Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted April 11, 2025

Hawai'i Free Press

Sunday, April 13, 2025

Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted April 11, 2025
By GovTrack .us @ 5:23 PM :: 685 Views :: Congressional Delegation

Moving Forward on Republican Priorities

By Amy West, GovTrack.us, April 11, 2025

This week the Senate confirmed more nominees for various positions in the Trump administration. Both chambers passed legislation nullifying regulations which means several will now go to the President for signing.

The House was fairly tumultuous this week. While a few bills passed unanimously, two very controversial bills barely made it. There was also a brief rebellion over the management of discharge petitions, acquiescence on tariffs and, ultimately, acquiescence to the Senate's budget resolution (step one in the reconciliation process).

Regulation Cancellations Going to the President Next

S.J.Res. 28: A joint resolution disapproving the rule submitted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to “Defining Larger Participants of a Market for General-Use Digital Consumer Payment Applications” passed 219-211
S.J.Res. 18: A joint resolution disapproving the rule submitted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to “Overdraft Lending: Very Large Financial Institutions” passed 217-211
H.J.Res. 20: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to "Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Gas-fired Instantaneous Water Heaters" passed 53-44

Bills Passed in the House

H.R. 1228: Prioritizing Veterans’ Survivors Act passed 424-0
H.R. 1039: Clear Communication for Veterans Claims Act passed 412-0
H.R. 586: Vietnam Veterans Liver Fluke Cancer Study Act passed 411-0
H.R. 1526: NORRA of 2025, which would limit judges' ability to issue nationwide injunctions, passed 219-213
H.R. 22: SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections, passed 220-208. This bill, which is based on the false belief that non-citizens commonly vote, will make it harder or even impossible for millions of citizens to register to vote if they don't have or can't get the correct documentation.

Discharge Petition on Parental Proxy Voting

You may recall that last week we wrote that Speaker Johnson shut down the House after losing a vote that would have prevented parental proxy voting for 12 weeks after the birth of a child.

Johnson, and Rep. Luna, the FL Republican who was a bill co-sponsor, were each under pressure to find a resolution in order to not hold up work on the budget resolution any further. Luna agreed to allow the resolution she had put forward to be tabled in favor of "vote pairing". Vote pairing is when one member from each party agrees to not vote on a bill to cancel each other out. This does not address any part of the resolution Luna had put forward to allow new parents to proxy vote. When the tabling language was added to a procedural vote for other bills, it passed 213-211.

Formally Giving Up Tariff Power

In another procedural vote this week, the House agreed formally to give up most of its power over tariffs in a vote of 216-215. While only one method of taking control of tariffs was prohibited in this vote, functionally, the House gave it all up to the President.

Acquiescence on the Budget

The House agreed to the Senate's version of the budget resolution 216-214. The holdouts who ultimately voted for the resolution describe themselves as "budget hawks" and opponents of increased budget deficits. Yet, they voted for a budget resolution that will increase the deficit anywhere from 2 to 5.7 trillion dollars. They said they did so because "they received assurances from Johnson, Thune and the White House that significant spending cuts will be included in the final bill" according to The Hill.

What Comes Next?

Now that the overall spending (or cutting, depending on your perspective) targets have been established, both chambers will have to decide how the money will actually be allocated. This will be the real fight and it will likely take months to get a final, votable budget reconciliation bill. Once that votable text exists, it can pass with a simple majority in both chambers and no Senate filibuster will get in the way.

Hawaii Congressional Delegation

April 2, 2025 — Bill Text

S. 1261: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025

This bill’s text is now available.

Sen. Brian Schatz [D-HI] is the sponsor of this bill.

April 7, 2025, 5:31 p.m. — Vote

Motion to Invoke Cloture: Elbridge Colby to be Under Secretary of Defense for Policy: Elbridge Colby, of the District of Columbia, to be Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

Cloture Motion Agreed to 53/39