How N.J.’s congressional delegation voted in June (and early July)

Attention in Washington this June was heavily focused on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the GOP’s flagship policy bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on Independence Day. (Many of the key votes on the bill took place during the first three days of July, but for simplicity’s sake will be included as part of this vote tracker.)

But far more than just the Republican megabill came up for a vote in June; the House and Senate also voted on a rescissions package undoing foreign aid and public broadcasting funding, a resolution pushing back on Trump’s war efforts, an renegade push to impeach Trump, and more. All in all, it was the most legislatively jam-packed period Congress has had since Republicans retook full control of Washington in January.

Click here for a web version of the New Jersey Globe’s June 2025 vote tracker, with links to the bills and votes in question, or scroll to the bottom of this article for a PDF version.

The One Big Beautiful Bill

At dozens of points over the last six months, it’s seemed like the enormous legislative package spearheaded by Trump and GOP leaders could be in major trouble. A bill that took a hatchet to Medicaid funding, broadly reshaped tax policy, and touched on a tremendous number of other hot-button issues was always going to be a tough lift for Republicans’ razor-thin House majority and modest Senate majority.

But after much wheeling and dealing leading up to a self-imposed deadline of July 4, Republican leadership prevailed: the bill passed 51-50 in the Senate (with Vice President JD Vance breaking a tie) and 218-214 in the House, in both cases after hours or days of last-minute negotiations that often happened as the votes themselves were taking place.

Just as they had in May, New Jersey GOP Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis), Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), and Chris Smith (R-Manchester) supported the Senate version of the bill. That’s in spite of the fact that GOP senators changed the bill in order to cut more deeply into Medicaid and insert a 2029 sunset into the bill’s $40,000 State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap hike, key issues for Van Drew and Kean, respectively.

“Allowing Americans to keep more of what they earn, increasing the SALT deduction for New Jersey, and enabling parents through innovative education choice policies and doubling and making permanent the Child Tax Credit, this legislation takes significant steps to ensure that the American Dream will be alive and well for our children, grandchildren, and generations to come,” Smith said of the bill.

The Garden State’s two Democratic senators and nine Democratic House members all opposed the bill, as did the rest of the Democratic caucus in both the House and the Senate. Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim also got to offer up and vote on a number of amendments that would have scaled back the bill via the Senate’s “vote-a-rama” procedures, though most of those amendments failed.

“The passage of Trump’s Big Disastrous Bill is a disappointing display of cowardice and a betrayal of the American people,” Kim said. “Let it sink in: they chose tax cuts for billionaires at the expense of the health, safety, and prosperity of the people who they represent.” 

Rescissions

Now that the One Big Beautiful Bill has been signed into law, Congress will likely turn its attention to the next pressing issue: a Trump administration-initiated rescissions package retracting $9.4 billion in congressionally appropriated funds for foreign aid and public broadcasting.

The House approved its Rescissions Act on June 12 in a narrow 214-212 vote, with New Jersey’s delegation breaking down on typical party lines. The bill is now under consideration in the Senate, and it will have to return to the House again if Senate Republicans make any changes; Republicans are working towards a deadline of July 18, which is when the money will be spent if Congress doesn’t do anything.

“If signed into law, the Trump-Republican recession package would take away food from hungry kids, make it easier for infectious diseases to spread, neglect Americans’ safety, and cut kids’ access to educational TV shows,” Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden) said. “It’s a reckless bill that puts billionaires first, and working families last.”

Trump’s war powers

After Trump made the decision to strike Iranian nuclear sites on June 22, Democrats were outraged that the president had taken military action without consulting Congress. And in the Senate, they actually took a vote on it: Senators Kim and Booker both supported a resolution from Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) terminating further U.S. involvement in Iran unless it’s been approved by Congress. (The resolution failed 47-53).

“The American people deserve to know under what conditions Trump would consider additional strikes and to have a say in whether our country goes to war,” Kim said. “By rejecting this resolution, my colleagues are abdicating our responsibility to give voice to Americans, including the military families who will inevitably be put in harm’s way.”

The Senate also voted on two unsuccessful resolutions prohibiting proposed arms sales to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which produced a relatively rare split in the New Jersey delegation: Booker supported the resolutions, but Kim was one of five Democrats to oppose them. 

Absences

In happy news, this month marked the full return of Rep. Norcross, who nearly died from a gallbladder infection in April and was stuck recovering in New Jersey for months. Norcross began making regular congressional appearances again on June 23 – he had previously returned previously to vote against the initial version of the Big Beautiful Bill in May – and says he’s unlikely to face major issues going forward.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), on the other hand, has continued to miss votes after winning the Democratic nomination for governor. Sherrill, whose campaign for governor took her out of Washington for much of the winter and spring, was present for only a single day of votes in June – June 12, when the rescissions bill came up – and was also there for the early July votes on the Big Beautiful Bill.

Sherrill’s colleague and erstwhile gubernatorial opponent, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly), had also missed a large number of votes throughout early 2025. But Gottheimer’s campaign is now over after losing to Sherrill in the primary, and his attendance rate is likely to spike back up: he’s been present for every vote since June 12, two days after primary day. 

Impeachment

Much to the consternation of some Democrats, Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) forced a June 24 vote on a resolution impeaching Trump for attacking Iran without congressional approval. Green’s effort was swiftly tabled, with a sizable number of House Democrats joining their Republican colleagues in voting to kill the resolution.

The Democratic delegation in New Jersey divided along interesting lines: Reps. Gottheimer, Herb Conaway (D-Delran), Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch), and Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon) voted to table the resolution – in effect opposing impeachment – while Reps. Norcross, Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City), LaMonica McIver (D-Newark), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) voted against tabling. Rep. Sherrill was not present for the vote.

Other votes of note

• Kicking off the FY2026 appropriations process, the House cleared a funding bill for the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction on June 25. In a sign of how difficult this year’s government funding battle will be, the bill – normally the least controversial of the 12 annual appropriations bills – passed just 218-206, and every present New Jersey Democrat opposed it.

• The House approved two resolutions condemning recent antisemitic attacks in Colorado, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. One authored by Rep. Van Drew was largely uncontroversial, but another that thanked ICE agents for “protecting the homeland” drew lots of Democratic critics; Reps. Menendez, Pou, McIver, and Watson Coleman opposed it, and Rep. Conaway voted “present.”

• After a false start last month, the GENIUS Act, a major bill regarding cryptocurrency regulations, passed the Senate with yes votes from both Booker and Kim, who broke with a majority of Senate Democrats to support it.

• House Republicans continued to push for legislation targeting illegal immigration, putting forward three bills that limit the Small Business Administration’s ability to operate in “sanctuary cities,” make DUIs grounds for deportation, and require the Homeland Security Department to report on non-U.S. nationals who could pose a security risk. One notable “no” vote on all three: Rep. Pou, who represents a Trump-won district.

Click here for a web version of the vote tracker.