Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted May 2, 2025

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Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted May 2, 2025
By GovTrack .us @ 11:57 AM :: 776 Views :: Congressional Delegation

Avoiding as Much Controversy as Possible for Now

by Amy West, GovTrack.us, May 2, 2025

This week the House and Senate kept a relatively low profile.

The House passed some non-controversial (well, within the House anyway in one case) bills, some non-controversial (within the Republican majority) bills beginning the process of cancelling regulations and snuck in a change to House rules via a resolution on rules for debate on some specific bills (again).

The Senate, as usual in its Tuesday-Thursday week, confirmed a few nominees, completed the cancellation of a few regulations and almost passed a resolution that would have limited the upcoming tariffs.

Regular House Bills

With the exception of the first one listed below, these bills are still early in the legislative process. They must next pass in the Senate before they can become law.

S. 146: TAKE IT DOWN Act passed 409-2. It will go to the President next for signing and become law. While it has been uncontroversial in Congress, there are considerable objections outside of Congress. Ostensibly, the soon-to-be law will provide punishment for the use of non-consensual intimate images online. However, as TechDirt notes "Instead of building on existing successful systems, or within the parameters of the First Amendment, Congress decided to create a new framework combining vague “duty of care” requirements with harsh criminal penalties — a combination that, as we’ve previously detailed, practically begs to be weaponized for censorship."
H.R. 859: Informing Consumers about Smart Devices Act, which would require the disclosure of a camera or recording capability in certain internet-connected devices, passed 415-9
H.R. 1402: TICKET Act, which would require sellers of event tickets to disclose comprehensive information to consumers about ticket prices and related fees, passed 409-15
H.R. 1442: Youth Poisoning Protection Act, which would ban the sale of products with a high concentration of sodium nitrite to individuals, passed 378-42. We wrote about a previous version of this bill in 2023.
H.R. 973: Setting Consumer Standards for Lithium-Ion Batteries Act, which would establish standards for lithium-ion batteries, passed 365-42

House Regulation Cancellations

These bills are early in the legislative process. They must next pass in the Senate before they can become law.

H.J.Res. 60: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the National Park Service relating to “Glen Canyon National Recreation Area: Motor Vehicles” passed 219-205
H.J.Res. 78: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service relating to "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Species Status for the San Francisco Bay-Delta Distinct Population Segment of the Longfin Smelt" passed 216-195
H.J.Res. 87, H.J.Res. 88, and H.J.Res. 89; all resolutions disapproving of waivers the Biden Administration gave to California to have stricter environmental rules, passed 231-191, 264-194, and 225-196, respectively. These may not come up for a vote in the Senate since the Senate Parliamentarian agreed with the General Accountability Office that "waivers" are not regulations.

No Investigations for Democrats

In what is becoming a go-to move for Speaker Johnson, a change to House Rules was added to the rules for debate for specific bills this week. This time, the rules change precludes Democrats from being able to force investigations into the current administration. Previous rules changes preclude the House from using the primary method to cancel the President's tariffs and to force Rep. Luna to back down from an effort to allow proxy voting for new parents.

H.Res. 354. This was a procedural resolution with an incredibly long title; the link goes to the specific clause that changed the rules.

Senate Regulation Cancellations

The first two bills will become law which is to say the referenced regulations will be cancelled. The next step will be for the President to sign them. The third though, still has to pass in the House, so it's early in the process.

H.J.Res. 42: 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 for Appliance Standards: Certification Requirements, Labeling Requirements, and Enforcement Provisions for Certain Consumer Products and Commercial Equipment" passed 52-46
H.J.Res. 75: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy relating to "Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Commercial Refrigerators, Freezers, and Refrigerator-Freezers" passed 52-45
S.J.Res. 31: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to "Review of Final Rule Reclassification of Major Sources as Area Sources Under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act" passed 52-46

The Tariff Resolution, or The Importance of Being There

If Sens. McConnell and Van Hollen had been on the floor and voted the way they were expected to, this resolution would have passed. However, the Senate does not allow any kind of remote voting outside of committees. The resolution still would have had to get through the House, but now that will not happen.

S.J.Res. 49: A joint resolution terminating the national emergency declared to impose global tariffs failed 49-49.

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Hawaii Congressional Delegation

April 28, 2025, 5:30 p.m. — Vote

Motion to Invoke Cloture: David Perdue to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the U.S. to the People's Republic of China: David Perdue, of Georgia, to be Ambassador to the People's Republic of China

Cloture Motion Agreed to 64/27