The House was busy this week, passing a flurry of bills – some of them classic bipartisan accomplishments like a bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration, others more partisan priorities pushed by House Republicans.
Over in the Senate, things were a bit sleepier, but any week that involves the senior senator from New Jersey going on trial on federal corruption charges can’t be too sleepy. Here’s some of what New Jersey’s 13 members of Congress did this week.
The buck starts here
Ever since Republicans retook control of the House of Representatives in 2022, they have – unsurprisingly – made it their mission to push back against President Joe Biden and create headaches for him where possible. What’s more notable is when they are able to recruit some Democrats to their cause, which is exactly what happened this week.
In response to Biden’s decision to pause an arms shipment to Israel over concerns about Israel’s plans for the Gazan city of Rafah, House GOP leaders put a bill up for a vote yesterday that would force the Biden administration to resume the shipment. Sixteen House Democrats bucked Biden and voted for the bill, among them New Jersey Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) and Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch).
Gottheimer, a Biden ally but also a highly vocal Israel supporter, told the New Jersey Globe in a statement that continued military support for Israel was non-negotiable.
“At this moment, with five American hostages – including my constituent Edan Alexander from Tenafly – forty-four Americans dead, and daily attacks by Iranian-backed terrorist proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis, now is the moment to show strength and stand resolutely by our key democratic ally in the fight against terror,” he said. “We must do everything we can to free the hostages, especially the Americans, crush the terrorists, and surge humanitarian aid into the region.”
Five of New Jersey’s House Democrats voted against the bill; Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden) was not present for the vote, but said earlier this week that he “strongly disagree[d] with a purely political approach to ensuring that Israel has the weapons they need to eliminate Hamas as the bill appears to be.”
Bob’s off the job
The corruption trial of Senator Bob Menendez, in which federal prosecutors allege that the senator traded influence in Washington for gifts, cash, and gold, at last began on Monday.
That’s not under the purview of this weekly dispatch, but it has ripple effects that are. With Menendez tied up in a courtroom in New York City for the next month and a half at least, he won’t be around in Washington to cast votes in the Senate, where Democrats have a razor-thin majority. As long as the Menendez trial continues, the Democratic majority is functionally 50-49, meaning that just one defection can sink any vote.
Over the last five days, the Senate has confirmed four federal judges, passed one resolution disapproving of a Biden administration rule, and rejected another resolution. None of the votes were extremely close, and Menendez’s vote would not have made the difference one way or another in any of them.
But there will be no way to know what bills or judges would have come up for a vote had Menendez been present; Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer may hold off on some more contentious votes until his majority returns to full capacity. And with time running out on this year’s Senate calendar before election season takes over, the longer Menendez is stuck in court, the more of a crunch there will be.
Airplane!
The long saga over reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration came to an end this week, with the House passing a new version of the bill and sending it on to Biden’s desk. Included in the bill were several provisions secured by New Jersey House members.
One such provision came from Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair): the Balloon Location Identification Pronouncement Study (BLIPS) Act, which is meant to help the Department of Defense track unmanned balloons. Another two provisions, adding secondary cockpit barriers and studying flight delays in the tri-state area, came from Rep. Gottheimer.
And thanks to a provision inserted by Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis), the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center in Egg Harbor Township will stay in New Jersey for good, and will be renamed as the FAA William J. Hughes Center for Advanced Aerospace.
“This achievement is a huge win for our South Jersey community, promising significant economic growth through the creation of new jobs and paving the way for innovation and advancement in technology,” Van Drew said.
Another bill that passed the House this week, one that reauthorizes the Coast Guard, contained an important New Jersey provision of its own: Rep. Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City)’s bill directing the Government Accountability Office to study vessel fires like the one that killed two Newark firefighters last summer.
“In memory of the bravery and sacrifice of Augusto ‘Augie’ Acabou and Wayne ‘Bear’ Brooks Jr, we are taking a significant step to protect firefighters and port communities from vessel fires,” Mennedez said. “By better understanding the dynamics of these fires, we can enhance safety protocols and improve firefighting capabilities, preventing future tragedies like the Port Newark Fire.”
I guess not all bills have to have catchy acronyms
The House, which has approved a wide array of immigration-related legislation this session as a counter to the Biden administration, passed one such bill this week authored by Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis), the New Jersey delegation’s most consistent critic of current immigration policies.
The bill, the Detain and Deport Illegal Aliens Who Assault Cops Act, does exactly what is says in the title: it requires the Department of Homeland Security to take custody of undocumented immigrants who assault a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or first responder.
“Make no mistake: enacting legislation like this should not even be necessary, but under the current administration, it is,” Van Drew said in a statement. “We must take action ourselves to ensure the security of our citizens at every level. No harm to our law enforcement or any American will ever be tolerated, much less by those who have already broken our laws by entering the country illegally.”
The entire Republican caucus voted for the bill, naturally, as did 54 Democrats, among them Reps. Norcross and Gottheimer.
A real wordsmith
Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester)’s House Foreign Affairs subcommittee is continuing its crusade against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), a Palestinian relief agency that has been accused of antisemitism and abetting terrorism.
At today’s meeting of the Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, Smith laid into UNRWA for “its decades-long complicity in the most vicious forms of antisemitic hate,” and criticized a UN-commissioned independent report on the agency. It’s the fourth time that Smith’s subcommittee has held a hearing on the agency in the last year.
“I think the best thing for Palestinians and Israelis would be for the U.S. to pursue a two-track strategy: first, continue down the path of prohibiting U.S. funding to UNRWA – that is the path that the Trump Administration took in 2018, and that my legislation re-established after the Biden Administration restored funding in 2021,” Smith said in his opening remarks. “Second, the U.S. should develop alternate ways to deliver aid to Palestinians – international aid organizations that are rigorously vetted by our government, to be kept clean of associations with antisemitic or terroristic associations.”
You’re a grand old flag
Is waving the Ukrainian flag on the House floor an offense worthy of an Ethics Committee investigation? The Heritage Foundation, a major national right-wing group, thinks so.
On Wednesday, the Heritage Foundation filed an ethics complaint against 28 House Democrats for celebrating the passage of the Ukraine foreign aid bill with miniature Ukrainian flags, an act which the group said “insults the American people.” Three New Jersey House members are included in the complaint: Reps. Sherrill, Menendez, and Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson).
Pascrell, who is identified as one of the ringleaders of the group, said he considers the complaint to be an honor.
“I’ve just been informed a right-wing Republican fascist group is filing a complaint against me and 27 of my colleagues for brandishing Ukrainian flags on the House floor,” he said. “I’m honored and have one response: Screw Putin and Slava Ukraini!”
Other Garden State plots
• On Wednesday, the House passed the TICKET Act, which requires ticket-sellers to disclose how much tickets cost and to issue refunds when events are canceled. The vote was lauded by Reps. Pascrell and Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch), neither of whom were sponsors of this bill specifically but both of whom have long fought for ticketing reforms.
“Consumers should be able to enjoy live music without fear of hidden fees that can unexpectedly break the bank, and this bill delivers the relief Americans deserve from the junk fees that dominate this industry,” Pallone said. “For years, Representative Pascrell and I have fought to ensure consumers can enjoy their favorite sports team or see their favorite artist without the stress of misleading and hidden fees. He’s been a staunch advocate to ensure fairness and transparency in the ticketing marketplace, and I’m proud to have partnered with him on this effort.”
• Alongside a bipartisan set of New York representatives, Rep. Gottheimer introduced the American Victims of Terror Compensation Act this week, a bill that provides additional funding for the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund.
“We must never forget the lives lost during the September 11th terror attacks, including the 750 individuals from New Jersey,” Gottheimer said. “The best way to honor these victims of 9/11 and their families – and all those affected by state-sponsored terror attacks – is to ensure that they receive full justice and accountability against their perpetrators.”
• Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) hosted a roundtable with the six sheriffs from his congressional district this week to discuss break-ins, car thefts, and other crimes in New Jersey’s suburbs.
“By addressing and curbing recent crime outbreaks, we are not only safeguarding the well-being of our businesses and children but also creating an environment conducive to business growth,” Kean said. “As we celebrate National Police Week, we are reminded of the commitment men and women in law enforcement who put their lives on the line every day to keep our communities safe.”
• A little under two years after the groundbreaking for the Portal North Bridge, three New Jersey Democrats – Reps. Sherrill, Menendez, and Pascrell – held an event in Kearny this week to commemorate the halfway mark of the critical train bridge’s construction.
“Your ‘Tunnel-Obsessed Congresswoman’ is back with an exciting update: the Portal North Bridge is halfway through construction!” Sherrill said on Twitter. “Great to celebrate this milestone with NJ leaders and union workers. I’m committed to making sure the entire Gateway project gets over the finish line.”