Good morning! Here’s how Cascadia’s Members of Congress voted on major issues on July 29th and during the legislative week ending September 16th, 2022.
In the United States House of Representatives
PROTECTING THE FEDERAL CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM: The House on September 15th passed the Preventing a Patronage System Act (H.R. 302), sponsored by Representative Gerald E. Connolly, D‑Virginia.
The bill would cancel an executive order issued by Donald Trump in October 2020 that created a new Schedule F excepted service classification for government workers, and applied to employees in executive agency jobs that have to do with making policy and are not normally replaced when a new president enters office.
Connolly said: “Changing the nature and operations of the civil service is rare, important, and should require express congressional participation through legislation.” A bill opponent, Rep. James Comer, R‑Ky., said the Schedule F classification “simply made it easier to discipline or remove civil service officials in our government’s policymaking roles.” The vote was 225 yeas to 204 nays.
 | Voting Nay (2): Republican Representatives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson |
 | Voting Aye (4): Democratic Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader Voting Nay (1): Republican Representative Cliff Bentz |
 | Voting Aye (7): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Marilyn Strickland Voting Nay (3): Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler, Dan Newhouse, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
Cascadia total: 11 aye votes, 6 nay votes
PROTECTING THE CENSUS: The House on September 15th passed the Ensuring a Fair and Accurate Census Act (H.R. 8326), sponsored by Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, D‑New York. The bill would set out various restrictions on the Census Bureau’s ability to add new questions to the Census, and prevent the Bureau’s director from being removed for non-cause reasons.
Maloney said: “Partisan manipulation of the Census is simply wrong. My bill would protect the Census and ensure this cannot happen again.” An opponent, Representative James Comer, R‑Kentucky, said: “The bill severely constrains the ability of future Censuses to include important new questions, such as the citizenship question, which a majority of Americans want asked on the Census.”
The vote was 220 yeas to 208 nays.
| Voting Nay (2): Republican Representatives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson |
| Voting Aye (4): Democratic Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader Voting Nay (1): Republican Representative Cliff Bentz |
| Voting Aye (7): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Marilyn Strickland Voting Nay (3): Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler, Dan Newhouse, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
Cascadia total: 11 aye votes, 6 nay votes
HUMAN TRAFFICKING PENALTIES: The House on September 13th passed a bill (S. 4785), sponsored by Senator Amy Klobuchar, D‑Minnesota, to extend until the end of September a $5,000 federal penalty against criminals found guilty of sexual abuse or human trafficking violations. The penalty had expired on September 11th. The vote was unanimous with 415 yeas.
| Voting Aye (2): Republican Representatives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson |
| Voting Aye (5): Democratic Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader; Republican Representative Cliff Bentz |
| Voting Aye (9): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Marilyn Strickland; Republican Representatives Dan Newhouse and Cathy McMorris Rodgers Not Voting (1): Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler |
Cascadia total: 16 aye votes, 1 not voting
DRONE ROAD INSPECTIONS: The House on September 13th passed the Drone Infrastructure Inspection Grant Act (H.R. 5315), sponsored by Representative Greg Stanton, D‑Ariz., to create Transportation Department grant programs for using drone aircraft to inspect roads and other infrastructure. Stanton said: “Utilizing drones reduces the cost of infrastructure inspections by 74 percent and the time needed to conduct the inspection by 88 percent.”
The vote was 308 yeas to 110 nays.
| Voting Aye (2): Republican Representatives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson |
| Voting Aye (5): Democratic Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader Voting Nay (1): Republican Representative Cliff Bentz |
| Voting Aye (10): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Marilyn Strickland; Republican Representatives Dan Newhouse and Cathy McMorris Rodgers Not Voting (2): Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler and Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
Cascadia total: 14 aye votes, 1 nay vote, 2 not voting
WILDFIRE RECOVERY ACT: The House has passed the Wildfire Recovery Act (H.R. 1066), sponsored by Rep. Joe Neguse, D‑Colorado, to increase federal government fire assistance grants by stipulating that the grants will account for at least 75% of the eligible cost of wildfire recovery efforts. A supporter, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D‑District of Columbia, said: “Providing more federal assistance in the wake of the worst fires will assist stretched local budgets.”
The vote was 328 yeas to 88 nays.
| Voting Aye (2): Republican Representatives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson |
| Voting Aye (5): Democratic Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader; Republican Representative Cliff Bentz |
| Voting Aye (9): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Marilyn Strickland; Republican Representatives Dan Newhouse and Jaime Herrera Beutler Not Voting (1): Republican Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
Cascadia total: 16 aye votes, 1 not voting
MULTI-BILL PACKAGE: The House on September 14th passed a motion sponsored by Representative Steny Hoyer, D‑Maryland, to pass a set of eight bills en bloc, without an individual roll call vote for each bill.
The bills covered such topics as: military veterans and education and mortgages, payments to survivors of deceased veterans, and animal health in disasters.
The vote was 397 yeas to 29 nays.
| Voting Aye (2): Republican Representatives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson |
| Voting Aye (5): Democratic Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader; Republican Representative Cliff Bentz |
| Voting Aye (10): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Marilyn Strickland; Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler, Dan Newhouse, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
Cascadia total: 17 aye votes
AVIATION AND DISEASE: The House on September 14th passed the National Aviation Preparedness Plan Act (H.R. 884), sponsored by Representative Rick Larsen, D‑Washington, to require the Transportation Department to develop an aviation preparedness plan for handling U.S. outbreaks of communicable diseases. The vote was 293 yeas to 133 nays.
| Voting Aye (1): Republican Representative Mike Simpson Voting Nay (1): Republican Representative Russ Fulcher |
| Voting Aye (4): Democratic Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader Voting Nay (1): Republican Representative Cliff Bentz |
| Voting Aye (10): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Marilyn Strickland; Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler, Dan Newhouse, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
Cascadia total: 15 aye votes, 2 nay votes
POST-DISASTER HOUSING: The House on September 14th passed the Expediting Disaster Recovery Act (H.R. 5774), sponsored by Representative Garret Graves, R‑Louisiana, to have the Federal Emergency Management Agency provide financial aid for meeting housing needs following disasters that have destroyed housing in a given area. Graves said the bill was intended to make it so that “the dollars can get immediately to the disaster victims, so we stop seeing years and years of federal government dollars being shelled out for temporary housing and temporary recovery efforts.” The vote was 406 yeas to 20 nays.
| Voting Aye (2): Republican Representatives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson |
| Voting Aye (5): Democratic Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader; Republican Representative Cliff Bentz |
| Voting Aye (10): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Marilyn Strickland; Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler, Dan Newhouse, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
Cascadia total: 17 aye votes
EMERGENCY RESERVISTS: The House on September 14th passed the Civilian Reservist Emergency Workforce Act (S. 2293), sponsored by Senator Gary C. Peters, D‑Michigan., to expand employment rights for reservists for the Federal Emergency Management Agency who are deployed for agency work and therefore must temporarily leave their normal jobs. A supporter, Representative Rick Crawford, R‑Arkansas, said the bill “will help support FEMA’s intermittent workforce and enable the agency to better meet its mission to respond to disasters.” The vote was 387 yeas to 38 nays.
| Voting Aye (2): Republican Representatives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson |
| Voting Aye (5): Democratic Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader; Republican Representative Cliff Bentz |
| Voting Aye (10): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Marilyn Strickland; Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler, Dan Newhouse, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
Cascadia total: 17 aye votes
LIGHTING FOR FEDERAL BUILDINGS: The House on September 14th passed the Bulb Replacement Improving Government with High-efficiency Technology Act (S. 442), sponsored by Sen. Gary C. Peters, D‑Michigan, to require federal government buildings to use the most life-cycle cost effective and energy efficient lighting systems. The vote was 347 yeas to 78 nays.
| Voting Aye (1): Republican Representative Mike Simpson Voting Nay (1): Republican Representative Russ Fulcher |
| Voting Aye (5): Democratic Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader; Republican Representative Cliff Bentz |
| Voting Aye (10): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Marilyn Strickland; Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler, Dan Newhouse, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
Cascadia total: 16 aye votes, 1 nay vote
PROTECTING WHISTLEBLOWERS: The House on September 15th passed the Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act (H.R. 2988), sponsored by Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, D‑N.Y., to establish various measures intended to increase a federal government whistleblower employee’s protections against punitive retaliation by politicians and supervisors.
Maloney said the bill “would enact long-overdue reforms to protect whistleblowers from retaliation to the greatest extent possible, and to provide meaningful remedies if whistleblowers still encounter retaliation.”
An opponent, Representative James Comer, R‑Kentucky, said the bill would wrongly “prohibit opening an investigation into someone who claims to be a whistleblower, even if there is good reason to investigate the employee’s conduct.”
The vote was 221 yeas to 203 nays.
| Voting Nay (1): Republican Representative Mike Simpson Not Voting (1): Republican Representative Russ Fulcher |
| Voting Aye (4): Democratic Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader Voting Nay (1): Republican Representative Cliff Bentz |
| Voting Aye (7): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Marilyn Strickland Voting Nay (2): Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse Not Voting (1): Republican Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
Cascadia total: 11 aye votes, 4 nay votes, 2 not voting
In the United States Senate
SALVADOR MENDOZA, APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate on September 12th confirmed the nomination of Salvador Mendoza to be a judge on the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Mendoza has been a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington since 2014; he was briefly a county court judge before that, and had his own private law practice.
The vote was 46 yeas to 40 nays.
| Voting Nay (1): Republican Senator Mike Crapo Not Voting (1): Republican Senator Jim Risch |
| Voting Aye (2): |
| Voting Aye (2): |
Cascadia total: 4 aye votes, 1 nay vote, 1 not voting
ARIANNA FREEMAN, UNSUCCESSFUL APPEALS COURT JUDGE NOMINEE: The Senate on September 13th rejected the nomination of Arianna Freeman to be a judge on the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Freeman has been a federal community defender attorney in Philadelphia since 2009. A supporter, Senator Bob Casey, D‑Pennsylvania, cited Freeman’s “extensive legal experience, keen intellect, and dedication to the principles of fairness and equal justice.”
The vote was 47 yeas to 50 nays.
| Voting Nay (2): |
| Voting Aye (2): |
| Voting Aye (2): |
Cascadia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes
LARA MONTECALVO, APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate on September 14th confirmed the nomination of Lara Montecalvo to be a judge on the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals. Montecalvo has been in the Rhode Island government’s public defender’s office since 2004, and is currently the state’s Public Defender. A supporter, Senator Jack Reed, D‑Rhode Island, called Montecalvo “someone with great integrity, intellect, and capacity for judicial independence.”
The vote was 52 yeas to 47 nays.
| Voting Nay (2): |
| Voting Aye (2): |
| Voting Aye (2): |
Cascadia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes
SARAH MERRIAM, APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate on September 15th confirmed the nomination of Sarah Merriam to be a judge on the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Merriam, a U.S. district court judge for Connecticut since last October, was previously a federal magistrate judge and assistant federal defender in Connecticut. A supporter, Senator Dick Durbin, D‑Illinois, said Merriam “has shown that she has the qualifications, experience, and fidelity to the rule of law needed to administer justice on the Second Circuit.”
The vote was 53 yeas to 44 nays.
| Voting Nay (2): |
| Voting Aye (2): |
| Voting Aye (2): |
Cascadia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes
DAVID PEKOSKE, TSA ADMINISTRATOR: The Senate on September 15th confirmed the nomination of David Pekoske to be the Transportation Security Administration’s administrator for a five-year term. Pekoske had been in the post since August 2017, following a career at the Coast Guard.
A supporter, Senator Maria Cantwell, D‑Washington, said Pekoske’s “confirmation and continued leadership of this team will enable the TSA to further its ongoing and important mission.”
The vote was 77 yeas to 18 nays.
| Voting Aye (2): |
| Voting Aye (2): |
| Voting Aye (2): |
Cascadia total: 6 aye votes
Key votes ahead
The House of Representatives is scheduled to take up the Presidential Election Reform Act and the Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act.
The House will also hold suspension votes on a long list of bills. Consideration of a short-term funding bill to keep the federal government open is also possible.
The Senate will take up the nomination of Florence Pan to be a United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The Senate will also consider an amendment to an international treaty: the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.
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