WASHINGTON – Here’s a look at how area members of Congress voted over the previous week.
Along with roll call votes last week, the House also passed the Skills-Based Federal Contracting Act (H.R. 5236), to prohibit minimum educational requirements for proposed contractor personnel in certain contract solicitations; the Small Business Artificial Intelligence Advancement Act (H.R. 3679), to require the director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop resources for small businesses in utilizing artificial intelligence; the Accessing Satellite Capabilities to Enable New Discoveries Act (H.R. 2600), to require the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to establish a program for NASA use of commercial Earth remote sensing data and imagery.
HOUSE VOTES
* GOVERNMENT REGULATORY DATA: The House has passed the Information Quality Assurance Act (H.R. 6329), sponsored by U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., to change guidelines for federal government agencies to release to the public information or evidence that influences government policies and actions. Under the bill, agencies would need to use the best reasonably available influential information and evidence. McClain said: “My bill strengthens safeguards to ensure federal agencies rely on data that meets clear standards for objectivity, integrity and accountability before new regulations move forward.” The vote Tuesday was 362 yeas to one nay.
YEA: U.S. Rep. Dr. John Joyce, R-Blair
NOT VOTING: U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Washington
* AIRPLANE COMMUNICATIONS: The House has rejected the Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform Act (S. 2503), sponsored by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a bill that would require aircraft to be equipped with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) systems for communications between air traffic controllers and aircraft. A supporter, U.S. Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr., D-Va., said: “Passing the ROTOR Act is the strongest first step we can take for ensuring a safer airspace for the flying public today to improve aviation safety.” An opponent, U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., called the bill “an overly prescriptive approach to mandating a specific technology, which is still largely under development, in a manner that can prove burdensome to some operators and create burdens to its adoption.” The vote Tuesday was 264 yeas to 133 nays, with a two-thirds majority required.
NAY: Joyce
NOT VOTING: Reschenthaler
* ENERGY USE BY APPLIANCES: The House has passed the Don’t Mess With My Home Appliances Act (H.R. 4626), sponsored by U.S. Rep. Rick W. Allen, R-Ga., to change Energy Department procedures for regulating the energy efficiency of consumer products. Allen called the bill “a necessary measure to prevent future administrations, like the past one, from issuing burdensome standards on household appliances that would drive up costs and reduce availability.” A bill opponent, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., said it “would gut the program that sets these standards and pave the way for the administration to repeal existing standards. It is bad for our wallets. It is bad for our planet. It is just bad policy.” The vote Tuesday was 217 yeas to 190 nays.
YEA: Joyce
NOT VOTING: Reschenthaler
* RESIDENTIAL ENERGY SUBSIDIES: The House has passed the Homeowner Energy Freedom Act (H.R. 4758), sponsored by U.S. Rep. Craig A. Goldman, R-Texas, to repeal Energy Department grant and other programs for subsidizing residential appliance and heating electrification and energy efficiency efforts. Goldman said: “We must repeal these costly green energy mandates. We must reduce the cost of new homes. We must return consumer choice to homeowners.” A bill opponent, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., said ending the electrification rebate program would remove “$275 million in annual energy savings with participating families projected to save about $1,000 a year, and the installation of these appliances is projected to support 23,000 jobs.” The vote Wednesday was 210 yeas to 199 nays, with one voting present.
YEAS: Joyce, Reschenthaler
SENATE VOTES
* FUNDING HOMELAND SECURITY: The Senate has rejected a cloture motion to end debate on a motion to proceed to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act (H.R. 7147), to provide fiscal 2026 funding for the Homeland Security Department. A motion supporter, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said the lapse in funding for Homeland Security “is already hurting hard-working Americans and impacting efforts to preserve both public safety and national security, and it is time to end it.” An opponent, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the agency had been “weaponized for political purposes,” primarily what Durbin called a “terror campaign” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The vote Tuesday was 50 yeas to 45 nays, with a three-fifths majority required.
YEAS: U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa.; U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa.
* TRANSPORTATION SAFETY: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of John DeLeeuw to be on the National Transportation Safety Board for a term ending at the close of 2026. DeLeeuw has been a pilot and manager at American Airlines for three decades, following time as an Air Force pilot. An opponent, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., criticized the Trump administration for seeking to remove current board member Alvin Brown and replace him with DeLeeuw, a move Cantwell said would “undermine the confidence and the independence of the National Transportation Safety Board.” The vote Wednesday was 50 yeas to 45 nays.
YEA: McCormick
NAY: Fetterman
* TRANSPORTATION POLICY: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Ryan McCormack to be the Transportation Department’s Under Secretary for Policy. A senior aide at the agency for the past year, McCormack was previously an aide in the House for most of the 2015 to 2025 decade, aside from a year at the U.S. Export-Import Bank. The vote Thursday was 57 yeas to 33 nays.
