What was meant to be Republicans’ big week for passing Reconciliation 2.0, a party-line bill providing $70 billion for immigration enforcement, ended up becoming a politically fraught boondoggle, and a resolution won’t be coming until members return from the Memorial Day recess.
Republicans may be getting long-absent Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) back before too long, though, which will help with their vote math. Here’s some of what New Jersey’s members of Congress did in Washington this week.
The Spirit of 1.776
At issue in Reconciliation 2.0 are two demands made by President Donald Trump’s administration: one to fund security for Trump’s White House Ballroom project, and another to provide a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” at the Department of Justice to pay off the president’s allies who were victims of “lawfare.” Both proposals have been greeted with substantial skepticism by many congressional Republicans, and with nothing but scorn by Democrats.
“Maybe some [Republicans] are trying to gain a spine and say, enough is enough,” quipped Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden). “We’ll see.”
Planned votes on the reconciliation bill at the end of this week were scrapped, as was a scheduled House vote on another Iran war powers resolution. The Senate voted to move forward with a war powers vote for the first time this week thanks to a handful of Republican defections – the final vote is still to come – and House GOP leaders, worried about a similar outcome in a Thursday vote on the same resolution, cancelled it entirely.
“They [cancelled the vote] because they knew that if they brought it to a vote, it would pass,” Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) said. “This is yet another example of Speaker Johnson and House Republicans’ failure to lead. They are merely a rubber stamp for the president. It is unacceptable.”
The congressman speaks!
The saga of Rep. Kean’s lengthy absence continued this week, but Kean himself says it will hopefully soon come to an end. Speaking with the New Jersey Globe yesterday, Kean said that his doctors are “confident” that he’ll make a full recovery, though recovery from what, exactly, remains unknown.
“I anticipate that in the next couple of weeks, I’ll return to voting and to the campaign trail,” Kean said.
Kean has missed more than 100 roll-call votes since his illness began in March, with his office consistently saying that the congressman would return “soon.” His condition started becoming a national news story last month, with some reporters going to astonishing (and unsuccessful) lengths to figure out what’s going on.
The Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger Labor Contracts Act
Rep. Norcross has had a tough time getting many of his labor-related bills to even be considered in GOP-controlled Washington, but one of his legislative efforts had a huge breakthrough this week.
The bill, the Faster Labor Contracts Act, is meant to address the frequently slow pace of labor negotiations, which Norcross said is often a ploy by employers to drag out the process and prevent a contract from coming into effect. If his bill is approved, it would create firmer deadlines for collective bargaining negotiations, and allow for mediation and arbitration after certain periods have elapsed.
That’s a mission that many labor-friendly Republicans can agree on, but Republican leadership would never give it the green light to come up for a vote. So Norcross cobbled together a coalition of nearly every House Democrat plus seven Republicans to sign a discharge petition, which circumvents the usual legislative process and puts bills directly on the floor.
“Obviously, there are some leaning-towards-labor folks that are on the other side, and I had been working with them for some time,” Norcross said. “Before we decided to go down the road to a discharge petition, we got commitments that there would be a certain number that would sign onto it. And they came through.”
The bill is likely to pass the House when it comes up in June; 17 Republicans, Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) and Chris Smith (R-Manchester) among them, are co-sponsors. Getting approval from the Senate and White House may be harder, but Norcross said he’s “hopeful” about the bill’s chances.
S.O.D.H.
Responding to an open “S.O.S.” letter from detainees that detailed “torture” at the Delaney Hall immigrant detention center, three New Jersey representatives returned to the controversial Newark facility for another oversight visit on Monday.
Reps. LaMonica McIver (D-Newark), Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City), and Analilia Mejia (D-Glen Ridge) – on her first oversight tour after being sworn into Congress last month – said that after seeing the conditions inside, the assertions made by the letter are “100% correct.”
“A year ago, I was an advocate, standing outside watching Mayor Ras Baraka get arrested and three Members of Congress get manhandled,” Mejia said. “And today, I visited Delaney Hall with two of my congressional colleagues who were there that day, and the injustice and suffering are visible in plain sight. I may never forget the faces of those detainees begging for help.”
The Mullica report
A bipartisan group of four New Jersey lawmakers, all of whom represent parts of the Mullica River in Congress, are pushing for new legislation that they say would preserve the river for future generations.
The Mullica River Watershed Wild and Scenic River Study Act – led by Reps. Herb Conaway (D-Delran) and Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) in the House and Senators Andy Kim and Cory Booker in the Senate – would direct the National Park Service to study whether the river should be designated as a “wild and scenic river,” thus giving it increased protections.
“The Mullica River was right down the road from me growing up in South Jersey – playing a part in so many New Jerseyans’ memories who go to enjoy the water and the scenery,” Kim said. “It’s our responsibility to do all we can to protect the natural resources that give our state so much.”
“The Mullica River is one of the most beautiful and important natural resources in our region, supporting wildlife, outdoor recreation, tourism, and local communities,” Van Drew concurred. “This river is a treasure, and we have a responsibility to make sure it is protected for future generations.”
Bill’s bill
Bills to reauthorize federal Traumatic Brain Injury programs and rename them after the late Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) have run aground in the past, but a new effort is now making its way through Congress.
The bill, which would officially designate the “Bill Pascrell, Jr. National Program for Traumatic Brain Injury Surveillance and Registries,” was stripped out of a government funding package near the end of President Joe Biden’s term, but is now proceeding as a standalone bill; yesterday, the House Energy & Commerce Committee voted to send it to the House floor.
“Bill Pascrell understood before most people that traumatic brain injuries were a serious and often invisible public health crisis,” Pallone said. “For decades, he fought to make sure Americans living with brain injuries were not ignored by the health care system or by Congress. I’m proud my Energy and Commerce Committee advanced this legislation to continue that mission and ensure Bill’s advocacy leaves a lasting mark on the country he loved so deeply.”
The Energy & Commerce Committee also advanced two priorities of Rep. Smith: the Kay Hagan Tick Act, which reauthorizes federal funding for tick-borne illness research, and the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act, which allocates $280 million for the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program and the National Cord Blood Inventory.
“Lyme and other tick-borne disease infections are exploding in the United States – in 2025 alone, my home state of New Jersey recorded 6,098 cases of vector-borne illnesses, with 5,211 of those solely attributed to Lyme,” Smith said of the former bill. “We must do more to help the hundreds of thousands of Americans suffering from these debilitating conditions.”
Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus (because its blind spot is huge)
In other committee news, the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee moved forward with bills this week that Reps. Menendez and Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon) said contain a number of their New Jersey-focused priorities.
Menendez’s bill, the Safe Intersections for Buses and Pedestrian Act, was approved as part of a broader Semiquincentennial infrastructure bill; the bill would establish new bus design standards with the goal of reducing blind spots.
“Many pedestrian fatalities can be prevented by addressing longstanding design flaws, and our legislation seeks to do exactly that,” Menendez said. “We will continue to work to bring this bill to the House floor and to advance pedestrian safety across the country.”
Pou, meanwhile, said that her amendments to make the Midtown Bus Terminal Replacement Project eligible for federal grants, help prevent flooding under the Transportation Department’s PROTECT Program, and give organized labor a larger voice on departmental advisory panels passed the committee this week. Also moving forward is a proposal to rename Newark Penn Station after the late Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-Newark).
“I was proud to help secure key priorities for our district, including stronger funding for transportation planning and safety programs, while also honoring the late Congressman Donald Payne Jr.’s legacy by renaming Newark Penn Station in his name,” Pou said. “These investments will help modernize our infrastructure, improve daily life for New Jersey families, and create a safer and more connected future for our great state.”
Other Garden State plots
• Senators Kim and Booker urged the USDA to approve a disaster designation request related to an April freeze that wreaked havoc on New Jersey crops.
“The impact of this freeze has been extensive and disastrous, nearly entirely wiping out this year’s peach, apple, and grape crops in New Jersey,” the senators wrote in a letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins. “Further, winegrowers may experience an additional year of crop loss from vine damage. Approximately half of New Jersey’s blueberry crop has been decimated, and significant losses have also been reported for pears, cherries, plums, and strawberries. We expect damage to other crops to be revealed as well.”
• Rep. Van Drew announced yesterday that the Atlantic City International Airport has been given an $8.8 million grant to construct a new taxiway.
“Atlantic City International Airport is one of the most important economic engines in South Jersey, and this investment is going to help ensure it continues growing and competing for years to come,” Van Drew said. “At the same time, my office has been in ongoing conversations with airlines to expand air service in South Jersey that will fully replace Spirit.”
• Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly) introduced a bill, the Stop the Doxx Act, which would make it a federal crime to deliberately publish personal information on local law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, and their families.
“You can’t protect our communities if you can’t protect the people who sacrifice so much for us,” Gottheimer said. “We must always get the backs of those who risk their lives every day to protect us, and that means making sure they and their families are safe both on the job and at home.”
