How Arkansas’ congressional delegation voted

Here is how Arkansas’ U.S. senators and U.S. representatives voted on major roll call votes during the week that ended Friday.

VOTERAMA IN CONGRESS

HOUSE

Removing congresswoman from committees. Approved 230-198, taking away the committee assignments of Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., in response to her false and at times violent public comments and Facebook postings in recent years, including endorsement of calls for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be shot and former President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to be lynched. Greene has claimed that no airplane struck the Pentagon on 9/11, that the Clintons were behind the plane crash that killed John F. Kennedy Jr., that the Sandy Hook and Parkland school shootings never occurred and that a Jewish-guided laser beam from space caused California wildfires. She aligned herself as recently as July with the conspiracy cult QAnon. The first-term lawmaker from Georgia’s 14th District had been assigned to two committees: Budget, and Education and Labor. Approval of HRes72 left her with no committee seats.

Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said: “Congresswoman Greene says this resolution could set a precedent for the future. I hope it does because if this isn’t the bottom, then I don’t know what the hell is. … Anyone who suggests putting a bullet in the head of a member shouldn’t sit on any committee, period. That’s the standard we’re setting here today, and I’m betting it’s a standard the American people want us to uphold.” Greene said: “These were words of the past, and these things do not represent me. … If this Congress is to tolerate members that condone riots that have hurt American people, attacked police officers, occupied federal property, burned businesses and cities, but yet wants to condemn me and crucify me in the public square for words that I said and I regret a few years ago, then I think we [have] a real big problem.”

A yes vote was to strip Greene of her committee assignments. Rick Crawford (R) French Hill (R)

Steve Womack (R) Bruce Westerman (R)

Advancing plan for budget

reconciliation. Adopted 218-212, a fiscal 2021 budget resolution (HConRes11) that would allow President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion package of covid-19 relief measures to pass in the Senate on a simple majority vote in coming weeks. The resolution triggers the “budget reconciliation” process that protects specified measures from filibusters. Reconciliation is used to expedite complex legislation that affects spending and revenue levels, and the national debt. Reconciliation can be used once per fiscal year. The current fiscal year began Oct. 1, and another budget resolution for fiscal 2022 is due this spring.

John Yarmuth, D-Ky., said: “We will have several weeks to reach a bipartisan [covid] agreement. I hope we can. But this is Plan B. And we will proceed with it because the American people can’t wait as long as the Republicans seem to be able to.”

Ben Cline, R-Va., said farmers and small businesses are “suffering,” but “what they don’t need is a $1.9 trillion package … of Democrat wish-list items that will cripple our economy, including a minimum wage increase that would destroy 1.3 million jobs.”

A yes vote was to adopt the budget resolution.

Crawford (R)

Hill (R)

Womack (R) Westerman (R)

SENATE

Advancing plan for budget reconciliation. Approved 51-50, a fiscal 2021 budget resolution (SConRes5) under which Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus-relief bill could be passed by a simple majority vote in coming weeks. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote.

The resolution triggers the “budget reconciliation” process that protects specified measures from filibusters. Reconciliation is used to expedite complex legislation that affects spending and revenue levels, and the national debt. Reconciliation can be used once per fiscal year.

Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said “some senators suggest that the budget resolution is bad for unity. My answer to that is, the only place where big, bold economic relief is a divisive proposition is within the four walls of the U.S. Senate. … What you see in this budget resolution is exactly the kind of plan that Americans voted for and the overwhelming majority of Americans support.”

Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said “trying to jam through this $1.9 trillion legislation … sets exactly the wrong tone for the country and also for the administration. I think President Biden has a real opportunity to help heal our country — I really do. By the way, I think he sincerely wants to. That is why I don’t understand this [reconciliation] process.” A yes vote was to advance the administration’s pandemic-relief legislation.

John Boozman (R)

Tom Cotton (R)

Confirming Alejandro Mayorkas for Homeland Security. Confirmed 56-43, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, 61, as secretary of Homeland Security. The son of a holocaust survivor and native of Cuba, he is the first Latino and immigrant to hold the position. Mayorkas was deputy Homeland Security secretary and director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under former President Barack Obama.

Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said all Homeland Security secretaries who served before the Trump administration, two Democrats and two Republicans, have endorsed Mayorkas for the post. “They said he is a man of integrity, experience and compassion and a proven leader. … You would hardly believe that if you listened to some of the things said” by GOP critics. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Mayorkas “did his best to turn U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services into an unethical favor factory” by politicizing the EB-5 Investment Visa Program during the Barack Obama presidency. The program enables qualified foreign investors to obtain permanent U.S. residency by investing heavily in the creation of American jobs.

A yes vote was to confirm Mayorkas.

Boozman (R)

Cotton (R)

Confirming Pete Buttigieg

as Transportation secretary. Approved 86-13, the nomination of Pete Buttigieg, 39, as secretary of Transportation, making him the first openly gay person to be confirmed to a Cabinet post in U.S. history.

The former mayor of South Bend, Ind., was a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020.

Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said Buttigieg “is the right choice for this job because he was mayor of South Bend. He dealt with infrastructure where the rubber meets the road, managing state, federal and local resources to help build infrastructure in his community.” No senator spoke against the nomination.

A yes vote was to confirm Buttigieg.

Boozman (R)

Cotton (R)