texas, to require sanc­tions against for­eign finan­cial firms that attempt to help Iran trans­fer $6 bil­lion that had been held in restrict­ed accounts in South Korea but were de-restrict­ed to facil­i­tate the release of five U.S. cit­i­zens detained in Iran.

McCaul said: “Block­ing mon­ey to Iran is the most con­se­quen­tial thing we can do here in this Con­gress to stop Iran’s financ­ing of ter­ror­ism to Hamas and oth­er prox­ies to help keep our troops safe who are now under fire from Iran-backed mili­tias.” An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Gre­go­ry Meeks, D‑N.Y., said the bill would remove U.S. lever­age against Iran by break­ing a nego­ti­at­ed agree­ment under which the $6 bil­lion could only be used in Iran for “approved human­i­tar­i­an pur­chas­es to acquire med­i­cine, med­ical equip­ment, agri­cul­tur­al goods, and food.”

The vote was 307 yeas to 119 nays, with 1 vot­ing present.

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

Cas­ca­dia total: 13 yea votes, 5 nay votes

CRITICIZING BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FOR INSUFFICIENT DENUNCIATIONS OF HOUTHIS: The House on Novem­ber 30th passed an amend­ment spon­sored by Rep. Andrew Ogles, R‑Tenn., to the No Funds for Iran­ian Ter­ror­ism Act (H.R. 5961), to crit­i­cize the Biden admin­is­tra­tion for fail­ing to unequiv­o­cal­ly con­demn the Houthi group in Yemen, which is sup­port­ed by Iran.

Ogles cit­ed attacks against U.S. cit­i­zens and mil­i­tary ships by the Houthis, and said the lack of con­dem­na­tion “is to the detri­ment of our nation­al security.”

An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Gre­go­ry Meeks, D‑New York, said that in fact the admin­is­tra­tion “has repeat­ed­ly called out the vio­lence of Houthi mil­i­tants that they have per­pet­u­at­ed against civil­ians, includ­ing recent mis­sile launch­es toward Israel.” The vote, was 226 yeas to 199 nays, with 1 vot­ing present.

	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): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Marie Glue­senkamp Perez; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers 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

REPUBLICAN BILL TO PUNISH IMMIGRANTS: The House on Novem­ber 30th passed the Pro­tect­ing our Com­mu­ni­ties from Fail­ure to Secure the Bor­der Act (H.R. 5283), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Nicole Mallio­takis, R‑New York, to bar the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment from using var­i­ous fed­er­al lands to house for­eign nation­als not autho­rized to be in the U.S.

Mallio­takis said hous­ing immi­grants on fed­er­al lands was not fair to peo­ple who are going through the legal pro­ce­dures for mov­ing to the U.S., and she cit­ed the bur­den that has been placed on New York City by a recent agree­ment to house at least 2,000 unau­tho­rized migrants at a fed­er­al facil­i­ty in Brooklyn.

A bill oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Dan Gold­man, D‑New York, called it “anoth­er ploy by the Repub­li­cans to score polit­i­cal points with­out actu­al­ly address­ing the des­per­ate­ly need­ed reforms to our immi­gra­tion system.”

The vote, on Nov. 30, was 224 yeas to 203 nays, with 1 vot­ing present.

	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): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Marie Glue­senkamp Perez; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers 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

ADDITIONAL VOTES BY VOICE: Along with roll call votes this week, the House passed these mea­sures by voice vote:

• a bill (H.R. 4666), to require the Inspec­tor Gen­er­al of the Small Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion to sub­mit a quar­ter­ly report on fraud relat­ing to cer­tain COVID-19 loans;
• the Return­ing Erro­neous COVID Loans Address­ing Ille­gal and Mis­ap­pro­pri­at­ed Tax­pay­er Funds Act (H.R. 4667), to require the Small Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion to issue guid­ance and rules for lenders on han­dling amounts of Pay­check Pro­tec­tion Loans returned by borrowers;
• the Small Busi­ness Con­tract­ing Trans­paren­cy Act (H.R. 4670), to require report­ing on addi­tion­al infor­ma­tion with respect to small busi­ness con­cerns owned and con­trolled by women, qual­i­fied HUB­Zone small busi­ness con­cerns, and small busi­ness con­cerns owned and con­trolled by veterans;
• and a bill (H.R. 5427), to pro­hib­it indi­vid­u­als con­vict­ed of defraud­ing the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment from receiv­ing any assis­tance from the Small Busi­ness Administration.

In the United States Senate

JEFFREY M. BRYAN, U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE: The Sen­ate on Novem­ber 28th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Jef­frey M. Bryan to be a judge on the U.S. Dis­trict Court for Min­neso­ta. For the past decade, Bryan has been a dis­trict court and appeals court judge in Min­neso­ta; pre­vi­ous­ly, he was a fed­er­al pros­e­cu­tor in the state. A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Amy Klobuchar, D‑Minnesota, said of Bryan: “Through his devo­tion to jus­tice and the rule of law, he has earned the respect and sup­port of judges, attor­neys, and law enforce­ment offi­cials across the polit­i­cal spec­trum.” The vote was 49 yeas to 46 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

MARGARET M. GARNETT, U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE: The Sen­ate on Novem­ber 28th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Mar­garet M. Gar­nett to be a judge on the U.S. Dis­trict Court for the South­ern Dis­trict of New York.

Over the past two decades, Gar­nett has var­i­ous­ly been a pri­vate prac­tice lawyer, pros­e­cu­tor in the U.S. Attor­ney’s Office for the South­ern Dis­trict, and lawyer for the New York and New York City gov­ern­ments. A sup­port­er, Sen­ate Major­i­ty Leader Chuck Schumer, D‑New York, called Gar­nett not just “bril­liant but wise, not just deter­mined but kind, not just an out­stand­ing lawyer but a true friend and defend­er of our sys­tem” of jus­tice. The vote was 49 yeas to 46 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

CONTINUING DEBATE ON LABOR APPOINTEE: The Sen­ate on Novem­ber 28th reject­ed a clo­ture motion to end debate on the nom­i­na­tion of Jose Javier Rodriguez to be the Labor Depart­men­t’s Assis­tant Sec­re­tary for Employ­ment and Train­ing. Rodriguez is a pri­vate prac­tice lawyer in Mia­mi, spe­cial­iz­ing in employ­ment law; he was, for eight years, a mem­ber of the Flori­da state leg­is­la­ture. The vote was 44 yeas to 51 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

MICAH SMITH, U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE: The Sen­ate on Novem­ber 29th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Mic­ah Smith to be a judge on the U.S. Dis­trict Court for Hawaii. Since 2012, Smith has been a fed­er­al pros­e­cu­tor in U.S. Attor­ney’s Offices in first New York and then Hawaii.

The vote was 57 yeas to 41 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

JAMEL SEMPER, U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE: The Sen­ate on Novem­ber 29th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Jamel Sem­per to be a judge on the U.S. Dis­trict Court for New Jer­sey. A state pros­e­cu­tor for most of the 2010s, Sem­per has, since 2018, been a pros­e­cu­tor in the U.S. Attor­ney’s Office for New Jer­sey. A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Robert Menen­dez, D‑New Jer­sey, said: “Sem­per has demon­strat­ed unflinch­ing fideli­ty to the rule of law. Time and time again, Mr. Sem­per has kept New Jer­seyans safe, while also build­ing bridges between res­i­dents and those who have sworn an oath to pro­tect them.” The vote was 54 yeas to 44 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

SHANLYN PARK, U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE: The Sen­ate on Novem­ber 30th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Shan­lyn Park to be a judge on the U.S. Dis­trict Court for Hawaii. Park has been a cir­cuit court judge in Hawai­i’s gov­ern­ment since 2021; pre­vi­ous­ly, she had been a pri­vate prac­tice lawyer, and was a fed­er­al pub­lic defend­er in the state for two decades. A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Mazie Hirono, D‑Hawaii, said: “As a judge, she has earned high marks for her even-hand­ed approach and well-rea­soned, fair deci­sions.” The vote was 53 yeas to 45 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

ADDITIONAL VOTES BY VOICE: The Sen­ate also con­firmed a set of senior offi­cer nom­i­na­tions in the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force.

Key votes ahead

The House will take up sev­er­al bills, includ­ing the Choice in Auto­mo­bile Retail Sales Act of 2023 and the DETERRENT Act.

House Repub­li­cans are also plan­ning a vote on a res­o­lu­tion that would repeal the income-dri­ven repay­ment plan for new and exist­ing stu­dent loan bor­row­ers cre­at­ed by the final rule pub­lished by the Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion on July 10th, 2023, and pro­hib­it the depart­ment from cre­at­ing a sim­i­lar plan in the future.

The Sen­ate will con­sid­er the nom­i­na­tion of Irma Car­ril­lo Ramirez, of Texas, to be a Unit­ed States Cir­cuit Judge for the Fifth Cir­cuit (which encom­pass­es Texas, Louisiana, and Mis­sis­sip­pi.) The Sen­ate may also con­sid­er the nom­i­na­tion of Loren L. AliKhan to be a Unit­ed States Dis­trict Judge for the Dis­trict of Columbia.

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