Here is how our House members and New York’s two senators voted on select issues during the legislative week ending Dec. 24, 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.
Continuing Appropriations
The House on Dec. 20, by a 366-34 vote, passed the American Relief Act (H.R. 10545), sponsored by Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.). The bill would extend government funding to March 14, provide $110 billion for disaster recovery efforts and agriculture aid and extend the farm bill by one year, through fiscal 2025. Cole said: “Congress has a responsibility to keep the government open and operating for the American people. The alternative, a government shutdown, would be devastating to our national defense and our constituents, and would be a grave mistake.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Along with this week’s roll call votes, the House also passed:
■ The Research Security and Accountability in DHS Act (H.R. 9748), to require the Homeland Security Department to develop a policy and process to safeguard research and development from unauthorized access to or disclosure of sensitive information in research and development acquisitions; and
■ The TSA Commuting Fairness Act (H.R. 8662), to reduce commuting burdens on Transportation Security Administration employees.
SENATE
Judicial Confirmations
The Senate on Dec. 20, by a 49-47 vote, confirmed the nomination of Benjamin Cheeks to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Cheeks has been a magistrate judge on the district court for a half-year, after a decade as a private practice criminal defense lawyer in San Diego and time as a government attorney in the Southern District and in New York.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
The Senate on Dec. 20, by a 49-47 vote, confirmed the nomination of Serena Murillo to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. A judge on California’s Los Angeles County Superior Court for the past 9 years, Murillo was previously a deputy district attorney in the county for 17 years.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Changing Social Security Benefits
The Senate on Dec. 20, by a 64-32 vote, rejected a substitute amendment sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82). The amendment would have reduced new benefits paid to retirees under the bill, in part by creating a transition period classification for new retirees starting in 2025. Cruz said: “Let’s support our cops and firefighters and teachers, but let’s also not throw our seniors down the river” by weakening the finances of the overall Social Security program. An opponent, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), said adding the amendment would amount to killing the bill.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Implementing Social Security Bill
The Senate on Dec. 20, by a 62-34 vote, rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), to the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82). The amendment would have put off implementation of the bill until it had been determined that its changes to Social Security would not harm the actuarial balance of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and Federal Disability Insurance Trust. Crapo said: “This bill will raise the insolvency of the Social Security trust fund and cost our hard-working Social Security recipients to lose $200 billion in Social Security benefits.” An opponent, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), said the amendment showed hypocrisy by Republicans in Congress who are “vowing to use every budget gimmick under the sun next year to avoid paying for their tax bill” that would primarily benefit the wealthy.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Social Security Benefits
The Senate on Dec. 20, by a 76-20 vote, 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. A supporter, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), called the bill “very important for our retired teachers and firefighters and postal workers and police officers and so many other public servants who deserve their full Social Security benefits.” An opponent, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), said it “is simply not fair to the average private sector worker who spends their entire career paying Social Security taxes, earning similar or lower pay than the government workers but receives less Social Security benefit per dollar paid in.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Continuing Appropriations
The Senate on Dec. 20, by an 85-11 vote, passed the American Relief Act (H.R. 10545), sponsored by Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.). The bill would extend government funding to March 14, provide $110 billion for disaster recovery efforts and agriculture aid, and extend the farm bill by one year, through fiscal 2025. A supporter, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), said of the need to avoid a government shutdown: “The government is supposed to be a service for the American people, and you can’t serve the American people when the government isn’t operating.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
The Senate also passed:
■ The Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act 2.0 (H.R. 3391), to extend the Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Program at the National Institutes of Health;
■ The Recognizing the Importance of Critical Minerals in Healthcare Act (H.R. 6395), to require the Interior Department to include the Department of Health and Human Services in consultations regarding designations of critical minerals, elements, substances, and materials;
■ A bill (S. 5639), to extend the authority for the protection of certain facilities and assets from unmanned aircraft;
■ The Resiliency for Ranching and Natural Conservation Health Act (S. 1553), to improve the management of grazing permits and leases; and
■ The Taxpayer Resources Used in Emergencies Accountability Act (S. 5098), to require certain agencies to develop plans for internal control in an emergency or crisis.
