Here is how our House members and New York’s two senators voted on select issues during the legislative week ending Feb. 7, 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.
Nutria Control
The House on Feb. 4, by a 361-56 vote, passed the Nutria Eradication and Control Reauthorization Act (H.R. 776), sponsored by Rep. Josh Harder (D-Calif.), to reauthorize through fiscal 2030 federal nutria programs. Harder said nutria infestations “are destroying our levees, harming local farmland, and infecting our very drinking water.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Regulating Fentanyl-Like Drugs
The House on Feb. 6, by a 312-108 vote, passed the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act (H.R. 27), sponsored by Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), to register fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I controlled substances, with no medical value, a high danger of being abused and with accordingly strict legal penalties. Griffith said making the Schedule I classification “removes the incentive for the cartels to traffic these analogues or fentanyl-related substance drugs into our country.” A bill opponent, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), said it was too limited, and called for a broader public health approach that addresses “prevention, treatment, and recovery to help stop overdose deaths.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Along with roll call votes this week, the House also passed these measures:
■ The Emergency Wildfire Fighting Technology Act (H.R. 836), to require the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, and the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an evaluation with respect to the use of the container aerial firefighting system;
■ The Eastern Band of Cherokee Historic Lands Reacquisition Act (H.R. 226), to take certain federal lands in Tennessee into trust for the benefit of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; and
■ The 9/11 Memorial and Museum Act (H.R. 835), to provide a one-time grant for the operation, security and maintenance of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center.
SENATE
Energy Secretary
The Senate on Feb. 3, by a 59-38 vote, confirmed the nomination of Christopher Wright to be Energy Secretary. Wright has been the founder and CEO of Liberty Energy, an oil and natural gas drilling service company, since 2011; he was also on the board of a Federal Reserve Bank regional branch from 2020 to 2024. A supporter, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), said that, if confirmed, Wright would put the Energy Department “back to work on prioritizing energy abundance, technological innovation, and exports that strengthen our position on the global stage rather than weaken it.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Veterans Affairs
The Senate on Feb. 4, by a 77-23 vote, confirmed the nomination of Doug Collins to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Collins was a member of the House, representing a Georgia district, from 2013 through 2020; he has been in the Air Force Reserve since 2002. A supporter, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), said Collins “knows firsthand service in the uniform, and he knows the benefits and challenges that veterans face and the challenges their families face.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Attorney General
The Senate on Feb. 4, by a 54-46 vote, confirmed the nomination of Pam Bondi to be Attorney General. Bondi was Florida’s attorney general from 2011 through 2018, and previously was a county-level prosecutor. Since 2019, she has been a lobbyist, consultant, and most recently an official at the America First Policy Institute. A supporter, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), called Bondi “ready and able to serve our country, and she will work with President Trump to restore faith in the Justice Department.” An opponent, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), said: “It appears that she is prepared to break with bipartisan tradition when it comes to a nonpartisan Department of Justice.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Housing and Urban Development
The Senate on Feb. 5, by a 55-44 vote, confirmed the nomination of Eric Turner to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Turner was a National Football League player for nine years; he was a Texas state representative for four years, head of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during the first Trump administration, and most recently was at the America First Policy Institute. A supporter, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), said Turner would help “support long-term housing and revitalization policies to keep our communities, our states, and our nation strong.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Office of Management and Budget
The Senate on Feb. 6, by a 53-47 vote, confirmed the nomination of Russell Vought to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Vought, a longtime aide to Republicans in Congress, directed the OMB from early 2019 to the end of Donald Trump’s first term, then was president of the Center for Renewing America from 2021 to this January. A supporter, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), said: “In addition to reining in spending, Mr. Vought understands the need to cut red tape.” An opponent, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), said: “The future of our hospitals and schools and food banks should not be in the hands of an ideologue who substitutes the rule of law for his own ultraright ideology.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
The Senate also passed a resolution (S. Res. 64), honoring the memory of the victims of the Jan. 29 collision in Washington, D.C., between American Airlines Flight 5342 and U.S. Army Aviation Brigade Priority Air Transport 25.
