Here is how our House members and New York’s two senators voted on select issues during the legislative week ending Nov. 15, as reported by Targeted News Service. Click here for previous votes.
Michael Lawler (R), District 17 (including Philipstown)
Lawler, 37, was elected to Congress in 2022 and re-elected in 2024. From 2021 to 2022, he was a Republican member of the state Assembly from the 97th district in Rockland County. A graduate of Suffern High School, he holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from Manhattan College. He is a former director of the state Republican Party and former deputy supervisor of Orangetown.
Pat Ryan (D), District 18 (including Beacon)
Ryan, 41, was elected to Congress in 2022 and re-elected in 2024. Formerly the county executive of Ulster, he grew up in Kingston and holds a bachelor’s degree in international politics from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a master’s degree in security studies from Georgetown. Ryan served in the U.S. Army as a combat intelligence officer from 2004 to 2009, including two tours in Iraq. He is also a former technology executive.
Social Security Benefits
The House on Nov. 12, by a 327-75 vote (with one present) passed the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), sponsored by Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) to repeal measures that reduce Social Security benefits for people who also receive a government pension, or who receive pension or disability funds from an employer that didn’t withhold Social Security taxes for those funds. Graves said the change was a way to end “40 years of treating people differently, discriminating against a certain set of workers” because they worked for the government. An opponent, Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), said that by cutting funding available to pay Social Security benefits to the impoverished, the bill would “end up hurting the very people we are sworn to serve, the very people that Social Security was meant to protect.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Social Security and Government Workers
The House on Nov. 12, by a 225-175 vote, rejected the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act (H.R. 5342), sponsored by Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas). The bill would have changed the funding formula, under Social Security’s windfall elimination provision, for determining the amount of benefits paid to people with certain types of employment histories, mainly in government. Those people would generally receive more benefits. Arrington said the provision “has shortchanged roughly 2 million hardworking public servants,” and the bill would fix that inequity without compromising the financial integrity of the Social Security trust fund. An opponent, Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), said that by reducing the pool of money available for other Social Security recipients, it would hurt the 5 million Americans who get less than poverty-level benefits.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) vote no
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Taxes and Terrorism
The House on Nov. 12, by a 256-145 vote, rejected the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act (H.R. 9495), sponsored by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.). The bill would have postponed tax filing deadlines and fines for Americans who are or have been held hostage or otherwise detained in foreign countries and removed tax-exempt status for organizations deemed to be supporting terrorism. Tenney said: “No American who has suffered the injustice of wrongful detention or hostage-taking by our adversaries should return home to face penalties and interest from their own government.” A bill opponent, Rep. Donald Beyer (D-Va.), said the tax exemption provision would wrongly give the executive branch “sweeping, unilateral authority to designate nonprofits as terror-supporting organizations and strip them of their tax-exempt status with no due process and without sufficient evidence.” A two-thirds vote was required for approval.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Defining Critical Minerals
The House on Nov. 14, by a 245-155 vote, passed the Critical Mineral Consistency Act (H.R. 8446), sponsored by Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), to include on the U.S. Geological Survey’s list of critical minerals all minerals that are on the Energy Department’s list. Ciscomani said the absence of minerals such as copper, silicon and fluorine from the Geological Survey’s list, although they are on Energy’s list, was “confusing to mineral producers and makes it unclear which minerals are critical to the United States’ mission” of supply security. A bill opponent, Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), said harmonizing the two lists would be a “multimillion-dollar giveaway to multinational corporations that are seeking to mine public lands.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Regulating Geothermal Energy
The House on Nov. 14, by a 225-181 vote, passed the Harnessing Energy At Thermal Sources Act (H.R. 7409), sponsored by Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.). The bill would remove various federal regulatory requirements for geothermal energy development on private and state lands. Kim said the removal “will lower costs for Americans, reduce emissions, protect our national security, and expand our energy portfolio.” An opponent, Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), said removing permitting measures would wrongly allow private companies to develop energy without a full process for reviewing potential environmental impacts and community impacts on the surrounding area and potentially hold them accountable for those impacts.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
SENATE
Judicial Confirmations
The Senate on Nov. 12, by a 51-44 vote, confirmed the nomination of April Perry to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. A prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the district from 2004 to 2017, Perry has since been a corporate lawyer and a Cook County attorney.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
The Senate on Nov. 13, by a 50-46 vote, confirmed the nomination of Jonathan Hawley to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. A magistrate judge in the district for the past decade, Hawley was previously a district public defender.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Government Ethics
The Senate confirmed the nomination of David Huitema to be director of the Office of Government Ethics for a 5-year term. Huitema has been an ethics official at the State Department since 2006, handling issues including international pipelines, telecommunications and Cuba policy.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Tax Court Judge
The Senate on Nov. 14, by a 59-37 vote, confirmed the nomination of Cathy Fung to be a judge on the U.S. Tax Court for a 15-year term. Fung has been an Internal Revenue Service attorney, in various roles, since 2009.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
