Congressional roll call
Here’s how area members of Congress voted on major issues during the week ending Jan. 26.
HOUSE GOVERNMENT FUNDING:
Voting 266-150 against, the House on Jan. 22 joined the Senate (below) in passing a bill (HR 195) that would fund agencies through Feb. 9, extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program for six years and end a partial government shutdown then in its third day. This marked Congress’s fourth passage of a temporary federal budget since October. A yes vote was to send the bill to President Trump, who signed it into law.
John Faso, R-Kinderhook:
Yes
Sean Maloney, D-Cold Spring: No
SENATE
GOVERNMENT FUNDING::
Voting 81-18, the Senate on Jan. 22 passed a bill (HR 195, above) that would fund the government through Feb. 9 under a pledge by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to allow a vote by then on the status of an estimated 800,000 young, undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers” who face potential deportation starting March 5. A yes vote was to end a 3-day-old partial government shutdown.
Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.:
No Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.: Yes HEALTH SECRETARY: Voting 55-43, the Senate on Jan. 24 confirmed Alex M. Azar, 50, as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he will replace Tom Price, who resigned in September in a scandal involving his official travel. Azar had been president of the U.S. division of the pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly and Co. since 2012 and was a deputy HHS secretary under President George W. Bush. He drew Democratic criticism over his stand against allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, among other issues. A yes vote was to confirm Azar.
Gillibrand: No Schumer: No FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN:
Voting 84-13 the Senate on Jan. 23 confirmed Jerome H. Powell as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, succeeding Janet L. Yellin. Powell, 64, a Republican, joined the Fed board in May 2012 as an appointee of President Barack Obama. A former attorney in private practice and investment banker but not an economist, he was undersecretary of the Treasury for domestic finance under President George H.W. Bush. By law, the 94-year-old Fed operates independently of Congress and the White House. Its main duties are to conduct U.S. monetary policy, provide financial services to depository institutions and the Treasury and regulate banks to contain
risk. A yes vote was to confirm Powell to a four-year term as Fed chairman. Gillibrand: No Schumer: Yes AMBASSADOR AT LARGE:
Voting 50-49, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the decisive vote, the Senate on Jan. 24 confirmed Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, 61, as ambassador at large for international religious freedom. Based in the Department of State, the office monitors religious persecution and discrimination around the globe while promoting religious freedom as an element of U.S. foreign policy. Brownback drew Democratic criticism over his record of infusing personal religious beliefs into social issues including women’s reproductive rights and LGBT protections. Before becoming governor in 2012, Brownback served Kansas as a U.S. House member and senator in a congressional career spanning 17 years. No senator spoke for Brownback during brief debate on his nomination. A yes vote was to confirm Brownback. Gillibrand: No Schumer: No
COMING UP
The Senate this week will vote on an anti-abortion bill and judicial nominations. The House schedule was to be announced.