Click here for a web version of the New Jersey Globe’s May 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
In the early morning hours of May 22, Republicans’ enormous legislative agenda – featuring major changes to Medicaid, tax policies, defense and border funding, food stamps, the debt ceiling, and more – came up in the House. It passed by all of one vote, 215-214.
Two of New Jersey’s three Republicans, Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) and Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), had made various demands on the bill during the negotiation process: Van Drew on avoiding deep cuts to Medicaid, and Kean on raising the State and Local Tax deduction cap as high as possible. But both congressmen, along with fellow Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester), ended up voting for the bill along with nearly every other member of their party.
“I want to make it clear that in this bill there are NO cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, or Social Security for the people these programs were designed to serve,” Van Drew said in a statement after the bill passed. “I have been heavily involved in negotiations for the House version of this bill, and I will continue to closely monitor the bill as changes are made in the Senate to ensure there are no cuts to the programs our people rely on. I have said it before, and I will say it again: we owe it to hardworking American families to ensure these vital programs remain strong and funded.”
The state’s nine Democrats, predictably, all voted no; Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden) even came down from New Jersey while still in the midst of a rehabilitation process following a serious gallbladder infection.
“This Trump-Republican scam was rushed through in the dead of night for a reason: they know they’ve betrayed the American people,” Norcross said. “Their cuts to home and long-term care put lives at risk, especially for our seniors. How dare they try to rip away basic rights from the people who we were elected to serve – we will fight back.”
The One Big Beautiful Bill now heads to the Senate, where more changes – and more extremely close votes – could soon be underway.
Renamings
Beyond the GOP megabill, the House also took up several bills to rename notable places – one of which proved to be a bit more controversial than the other.
After Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) died last year, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) began pushing for a bill to rename parts of the Paterson Great Falls National Historic Park after him. The bill, co-sponsored by every New Jersey House member from both parties, came up for a vote in May and passed easily.
“Few public servants have shaped Paterson or New Jersey more than Bill Pascrell,” Pallone said. “He understood the importance of honoring our past while fighting for our future. Every brick and every drop of the Falls tells a story about Paterson and America, and now those stories will include Bill. I was proud to help lead this effort on the House floor in tribute to my friend and mentor.”
Much more contentious, however, was a bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America; Democrats were universally opposed to the legislation, which passed 211-206.
Senate splits
New Jersey’s two senators, Andy Kim and Cory Booker, like to be a unified force for New Jersey whenever possible. But they don’t always vote the same way, and two important votes came this month where the pair split from one another.
One was on the nomination of Charles Kushner to be U.S. Ambassador to France. Kushner’s past sordid legal troubles in New Jersey made him a tough sell for nearly every Senate Democrat, but Booker – who has a history with Kushner that dates back to his first run for mayor and to their work on a major criminal justice reform bill during Trump’s first term – voted yes.
“I have passionate differences and disagreements with Charlie Kushner, but I supported his confirmation because he has been unrelenting in reforming our criminal justice system and has substantively helped achieve the liberation of thousands of people from unjust incarceration,” Booker said of his vote.
The other notable split, meanwhile, came on the GENIUS Act, a cryptocurrency-focused bill putting new regulations in place for stablecoins. When the bill came up for an important procedural vote (after previously failing earlier this month), Booker voted yes and Kim voted no.
“While I support innovation and growth in blockchain and crypto, we have to do so in a way that stops terrorist groups, cartels, and rogue states like Iran and North Korea from using this tech to move and hide billions of dollars,” Kim said. “I voted yes in committee on this legislation last month with the hope that we could put in the necessary anti-money laundering provisions. I am still in negotiations with my colleagues on that language and hope we can come to agreement.”
California pollution standards?
Both the House and the Senate passed a handful of resolutions in May targeting California’s vehicle emissions standards, including one especially notable bill killing California’s efforts to ban the sale of gas cars by 2035.
The move was a highly controversial one, in part because of questions over whether it was within Congress’s purview to overturn California’s regulations via the Congressional Review Act. And it has ripple effects on other states, among them New Jersey, that intended to follow California’s lead on reducing or eliminating gas-powered vehicles.
Every New Jersey Democrat voted against the measures in the House and Senate, though Rep. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon) said that she remains skeptical of any New Jersey-based push to ban gas automobile sales.
“While clean air is a top priority, and electric vehicles must be a part of the solution to address damaging emissions, I urge Governor Murphy to consider delaying implementation of his executive action,” Pou said. “Our state should work with consumers, environmental advocates, auto manufacturers and dealers to understand what is happening in the marketplace, seek common ground, and find a workable path for New Jersey families that balances choice, cost and our environment.”
Click here for a web version of the vote tracker.