Last Week In Congress: How Cascadia’s U.S. lawmakers voted (September 5th-8th)

Good morn­ing! Here’s how Cascadia’s Unit­ed States Sen­a­tors vot­ed on major issues dur­ing the leg­isla­tive week end­ing Sep­tem­ber 8th, 2023.

The House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives was in recess.

In the United States Senate

PHILIP JEFFERSON, FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD: The Sen­ate on Sep­tem­ber 6th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Philip Jef­fer­son to be vice chair­man of the Fed­er­al Reserve Sys­tem’s board of gov­er­nors. Jef­fer­son became a board mem­ber last year; pre­vi­ous­ly, he had been an eco­nom­ics pro­fes­sor at two pri­vate col­leges and a Fed­er­al Reserve econ­o­mist. A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Sher­rod Brown, D‑Ohio, said Jef­fer­son “brings to the Fed out­stand­ing aca­d­e­m­ic cre­den­tials and years of strong lead­er­ship expe­ri­ence. He is a renowned schol­ar, and he is a lead­ing expert in mon­e­tary pol­i­cy and the eco­nom­ics of poverty.”

The vote was 88 yeas to 10 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

GWYNNE WILCOX, NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD: The Sen­ate on Sep­tem­ber 6th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Gwynne Wilcox to be on the Nation­al Labor Rela­tions Board for a five-year term end­ing in late August of 2028. Wilcox has been on the Board since August 2021; she had been a labor lawyer in New York City, and pre­vi­ous­ly was an attor­ney for the Board. An oppo­nent, Sen­ate Minor­i­ty Leader Mitch McConnell, R‑Kentucky, den­i­grat­ed Wilcox as a com­mit­ted par­ti­san who would “run roughshod over Amer­i­can employ­ers, stack the deck for Democ­rats’ Big Labor allies, and keep cor­rupt and fail­ing unions on life sup­port with a tan­gled mess of reg­u­la­tions.” The vote was 51 yeas to 48 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

LISA DENEIL COOK, FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD OF GOVERNORS: The Sen­ate on Sep­tem­ber 6th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Lisa DeNell Cook to be a mem­ber of the Fed­er­al Reserve Sys­tem’s board of gov­er­nors for a four­teen-year term end­ing in 2038. Cook had joined the board of gov­er­nors last year, after hav­ing been an eco­nom­ics pro­fes­sor at Michi­gan State Uni­ver­si­ty and a mem­ber of the White House Coun­cil of Eco­nom­ic Advis­ers dur­ing the Oba­ma admin­is­tra­tion. A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Sher­rod Brown, D‑Ohio, said her “exper­tise in inter­na­tion­al eco­nom­ics has immense val­ue as we con­tin­ue in our eco­nom­ic recov­ery amidst glob­al infla­tion.” The vote was 51 yeas to 47 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

ADRIANA KUGLER, FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD OF GOVERNORS: The Sen­ate on Sep­tem­ber 7th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Adri­ana Kugler to be a mem­ber of the Fed­er­al Reserve Sys­tem’s board of gov­er­nors for a term end­ing in 2026. Kugler is cur­rent­ly the World Bank’s exec­u­tive direc­tor for the U.S., with pri­or stints as a Labor Depart­ment econ­o­mist and pro­fes­sor at George­town Uni­ver­si­ty. A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Sher­rod Brown, D‑Ohio, said Kugler “is unques­tion­ably qual­i­fied. She pos­sess­es bipar­ti­san sup­port from top econ­o­mists and civ­il rights orga­ni­za­tions.” 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

ANNA GOMEZ, FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION: The Sen­ate on Sep­tem­ber 7th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Anna Gomez to be a mem­ber of the Fed­er­al Com­mu­ni­ca­tions Com­mis­sion (FCC). Gomez is a for­mer lawyer and offi­cial at the FCC, and has been a senior offi­cial at Sprint Nex­tel and, more recent­ly, a telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions attor­ney at a pri­vate law firm.

A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Ben Ray Lujan, D‑New Mex­i­co, said: “Pro­tect­ing the pub­lic inter­est and advanc­ing uni­ver­sal ser­vice for broad­band and broad­cast ser­vices is a pas­sion for Ms. Gomez.” The vote was 55 yeas to 43 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 of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives will return from a lengthy recess and take up slew of Repub­li­can bills, includ­ing Fight CRIME Act, the MAHSA Act, the ACRES Act, and the Emer­gency Wild­fire Fight­ing Tech­nol­o­gy Act of 2023. The “Pre­serv­ing Choice in Vehi­cle Pur­chas­es Act” may also be considered. 

The Sen­ate will con­sid­er the nom­i­na­tions of Tanya J. Brad­sh­er to be Deputy Sec­re­tary of Vet­er­ans Affairs and Jef­frey Irvine Cum­mings to be Unit­ed States Dis­trict Judge for the North­ern Dis­trict of Illi­nois. The Sen­ate will also take up H.R. 4366, an act mak­ing appro­pri­a­tions for mil­i­tary con­struc­tion, the Depart­ment of Vet­er­ans Affairs, and relat­ed agen­cies for Fis­cal Year 2024.

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