Congress is in limbo right now: although its own new session has begun, with Republicans in control of both the House and the Senate, Joe Biden remains the president for another couple of weeks, meaning that Donald Trump’s ambitious agenda will have to wait a little while longer.
That didn’t stop Republicans from pushing forward on two bills related to illegal immigration and international court sanctions; the two chambers of Congress also certified Trump’s Electoral College victory on Monday, clearing the way for the president-elect’s inauguration. Here’s some of what New Jersey’s members of Congress did in Washington this week.
This one goes to 119!
Before any official congressional business could begin, of course, the 119th Congress had to officially take office – and in the House, that meant electing a Speaker, which has proven a difficult task for Republicans in recent years.
Fortunately for them, though, the vote that occurred last Friday was far less agonzing than the dayslong processes to elect a Speaker in January and October of 2023. While it initially looked like Speaker Mike Johnson wouldn’t have the votes, lobbying from Trump reportedly flipped two holdouts at the last minute, allowing Johnson to be re-elected on the first ballot. (New Jersey’s delegation, which has rarely made waves in recent Speaker votes, voted along party lines for Johnson and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries.)
“Speaker Johnson has done an outstanding job that earned him re-election today,” Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) said. “I look forward to continue working with him on behalf of the New Jerseyans I represent to make life more affordable, our communities safe, and our country prosperous.”
For Reps. Herb Conaway (D-Delran) and Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon), the day of the Speaker vote was also the first day they got to call themselves U.S. representatives; Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-Newark) and Senator Andy Kim also began their first full terms after being sworn in for partial terms last year.
“I’m hopeful, as I always am, for the future,” Conaway said of his goals for his first months in Congress. “There’s a lot of work to do; the American people have a number of needs. We, on the Democratic side, are going to advance a vision for the future; the Republicans will advance one, and we’ll hopefully find some common ground on the things we agree on and we’ll be able to get that done.”
A day that won’t go down in infamy
January 6, 2021 was a grim day for America. A mob of protestors who believed that Joe Biden had stolen the 2020 presidential election from Donald Trump raided the Capitol in an effort to halt the election’s certification; even after the chaos had subsided, nearly 150 Republicans still voted to object to the election results.
January 6, 2025 will not be remembered in history in the same way. Chastened by Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris, Democrats declined to raise any objections to the Electoral College results, allowing the certification process to proceed smoothly – something that didn’t happen after Republican victories in 2016, 2004, or 2000, each of which featured at least a handful of Democratic objections.
After the election was certified – Trump will take office on January 20 – Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) invoked the specter of 2021 and lauded Harris for peacefully presiding over her own defeat.
“[I] sat through the roll call of states as the Vice President herself performed her constitutional duty and certified the election for her opponent, Donald Trump,” Sherrill said. “I know there are some who might denigrate that – who would rather take up arms than respect the votes of their fellow countrymen when they disagree. I am not one of them. Today, I was incredibly proud to do my duty and take the next step in rebuilding and protecting our mighty democracy, and delivering on the incredible promise of our great nation.”
Glad they’re starting out with the non-controversial stuff
After electing a Speaker and certifying the election, Republicans in Congress quickly leapt to push through two bills that had stalled out last year amid Democratic opposition: the Laken Riley Act, which makes it easier for ICE to detain undocumented immigrants charged with crimes, and the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, which imposes sanctions on the International Criminal Court in response to its arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Laken Riley Act in particular has taken Congress by storm, with Republicans and many Democrats alike saying that it’s a necessary step to prevent tragedies like the murder of Laken Riley last year. The House passed the bill 264-159, and the Senate voted to begin debate 84-9, with a sizable number of Democrats joining with all Republicans in supporting it.
“I hear a lot of words, a lot of debate, a lot of discussion,” Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) said before the House vote. “But I’ve got to tell you, to the family of Laken Riley and to so many others across the United States of America, words don’t matter. Condolences don’t count. Speeches don’t do it… Don’t give condolences. Vote for the bill.”
But with the exception of Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly), every Democrat in the New Jersey congressional delegation is opposed to the bill, arguing that it interferes with immigrants’ due process rights. Notably, that includes both of New Jersey’s senators, Andy Kim and Cory Booker; the pair were two of only nine Democratic senators to vote against opening up debate on the bill.
“All of us should be in full agreement that individuals who are convicted of committing crimes face consequences, and it is already law that undocumented immigrants that are convicted of felonies face detention and deportation,” Kim said in a statement. “But mandating detention for those facing accusations before they go before our judicial system runs counter to our Constitution.”
The bills also represented the first two major votes that new Reps. Conaway and Pou got to cast in Congress. Both voted against both bills – a notable choice from Pou in particular, given that she is one of the few House Democrats to represent a district that Trump carried.
An energetic delegation
New Jersey House members are set to occupy three seats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee in 2025 after Rep. Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City) won a competitive internal vote this week – which is a big deal, considering how instrumental the committee will be as the GOP works to pass its agenda on health care, energy policy, and more.
Also joining the committee this year is Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) will continue to be the committee’s top Democrat; Pallone said that he had strongly pushed for Menendez to join the committee and build out its New Jersey ranks.
“I wanted him to be on the committee, because I just think that he’s one of the best congressmen that I’ve seen in the last few years,” Pallone told the New Jersey Globe yesterday. “I just think that whether it’s health care, or it’s the environment, or it’s tech issues, he’s always going to be out there working with other people, trying to bring costs down and make things more affordable.”
In other committee news, Kean will continue serving on the House Foreign Affairs Committee (which wasn’t a given, since Energy & Commerce members often only serve on one committee); Rep. Van Drew will be the chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight; and Senator Kim will sit on five committees in the 119th Congress: Commerce, Science, & Transportation; Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs; Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP); Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs; and the Special Committee on Aging.
Thou shalt not drill
Opponents of offshore drilling – among them Rep. Pallone, perhaps the most environment-focused member of Congress from New Jersey – notched a big win at the beginning of this week when Biden announced that he would permanently ban the practice in American waters on the East and West Coasts (which of course includes the Jersey Shore).
At a press conference in Asbury Park, Pallone lauded Biden’s decision, saying it was a huge step towards protecting the ocean and the environment; Pallone had previously urged Biden to take the step before Donald Trump took office, since the law is written such that it will be difficult for Trump to undo it.
“For decades, I’ve fought alongside New Jersey families to protect our shores from the greed of big oil,” Pallone said. “This executive order ensures that our oceans remain vibrant, our beaches clean, and our economy thriving. It’s a major step forward for climate resilience and ocean conservation – a commonsense victory for everyone who depends on clean, healthy coastal waters for their livelihoods and recreation.”
A Bonnie lass
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing), a progressive stalwart beginning her sixth term in Congress this year, announced yesterday that she’ll serve in a number of leadership positions in the 119th Congress.
Watson Coleman will be a House Democratic deputy whip for policy, which her office described as “an advisory role focused on strategic, long-range planning and coordination of policy concerns”; she’ll rejoin the executive board of the Congressional Progressive Caucus; and she’ll take over from former Rep. Barbara Lee as the chair of the Democratic caucus’s Task Force on Poverty.
“It has long been a core mission of mine to advance anti-poverty legislation that would create a floor beneath which we allow no family to fall,” Watson Coleman said in a statement. “The United States has made great strides in the past to address poverty from the creation of Social Security in the 1930s to the War on Poverty legislation of the 1960s. Sadly we’ve seen poverty rates plateau over the last 30 to 40 years. It is time we took up that goal once again and focus our energy on this persistent yet solvable problem.”
Watson Coleman will also continue co-chairing the Caucus on Black Women and Girls and the A250 Caucus, which is dedicated to commemorating America’s 250th anniversary.
Other Garden State plots
• Senator Booker reintroduced a bill this week that would establish a commission to study reparations for African American descendants of slavery; the bill has 17 Democratic co-sponsors, among them Senator Kim, though it’s unlikely to move forward in a Republican-controlled Senate.
“We as a nation have not yet truly acknowledged and grappled with the ways slavery, racism, and white supremacy continue to disadvantage African Americans,” Booker said in a statement. “Commissioning a study to better understand where our country has fallen short will help lawmakers better address the racial disparities and inequalities that persist today as a result of generational injustices.”
• Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-Newark) re-introduced a bill of her own this week: the Amputation Reduction and Compassion Act, originally the brainchild of her late predecessor Donald Payne Jr. (D-Newark), which makes it easier for high-risk individuals to get Peripheral Artery Disease screenings.
“Donald Payne is definitely missed, but he’s not forgotten,” McIver said. “That’s the reason why we’re introducing the ARC Act – to make sure the work that he started, we finish it.”
• The Think Differently Database Act, a bill co-led by Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) creating a new website to inform people with disabilities about their resources under Medicaid, was signed into law by President Joe Biden this week.
“I joined former Rep. [Marc] Molinaro to introduce this legislation because I frequently hear from New Jersey families about the challenges they face finding and coordinating high quality care for their loved ones,” Sherrill said. “I was proud to help get this bill across the finish line, and look forward to partnering with advocates to ensure that the database created by this bill is responsive to the needs of New Jersey families.”
• Senator Kim was one of the speakers at a blisteringly cold Senate Democratic press conference held on the Capitol steps this week, where he spoke on his own father’s health care struggles after suffering an accident last summer that left him unable to walk.
“We need more options for the American people,” Kim said. “So many families in New Jersey are faced with these challenges of care – whether it’s the sandwich generation like myself, or others trying to figure out how they’re going to be able to build the kind of lives that they want. They’re not asking for the moon; they’re just asking to be able to have a life of dignity and decency.”
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September 15, 2023 -
