D.C. Dispatch: What N.J.’s members of Congress did in Washington this week

President Donald Trump is approaching his one-month mark in office, and his scorched-earth approach to the executive branch has split New Jersey’s delegation along predictable lines. The state’s Democrats have grown increasingly strident in their opposition to just about everything Trump is doing, while the delegation’s three Republicans have largely praised the president’s actions (if not especially loudly).

The House is gone next week for a President’s Day recess after passing an important budget resolution through committee, but the Senate will still be in town to confirm more Cabinet nominees, just as it’s been doing since Trump took office. Here’s some of what New Jersey’s members of Congress did in Washington this week.

The #resistance is back

What do New Jersey Democrats think of efforts by Trump and billionaire Elon Musk to curtail and dismantle vast swaths of the federal bureaucracy? Rep. Herb Conaway (D-Delran) is calling for “resistance on all fronts.” Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) says it could be a sign that “we don’t live in a Democracy at all.” And Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-Newark) said at a rally last week that “we are at war” – controversial remarks she stands by.

“​​Whenever you can disregard the Constitution, disregard Congress, disregard the Senate, and basically do whatever you want to do at the stroke of the pen – and doing some things that are not even at the stroke of a pen – that’s a problem,” McIver told the New Jersey Globe this week. “That’s war on people. That’s war on constituents that I represent.”

A few New Jersey Democrats – Reps. Donald Norcross (D-Camden), Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly), and Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) – are taking a legislative route, signing onto legislation that would prohibit those without national security clearance from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment system, which is what Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have tried to do.

“There’s no reason why Elon Musk should have access to the personal data of private U.S. citizens,” Norcross said. “That is why I cosponsor the Taxpayer Data Protection Act to limit access to this important data to people with specific experiences, security clearances and other qualifications, which Musk and his team currently lack.”   

Republicans, on the other hand, are taking a more circumspect approach to Trump’s cuts. Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), for instance, put out a statement that seemed to generally support the idea of cutting down the size of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), but his office did not respond to questions about whether that meant the congressman supported Trump’s efforts to essentially shutter the agency.

“I am committed to cutting waste, fraud, and abuse of government funding on programs and initiatives that do not align with American values,” Kean said. “I will work on behalf of the American people to ensure that foreign aid spending, as well as the priorities of the State Department and USAID, align with U.S. interests and promote American values abroad. During the Biden Administration, the State Department and USAID frequently lost sight of their mission. To address this, House Republicans will work together to help cut wasteful spending and ensure that the United States remains a global leader.”

She’s refusing to budge(t)

Republicans’ efforts to pass major tax legislation through Congress this year cleared a major first hurdle this week after the House Budget Committee approved, on party lines, a budget resolution that opens the door for slashing trillions in spending and cutting taxes. The one New Jerseyan on the committee isn’t happy.

Rep. Watson Coleman, who joined the Budget Committee just this year, blasted the resolution during yesterday’s marathon committee hearing, calling it a “cobbled mess” that would devastate critical programs for the middle and working classes in service of tax breaks for the wealthy.

“This resolution is a Republican betrayal of the middle class,” Watson Coleman said. “As one of the newest members of this committee, I find it important to raise how evil I find this proposed budget resolution to be… Unlike the president, I have read the Bible, and I know the teachings of Jesus. I do not recall cutting aid from the poor, the weak, or the huddled masses in favor of those who hoard wealth as one of his sermons.”

Watson Coleman, alongside her fellow Democrats on the committee, tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to offer amendments to the resolution, including one from the congresswoman that would have protected the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from sweeping cuts.

“With a budget of just $825 million, the CFPB has brought back over $21 billion to consumers who have been victims of fraud and abuse at the hands of big banks and other large corporations,” Watson Coleman said. “If you think it should be easier for people to get scammed, and for the scammers to get away with it, fine. That’s your opinion. But I don’t think that’s right, and I don’t think the American people think that that sounds right.”

An appealing notion

As expected – moreover, as he had announced he would do several times – former Senator Bob Menendez appealed his corruption conviction yesterday, kicking the case up to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Menendez, who represented New Jersey in Congress for more than 30 years, has maintained his innocence ever since he was hit with federal bribery charges in September 2023, saying that the charges against him were politically motivated and full of distortions. Upon being convicted on all charges in July 2024, eventually being sentenced to 11 years in prison, the former senator said that he intended to appeal the outcome all the way to the Supreme Court if needed.

“I am innocent and look forward to my appeal on a whole host of issues,” Menendez said last month in a statement that also communicated his desire for a pardon from President Donald Trump. “But let me just say this whole process has been nothing but a political witch hunt, by the Justice Department’s [National Security Division] and prosecutors who are more interested in political scalps, and preparing to run for political office, like Damian Williams.”

The ongoing case means that Menendez’s shadow continues to loom large over New Jersey’s delegation (and reputation) in Washington, though Menendez himself has been out of a job for months; he resigned from the Senate last August, and Senator Andy Kim now holds his seat.

RFK Twigs

The Senate has now approved a whopping 16 of Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees, including two this week who were seen as among the hardest sells: now-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and now-Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. New Jersey Senators Kim and Cory Booker, along with all of their fellow Democrats (and former Republican leader Mitch McConnell), were nos on both.

“[Kennedy] has championed views on a number of issues that are deeply concerning to me,” Booker said of a nominee with whom he shares some views on processed food and nutrition standards. “Furthermore, the Trump administration is flagrantly ignoring the law in its efforts to dismantle vital government programs, from health care to education to national security, while ignoring the burden of rising costs on American families.”

And the Senate isn’t done. Likely soon to be on the docket are FBI Director nominee Kash Patel, whom Booker has called a “danger to the country,” and Education Secretary nominee Linda McMahon, whom Kim questioned during a Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing about the Trump administration’s apparent goals to dismantle her department.

“You’ve mentioned that you believe that Congress would need to be involved if there is an effort to abolish the Department of Education, that’s right?” Kim said. “Do you know if President Trump shares that sentiment?”

“I’ve heard President Trump, recently over the last couple of weeks – in conjunction with his fervor to shut down the bureaucracy of the Department of Education, he has also stated that he will work with Congress to make that happen,” McMahon responded.

I’m just a Bill

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch)’s effort to rename parts of Paterson’s Great Falls National Historical Park after the late Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) failed to get through the House before last year’s congressional session ended, but it’s back on the agenda of the 119th Congress, coming before the Natural Resources Committee for its first committee markup.

“Bill Pascrell made sure Paterson’s place in history would never be forgotten, and now it’s time to make sure his isn’t either,” Pallone said. “Honoring him at the Falls is a fitting tribute to a man who gave everything he had to this city and to the people he served.”

“It was Bill’s years of work that finally led to Great Falls being recognized as a national historic park,” concurred Rep. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon), who succeeded Pascrell in the House. “In the years to come, generations of Americans visiting Great Falls will learn the role of Paterson as an engine of our nation’s growth. Once this bill becomes law, so too will they learn about Bill Pascrell and his contributions that made Paterson and New Jersey so special.”

He’s an agent of SHIELD

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) is once again making a push for his Stopping Harmful Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution (SHIELD) Act, a bill he and Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pennsylvania) reintroduced this week that would make it a specific criminal offense to nonconsensually distribute intimate images.

“Predators are using intimate images as weapons, threatening to share them without consent and taking advantage of their victims’ fear,” Van Drew said in a statement. “Our current laws have not kept pace with these evolving threats, allowing perpetrators to escape justice far too often. The SHIELD Act will strengthen our existing laws, ensuring those who exploit others for personal gain are held responsible for their actions.”

The act, which was also introduced last session but never ended up going anywhere, is one of a number of anti-revenge porn and anti-deepfake efforts taking place in Congress. Another, the Take It Down Act – which counts Senator Booker among its cosponsors – passed the Senate unanimously this week.

Other Garden State plots

• Rep. Norcross, who has made federal minimum wage laws one of his focuses in Congress, reintroduced the Tipped Income Protection and Support Act (TIPS) to abolish subminimum wages for tipped workers and end income taxes on tips, the latter of which is a proposal that has been echoed by Trump and other Republicans.

“By eliminating the subminimum wage and taxes on tips, we can put more money into the pockets of tipped workers,” Norcross said. “While there’s still more work to be done when it comes to increasing the federal minimum wage, this legislation marks a pivotal step in the right direction toward ensuring tipped workers get a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work.”

• Continuing its blitz of immigration-related legislation, the House passed the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act this week to crack down on those who flee from Border Patrol agents near the U.S. border. The bill drew yes votes from all three New Jersey Republicans and from Rep. Gottheimer – but Rep. Pou, the lone New Jersey Democrat from a Trump-won district, voted no, just as she has on prior GOP-led immigration measures.

“Groundhog Day was last week but here we are in Congress voting on another extreme Republican immigration measure,” Pou said in a statement. “Americans rightly demand a secure border and fair immigration system. I agree with them. But this is yet another overly-punitive immigration bill that seeks to demonize legal immigrants in our district and represents a solution in search of a problem.”