After taking months to even reach a vote, a bill mandating the release of the Epstein files at last came before Congress this week – and passed overwhelmingly before quickly being signed into law by President Donald Trump, a dizzying end to a strange saga.
The New Jersey delegation, meanwhile, went through some changes thanks to the departure of Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill from the House seat she’s held since 2019. Here’s some of what New Jersey’s members of Congress did in Washington this week.
File away, file away, file away
After Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Arizona) was sworn into the House last week, she immediately signed a discharge petition forcing a vote on the Epstein bill, a petition that Trump and Republican leaders had fought strenuously to quash. Her signature was #218, the magic number needed for the petition to reach a majority of the House and bring the bill to the floor.
From there, the floodgates opened. None of New Jersey’s three Republican congressmen signed the petition, but all three voted for the bill; Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis), a co-sponsor of the bill, said he wished it had gone through the committee process but that he was ultimately willing to support it regardless.
“I always wanted this done, I always wanted this information released,” Van Drew said. “But I would have rather seen it go through the proper channels, the proper way. That’s what I didn’t love about the discharge petition.”
New Jersey’s Republicans were far from alone; the bill only drew one GOP “no” vote in the entire House, and passed the Senate via unanimous consent. The dramatic vote was welcomed by Democrats, though many expressed some incredulity that Republicans were suddenly so willing to support the bill after fighting against the discharge petition for months.
“The American people want transparency, the survivors want transparency,” Rep. Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City) said. “I’m glad to see Republicans support us in that endeavor. I don’t know why they fought it so hard, why they refused to swear Adelita in. But we’re here, this is the right vote and the right thing for the American people.”
NJ-11 candidates prepare to ask grandmothers for petition signature over Thanksgiving
Gov.-elect Sherrill’s time in the U.S. House officially ended at midnight last night, bringing a seven-year congressional career to a close.
“It has been an honor to serve the residents of the 11th congressional district since 2019,” Sherrill wrote in her resignation letter. “Public service is a public trust. I look forward to continuing to serve the residents of the 11th district and all New Jerseyans as governor next year.”
And Gov. Phil Murphy is endeavoring to fill her seat quickly. Murphy issued a writ of special election this morning that schedules the primary election for Thursday, February 5 and the general election for Thursday, April 16. The filing deadline for candidates competing in the primary will arrive in just ten days, on December 1.
That’s quite a short runway for the baker’s dozen of candidates – 12 Democrats and one Republican thus far, with still more likely on the way – to ramp up their campaigns and earn the support of voters. And it will leave House Democrats down a seat for around five months, though other Democratic-held seats that have been vacant for most of the year due to member deaths are now being filled.
Herb Conaway, at your armed service
Sherrill’s departure from Congress had a happy knock-on effect for Rep. Herb Conaway (D-Delran): he gets to take Sherrill’s seat on the House Armed Services Committee.
Conaway is an Air Force veteran and represents parts of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Congress; because the base is such an important part of the local economy, most prior congressmen from the 3rd district have sought a seat on the Armed Services Committee to advocate for it. When Conaway arrived in Congress at the beginning of this year, however, he didn’t get the same posting, instead being assigned to the Veterans Affairs and Small Business Committees.
But the resignation of Sherrill, a Navy veteran who had held an Armed Services seat since her first term in 2019, created an opening, and the House Democratic caucus voted on Wednesday morning to appoint Conaway to the committee. Another South Jerseyan, Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden), is also on the panel.
“I have the privilege of representing parts of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, which is the only tri-service military base in the United States,” Conaway said. “It not only prepares our nation’s warfighters for battle but also serves as an integral part of our community. I’m excited for the opportunity to work in a bipartisan manner to help fulfill the needs of the Joint Base and to support the service members across the globe who are defending our nation.”
No place like Noem
Speaking of JBMDL, the Trump administration at last provided some answers to Conaway and Norcross this week about its plans to use the base as an immigrant detention center, but many questions still remain.
In a letter received by Conaway and Norcross earlier this week – but, oddly, dated as being sent on September 29 – Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said there remains “no firm timeframe” for when the base will begin serving as a detention facility.
“Currently, there is no approved construction plan for the location of this facility and no firm timeframe for intakes or length of operation at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst,” Noem wrote. “ICE is working with [the Department of War] to determine the appropriate acquisition strategy to support this site. Should a contract be awarded to build and operate a detention facility at this location, the contract will establish the detention standards by which the detention operator will be obligated to abide.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed to the congressmen over the summer that the administration does, indeed, plan to use the base to supplement its existing New Jersey detention facilities in Newark and Elizabeth. Since then, however, the administration has been sparse with details, and Noem’s letter indicates that the plan is still in its early stages.
“While we acknowledge that the Department of Homeland Security has finally responded to our questions, we will continue to monitor for any further developments regarding plans to house undocumented immigrants at the joint base,” Norcross and Conaway said in a joint statement. “Our priority is to uphold the human rights standards that these individuals deserve and to ensure that plans to house undocumented immigrants at the joint base do not interfere with military readiness.”
The lost oil rigs of Atlantic
The Trump administration unveiled its 2026–2031 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program this week, including prospective drilling sites in the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and off the Alaskan coast – but none in the Atlantic Ocean.
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch), a perennial opponent of offshore drilling, welcomed the news; Pallone and nearly every other New Jersey congressional Democrat from New Jersey joined a letter to Trump last month opposing any new offshore drilling leases. (Politico reported last month, however, that the Atlantic exclusion came primarily in response to objections from Florida Republicans.)
“New Jersey’s coastal economy and marine life cannot be put at risk by seismic blasting or the threat of a single spill,” Pallone said. “And while the Atlantic was spared, communities in California and along the Florida Gulf still face unacceptable risks. Their concerns must be heard.”
Surely *this* censure vote will improve Congress’s 15% approval rating
An unusual effort to reprimand Rep. Chuy García (D-Illinois) for engineering his retirement to guarantee his seat will go to his chief of staff succeeded this week, with 23 House Democrats joining nearly every Republican to vote for a resolution of disapproval; none of those Democrats were from New Jersey, but Senator Andy Kim expressed support for the effort, saying García’s gambit “was undemocratic and should not be allowed.”
The resolution was part of a recent spate of efforts to censure or otherwise reprimand members of Congress for a variety of alleged misdeeds. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-Newark) beat back a censure attempt in September related to the Delaney Hall detention center scuffle, and Cory Mills (R-Florida), Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands), Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota), and Al Green (D-Texas) have all faced similar efforts this year, the last of which was successful.
The rash of censure votes has taken what was once a rare and serious punishment and turned it into something more mundane and partisan, and some House members are now trying to step back from the ledge. A bipartisan group of House members, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly) among them, introduced a bill this week that would raise the threshold for censuring a member from a bare majority to 60% – essentially requiring any such measures to be substantially bipartisan.
The letter heard round the World Cup
Rep. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon), the lead Democrat on a Homeland Security Committee task force focused on security at the upcoming 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics, sounded the alarm this week about the DHS’s authority over hundreds of millions of dollars in World Cup security funding.
According to Pou, who represents the Meadowlands stadium where the World Cup final is set to be held, Congress appropriated $625 million to the 11 cities that will host World Cup matches. DHS, however, issued a notice that gives the agency “sole discretion” over how the funding is awarded, which Pou said raises concerns about whether the funds will be fairly distributed without partisan motivation.
“My district will host some of the most visible matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, including the final championship game,” Pou wrote in a letter to Noem and acting FEMA adminstrator David Richardson. “Our state and local public safety agencies have proven records of securing major events in partnership with Federal counterparts. American taxpayers deserve a funding process grounded in transparency and data-driven risk assessment – not politically motivated decision-making.”
Other Garden State plots
• Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) held a Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee hearing this week on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, lauding the Trump administration for redesignating the nation as a “country of particular concern.”
“As President Trump said, ‘Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria…The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria,’” Smith said in his opening remarks at the hearing. “The systematic slaughter of Christians, including in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, is one of the greatest moral crises of our time.”
• Senator Kim joined several of his colleagues on Wednesday this week in demanding action to combat hunger, following the release of Hunger Free America’s 2025 National Hunger Survey Report.
“Hunger Free America’s new study confirms what I’m hearing from people across New Jersey – costs are too high and it’s only getting harder to put food on the table,” Kim said. “A trip to the grocery or the pharmacy should never break the bank. We can solve hunger, but not while the Trump administration continues to cruelly weaponize hunger as a political tool. We owe the American people better, and I look forward to working with advocates like Hunger Free America to deliver a future where hunger is a thing of the past.”
• Reps. Pou, Menendez, and McIver are calling on the Trump administration to “immediately accelerate” cleanup efforts at the Diamond Alkali Superfund Site, a polluted area of the Passaic River in Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood.
“Families in Newark and across our neighboring communities have endured the toxic legacy of industrial pollution for generations,” Menendez said. “It is unacceptable that, over forty years after this area was designated as a Superfund site, residents are still waiting for justice. The EPA and the DOJ must act immediately to accelerate the next phase of cleanup and hold polluters accountable.”
• A bill sponsored by Rep. McIver, the Improving SBA Engagement on Employee Ownership Act, was passed out of the Small Business Committee on Tuesday.
“Employee ownership is one of the best ways to help people build real wealth and create a fairer economy,” McIver said. “When employees share in ownership – whether through ESOPs or cooperatives – they also share in the profits and have a voice in decision making. By making ownership more accessible and expanding outreach and assistance for employee-owned businesses, my bill gives employees the chance to do more than just make ends meet, and it helps small businesses keep investing in their communities.”
• Senators Cory Booker and Alex Padilla (D-California) sent a letter to Secretary Noem this week demanding answers on whether the DHS is relaxing hiring standards for new ICE agents.
“DHS has a duty to ensure that all officers – both new and currently in service –are properly trained, effectively supervised, and held accountable for their actions,” the senators wrote. “In only months, DHS’s failure to meet its obligations has tarnished the reputation of federal law enforcement, endangered and victimized the public, and eroded public trust in the rule of law. This is unacceptable, and DHS must act swiftly to correct these failures, uphold the rule of law, and respect the Constitutional rights of all people in America.”