With President-elect Donald Trump set to be sworn in (indoors) in just three days, it’s Confirmation Time on Capitol Hill. A bevy of Trump’s Cabinet nominees, some of whom have wide bipartisan support and others of whom are highly controversial, descended upon the Senate this week for a series of confirmation hearings that will continue through the coming weeks.
In the House, meanwhile, freshman members got their first committee assignments and continued to work through Republican legislative proposals that got left on the backburner last Congress. Here’s some of what New Jersey’s members of Congress did this week.
Can you confirm?
Unlike in the New Jersey Legislature, where every nominee goes through the Judiciary Committee regardless of position, Cabinet nominees in the U.S. Senate are assigned to different committees depending on the agencies they’ve been nominated to lead. That means that New Jersey’s two senators, Andy Kim and Cory Booker, have gotten completely different angles on Trump’s incoming Cabinet, though both will eventually have the chance to vote for or against every nominee when they come to the Senate floor.
For Kim, the week involved questioning Transportation nominee Sean Duffy, Housing and Urban Development nominee Scott Turner, Homeland Security nominee Kristi Noem, and Office of Management and Budget nominee Russell Vought. Kim’s questions for Duffy in particular had a New Jersey focus; Duffy, a former Wisconsin congressman who recently registered to vote in New Jersey, would have jurisdiction over a broad swath of Garden State infrastructure projects if confirmed.
“[The Gateway Tunnel project is] incredibly important, not just for my state and my neighboring state, New York, but for our entire nation and our economy – something that would be a major disaster for our nation economically if something were to happen,” Kim said in one key exchange. “You said that you support keeping funding going for projects that are already underway. I just want to see if we can get a commitment from you that that would also apply to the Gateway.”
“I want to look at what funding has gone out, but I imagine those good projects that are underway, we would continue,” Duffy answered.
Booker, meanwhile, participated in two of the highest-profile confirmation hearings: Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio on the Foreign Relations Committee and Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi on the Judiciary Committee. Bondi, who served as one of Trump’s defense lawyers during his first impeachment trial, has drawn particular scrutiny from Democrats over her independence from the president-elect or lack thereof, and Booker pressed her on it.
“As we have a new administration coming in, and a lot of the protestations about retribution, or going after political opponents – I know you could expand your empathy enough to understand why there are many that really worry about your independence,” Booker told Bondi. “I hope that you, should you be confirmed, understand that there is an urgency in not just demonstrating through your actions that independence, but beginning to heal this country’s lack of faith, shaken faith, in that independence.”
The Poutal North Bridge
New Jersey’s two freshman House members, Reps. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon) and Herb Conaway, received their first committee assignments this week, assignments which will help dictate their policy focuses for this term and potentially many terms beyond this one.
Rep. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon) got a seat on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, one of the committee assignments she had been angling for; her predecessor, the late Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson), served on T&I for many years. Pou will also serve on the Homeland Security Committee.
“No state in our great nation relies more profoundly on its roads, bridges, and mass transit than the Garden State, so Transportation and Infrastructure is the perfect committee assignment to support the Ninth District,” Pou said. “I will use this post to advocate fiercely for North Jersey’s interests. We know about our desperate need for better roads and bridges, but I will also prioritize funding for our decaying water systems, flood management projects, as well as public transit service, especially the completion of the Portal Bridge.”
Rep. Herb Conaway (D-Delran), meanwhile, was assigned to the Veterans’ Affairs and Small Business Committees, two relatively small committees where many freshmen members land; he’ll be the vice ranking member on the Veterans’ Affairs. (Conaway did not get a seat on the Armed Services Committee, where many of his predecessors in the 3rd district have served in order to advocate for Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.)
“These committees are critical to addressing key issues such as healthcare for veterans, access to capital, and economic development,” Conaway said. “I am eager to bring the voices and values of New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District to the table during my time on these two historic committees.”
Two weeks of wedge issues
After passing the Laken Riley Act and the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act last week, the Republican-led House continued putting up contentious bills this week that weren’t able to go anywhere last session when Democrats still controlled the Senate and the White House. One, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, stops school sports programs from allowing transgender girls to participate in girls’ sports; the other, the Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, establishes sex offenses as grounds for deportation.
The former bill only drew two Democratic yes votes, neither of them from New Jersey. But the latter bill on illegal immigrants gained the support of no fewer than 61 Democrats, including New Jersey Reps. Conaway, Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly), and Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair).
Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden), who voted against both bills, argued that Republicans had failed to think through the consequences of their proposals: would kids be subject to genital exams to determine their eligibility for sports teams? Would domestic violence victims get caught up in the immigration system thanks to a law purportedly designed to protect them?
“[The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act] inflicts blanket bans without the ability of states, local governments, schools, and parents to make reasonable exceptions,” Norcross said of the transgender sports bill. “Moving forward, I hope that we can come together as a nation and focus on uplifting women and girls in sports instead of enacting policies that can be damaging to their well-being and athletic success.”
Winding things down
For years, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) has been railing against the offshore wind turbines under construction off the Jersey Shore – and there will soon be a president in office who agrees with him.
Van Drew, who has been a strog Trump ally ever since he switched parties in 2019, said that Trump asked him to draft an executive order regarding the offshore wind, an industry which Trump has called “garbage.” The order that Van Drew’s team came up with would halt all offshore wind activities for six months while the government reviewed the industry.
“I’ve spoken with the president about the wind turbines, and he told me to have my people draw up an executive order. We got it done in forty-eight hours,” Van Drew told NJ Spotlight News. “They liked it a lot, at an initial glance. I expect an executive order in the first couple of months.”
The federal government is already in the process of conducting one review of offshore wind’s impacts; at the request of Van Drew and fellow Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester), the Government Accountability Office announced in July 2023 that it would conduct a offshore wind study, the results of which have not yet been made public.
Problems: solved
It’s the end of an era. Rep. Gottheimer, who has co-led the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus since his first term in the House in 2017, is stepping away from that role this year and passing the torch to new Democratic co-chair Tom Suozzi (D-New York). Gottheimer, who is currently busy running for governor of New Jersey, will serve as one of the caucus’s four vice-chairs instead.
“We need more of this bipartisan approach when it comes to getting things done for people – putting common sense over extremism and tackling the issues that matter most to everyday Americans,” Gottheimer said. “I know that Tom [Suozzi] will do a phenomenal job – he is a get-it-done member who is willing to work constructively with others. That’s a recipe for success, and I’m here to help.”
Alongside Gottheimer, two other New Jerseyans will continue serving as members of the committee: Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), who like many Problem Solvers represents a competitive district, and Rep. Norcross.
Not worth dyeing for
Until recently, Red Dye 3 was still allowed for usage in food products despite being banned from cosmetics for decades and despite studies showing it could be linked to cancer – but no more. The Food and Drug Administration announced this week that, beginning in 2027, food manufacturers will no longer be able to use Red Dye 3 in their products; drug manufacturers will have until 2028.
One New Jersey politician thrilled with the decision is Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch), a consumer protection-focused legislator who sent a letter to the FDA last month urging them to enact just such a ban.
“Today is a great day for parents across the country,” Pallone said in a statement. “Red Dye 3 is a known animal carcinogen and has been shown to have long-lasting neurobehavioral effects on children. Moreover, it’s been banned for use in cosmetic products for over 30 years. Simply put, this chemical certainly has no place in products that are on grocery store shelves. I applaud [the] FDA for doing the right thing by protecting kids and ensuring Red Dye 3 will no longer be used in our food.”
Other Garden State plots
• Rep. Gottheimer reintroduced a flurry of bills this week targeting two of his frequent enemies: the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap, which his bill would eliminate, and New York City’s congestion pricing, which he is aiming to dismantle through several pieces of legislation.
“When costs are already high, it is utterly absurd to me that New York and the MTA are whacking hardworking commuters with a crushing, regressive $9 Congestion Tax that will cost more than $2,300 a year,” Gottheimer said of his congestion pricing legislation, which Rep. Van Drew is co-leading. “I’m not going to sit around and let the MTA balance their woefully mismanaged, out-of-control budget by picking the pockets of Jersey and New York families – our bipartisan legislation will put a stop to the MTA’s cash grab and hold them accountable.”
• Rep. Pallone announced this week that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has opted to end any attempts to get low- and middle-income Hurricane Sandy survivors to repay the disaster assistance they received, an achievement that Pallone said he’s been pushing for years.
“This relief is about justice for those who have endured so much – people who lost everything through no fault of their own – and ensuring they can finally move forward without this unfair financial burden,” Pallone said. “It’s a step toward helping our state heal, and I’m grateful to HUD for working with us to make this happen.”