Here is how our House members and New York’s two senators voted on select issues during the legislative week ending Dec. 6, 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.
Wildlife Conservation
The House on Dec. 3, by a 366-21 vote, passed the America’s Conservation Enhance Reauthorization Act (S. 3791), sponsored by Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), to reauthorize and modify, through 2030, a variety of wildlife conservation measures. A supporter, Rep. Robert Wittman (R-Va.), said the bill “signifies our commitment to preserving the natural beauty of our great nation while promoting sustainable practices for future generations.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Lahaina Heritage Designation
The House on Dec. 4, by a 378-25 vote, passed the Lahaina National Heritage Area Study Act (H.R. 8219), sponsored by Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), to require the Interior Department to study the possible creation of a Lahaina National Heritage Area on the island of Maui. Tokuda said the bill sought to “honor Lahaina’s past, while laying the foundation for a resilient and enduring future” following the August 2023 wildfires that killed more than 100 area residents.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Agency Strategic Reviews
The House on Dec. 5, by a 389-6, vote, passed the Federal Agency Performance Act (S. 709), sponsored by Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), to require federal government agencies to do regular strategic reviews of their performance goals that try to find ways of improving goal attainment. A supporter, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), said: “The bill makes commonsense updates to ensure agencies are providing services to the people as efficiently and as effectively as possible.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Jimmy Carter Post Office
The House on Dec. 5, by a 381-15 vote, passed a bill (H.R. 9600), sponsored by Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), to designate a post office in Plains, Ga., as the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Post Office. Bishop called the naming “a small but meaningful gesture we can make to honor two dedicated servant leaders who spent their lives working on behalf of others.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Regulatory Procedures
The House on Dec. 5, by a 208-196 vote, passed the Prove It Act (H.R. 7198), sponsored by Rep. Brad Finstad (R-Minn.), to require federal regulatory agencies proposing new rules to account for the indirect costs of the rules, and impose various procedural requirements for developing the rules. Finstad said the bill “gives small businesses a seat at the table during the regulatory process and shields them from the most heavy-handed, one-size-fits-all regulations.” An opponent, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), said it “would create uncertainty and chaos while giving big businesses a new tool to dismantle the regulatory process that protects public health and safety.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Matt Gaetz Report
The House on Dec. 5, by a 206-198 vote, agreed to a motion to refer a resolution (H. Res. 1608), sponsored by Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.), to the House Ethics Committee. Under the resolution, the committee would be ordered to release its report on its investigation of misconduct allegations brought against former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who recently withdrew from consideration to be Attorney General in the upcoming Trump administration.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Along with roll call votes this week, the House also passed these bills:
■ The Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act (H.R. 9151), to strengthen the Justice Department’s enforcement against trade-related crimes;
■ The Protecting Americans from Russian Litigation Act (H.R. 9563), to limit the availability of civil actions affected by United States sanctions;
■ The Shirley Chisholm Congressional Gold Medal Act (S. 4243); and the Disabled Veterans Housing Support Act (H.R. 7480), to require the exclusion of service-connected disability compensation when determining whether a person has low and moderate income, low income, or moderate income.
SENATE
Judicial Confirmations
The Senate on Dec. 2, by a 48-43 vote, confirmed the nomination of Anne Hwang to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Central California. Hwang has been a judge on California’s Los Angeles County superior court for six years; previously, she was a public defender in the Central District, and a private practice lawyer.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
The Senate on Dec. 2, by a 47-45 vote, confirmed the nomination of Brian Murphy to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts. A private practice lawyer at two Boston and Worcester law firms for the past 15 years, Murphy had previously been a public defender for three years.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
The Senate on Dec. 3, by a 50-48 vote, confirmed the nomination of Sparkle Sooknanan to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C. Sooknanan was a lawyer at the Jones Day law firm until 2021, when she joined the civil rights division of the Justice Department. An opponent, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), questioned Sooknanan’s ties to liberal “dark money” interest groups, and her “legal defense of so-called vulture funds as they cut to the front of the line of Puerto Rico’s creditors” in bankruptcy proceedings.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
The Senate on Dec. 3, by a 50-48 vote, confirmed the nomination of Catherine Henry to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Henry has been a public defender in the Philadelphia area for more than two and a half decades, most of that time as a lawyer for the Eastern District.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
The Senate on Dec. 3, by a 50-48 vote, confirmed the nomination of Gail Weilheimer to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. A county court judge in Pennsylvania for a decade, Weilheimer previously was a private practice lawyer and assistant district attorney in Philadelphia.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
The Senate on Dec. 4, by a 50-49 vote, confirmed the nomination of Anthony Brindisi to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York. Brindisi was a lawyer in Utica before and after spending 2019 and 2020 as a member of the House; he has also been a legislator in the New York State Assembly and, for the last two years, has been a judge on a New York court.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
The Senate on Dec. 4, by a 52-45 vote, confirmed the nomination of Elizabeth Coombe to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York. Coombe has been a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the district since 2003.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
The Senate on Dec. 5, by a 52-45 vote, confirmed the nomination of Sarah Davenport to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for New Mexico. Davenport has been in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the state for close to two decades, currently as a supervisor of criminal prosecutors.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
The Senate also passed:
■ The DHS Better Ballistic Body Armor Act (S. 4305), to improve the effectiveness of body armor issued to female agents and officers of the Homeland Security Department;
■ A resolution (S. Res. 74), condemning Iran’s state-sponsored persecution of the country’s Baha’i minority; and
■ The Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act (H.R. 5863), to provide tax relief for losses due to wildfires and the February 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
