Hawaii Congressional Delegation--How they Voted January 3, 2025

Hawai'i Free Press

Monday, January 6, 2025

Hawaii Congressional Delegation--How they Voted January 3, 2025
By GovTrack .us @ 10:44 AM :: 215 Views :: Congressional Delegation

Twelve bills will be fast-tracked by Republicans' new House rules

by Daniel Schuman GovTrack.us, Jan 3, 2024

Hello GovTrackers,

Happy new year and welcome to a very special edition of the GovTrack newsletter as we get ready for the start of the 119th Congress which began Friday, January 3rd at noon, when the legislators elected last November took office.

The House of Representatives voted on who will serve as Speaker of the House and on procedural rules for the chamber for the next two years. These votes are enormously consequential because they determine the playing field on which everything will happen.

I’ve written several lengthy pieces on my organization’s substack on why the House rules matter so much and what’s contained in the House Republican rules package. (I also wrote about a sneak attack on congressional ethics.) They’re pretty wonky and contain a ton of detail. Let me give you the highlights.

At the start of each new Congress, every two years, representatives in the House are on a level playing field: there is no Speaker, there are no committees, there are no officers of the House (like the nonpartisan Chief Administrative Officer), and all the legislation from the prior Congress disappears. They start afresh except for what’s in the Constitution and some general parliamentary principles. So one of the first things that happens is the chamber elects a Speaker of the House and then votes on rules to govern the chamber.

Those rules create the committees and the power structure for party leaders. As I write this there’s an open question as to whether Rep. Johnson has enough votes to become Speaker. Other factions within the Republican party are negotiating for power. The form of those negotiations include both modifications to the House Rules and appointments to powerful positions, such as Chair of the House Rules Committee.

Although the Republican leadership’s proposed rules were largely a copy-paste of the rules for the 118th Congress, there are some changes. One major difference has to do with the procedure for removing the Speaker, which played a key role in the 118th Congress. Previously, any single member of Congress could bring up a resolution to remove the Speaker. Now, nine Republicans have to co-sponsor such a resolution for it to be considered. This strengthens the hand of the Speaker significantly and also undermines the ability of a majority of the House of Representatives to change who is serving as Speaker.

The other major difference is that the Rules place twelve specific bills on a glide path to a vote on the House floor without allowing for hearings or amendments, by limiting debate, and waiving all the other chamber rules. (Some of these bills have already gone through committee, and fast-tracking those allows the House to pick up where it left off.) These bills are:

For compliance with “title IX” in athletics, to define sex based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth (a version passed in 2023)
To take into custody non-citizens who have been charged with theft.
To make sex offenses and domestic violence deportable offenses. (a version passed in 2024)
To make the assault of a law enforcement officer a deportable offense (a version passed in 2023)
To withhold federal funding that goes to “sanctuary cities” to benefit undocumented immigrants (a version passed in 2024)
New criminal and immigration penalties for intentionally fleeing a pursuing Federal officer while operating a motor vehicle (a version passed in 2024)
To prohibit a health care practitioner from failing to exercise the proper degree of care in the case of a child who survives an abortion or attempted abortion (a version passed in 2023)
To sanction the International Criminal Court for issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or if it investigates, arrests, detains, or prosecutes any American or ally of the United States. (a version passed in 2024)
A likely-bipartisan bill to fix double-taxation of residents of Taiwan who pay U.S. taxes
To require proof of United States citizenship to register an to vote (a version passed in 2024)
To amend the Controlled Substances Act with respect to the scheduling of fentanyl (a version passed in 2023)
To prohibit a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing (a version passed in 2024)

The Senate is a different story. It is a continuing body, so its committees and officers and rules continue from Congress to Congress. With power flipping to Republicans from Democrats, the Senate will need to pass an organizing resolution that places new senators on committees and re-designates who will serve as chairs of those committees.

In both chambers, the next major legislative step will be certification of the presidential election results on Monday, January 6th. There also will likely be a resolution to allow former President Jimmy Carter to lie in state at the Capitol. It’s reasonable to expect that the certification date will put some pressure on the House Republicans to elect the Speaker relatively quickly to ensure a smooth certification of President Trump.

We also can expect to see the Senate lining up hearings and votes to confirm some of Trump’s nominees to lead various federal agencies, although the votes can’t take place before the 20th when Trump is sworn in.

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Hawaii Congressional Delegation

Dec 23, 2024 — Enacted — Signed by the President

S. 4259: Lahaina National Heritage Area Study Act

All of this bill was incorporated into H.R. 8219: Lahaina National Heritage Area Study Act, which was enacted (by president) on December 23, 2024.

Trackers: Sen. Mazie Hirono [D-HI].

Dec 23, 2024 — Enacted — Signed by the President

H.R. 8219: Lahaina National Heritage Area Study Act

Sponsor: Rep. Jill Tokuda [D-HI2]

Last Action: Signed by President.

Explanation: This bill was enacted after being signed by the President on December 23, 2024.

Jan 3, 2025 12:33 p.m. — Vote