Here is how our House members and New York’s two senators voted on select issues during the legislative week ending March 28, as reported by Targeted News Service. Click here for previous votes.
Michael Lawler (R), District 17 (including Philipstown)
Lawler, 38, 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, 42, 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.
Energy, Agriculture Research
The House on March 24, by a 372-35 vote, passed the DOE and USDA Interagency Research Act (H.R. 1326), sponsored by Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), to require the Energy and Agriculture Departments to collaborate on research and development efforts. Lucas said the bill “will help us address cross-cutting research challenges that will advance crop science, maximize carbon storage, enhance precision agriculture technologies and much more.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Industrial Materials and Emissions
The House on March 25, by a 350-73 vote, passed the Innovative Mitigation Partnerships for Asphalt and Concrete Technologies Act (H.R. 1534), sponsored by Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), to require the Energy Department to develop a seven-year program for promoting the manufacture of low-emissions cement, concrete, and asphalt products. Miller said that with the program, the federal government would “advance tangible environmental goals for construction material production without sacrificing material performance or, more importantly, economic growth.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Walk-in Freezers
The House on March 27, by a 203-182 vote, passed a resolution (H.J. Res. 24), sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), to disapprove of and void an Energy Department rule, issued in December, establishing efficiency standards for walk-in coolers and freezers. Bice said the rule “will impose significant financial burdens on small businesses, which will have to absorb major upgrade costs to meet these new aggressive standards.” A resolution opponent, Rep. Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.), said: “Economists predict these standards would save American taxpayers billions of dollars.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Regulating Commercial Freezers
The House on March 27, by a 214-193 vote, passed a resolution (H.J. Res. 75), sponsored by Rep. Craig Goldman (R-Texas), that would nullify and void an Energy Department rule issued in January that set out energy efficiency standards for commercial refrigeration products. Goldman cited an estimated $8 billion cost for complying with the rule, which he said could threaten food safety by failing to account for how food providers actually use their refrigerators. A bill opponent, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), said the rule “would save businesses $4.6 billion over 30 years,” and voiding it would strip businesses of options to reduce their energy costs.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Amending College Security Bill
The House on March 27, by a 214-199 vote, rejected a substitute amendment sponsored by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), to the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions Act (H.R. 1048). The amendment would have modified the bill’s reporting requirements and penalties for not complying with its provisions and mandated a negotiated rulemaking process for implementation. Scott said the amendment would support the goal of protecting against foreign influence “while supporting international partnerships that enhance groundbreaking scientific research, build relationships across cultures, and increase our national competitiveness.” An opponent, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), cited the amendment’s “terrible carve-outs that provide gaping loopholes for cunning adversaries” and a lack of financial penalties for non-compliance.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted no
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Colleges and Foreign Threats
The House on March 27, by a 241-169 vote, passed the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions Act (H.R. 1048), sponsored by Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-Wash.), to bar colleges and universities from making contracts or receiving gifts from China, Russia and other countries, or foreign groups, labeled as being national security concerns for the U.S. Baumgartner said of the need for the bill: “Every dollar from an adversarial nation comes with strings attached, expectations about what gets taught, which research gets funded, and who gets hired or silenced.” An opponent, Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), said it “would burden our higher education institutions and federal agencies with massive amounts of reporting of a gift of any value from foreign countries and will cast a chilling effect disproportionately on the Asian-American academic community.”
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 Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act (H.R. 730), to coordinate federal research and development efforts focused on modernizing mathematics in STEM education through mathematical and statistical modeling;
■ The Commercial Remote Sensing Amendment Act (H.R. 1325), to provide for transparent licensing of commercial remote sensing systems; and
■ The DOE and NASA Interagency Research Coordination Act (H.R. 1368), to provide for Department of Energy and National Aeronautics and Space Administration research and development coordination.
SENATE
Navy Secretary
The Senate on March 24, by a 62-30 vote, confirmed the nomination of John Phelan to be Navy secretary. Phelan founded and chaired the Rugger Management investment business and has spent a career in various investment and financial roles.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
State Department
The Senate on March 24, by a 60-31 vote, confirmed the nomination of Christopher Landau to be deputy secretary of state. Landau was ambassador to Mexico for the last 18 months of the first Trump administration; previously, he was a lawyer, specializing in appeals, at two law firms starting in 1993.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Science and Technology
The Senate on March 25, by a 74-25 vote, confirmed the nomination of Michael Kratsios to direct the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Kratsios was the first Trump administration’s chief technology officer and previously was an executive at the Thiel Capital investment firm.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
NIH Director
The Senate on March 25, by a 53-47 vote, confirmed the nomination of Jay Bhattacharya to be Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Bhattacharya has been a professor of economics and health policy at Stanford University since 2001 and has been a study reviewer for NIH panels.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
FDA Commissioner
The Senate on March 25, by a 56-44 vote, confirmed the nomination of Marty Makary to be Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner. Makary is a gastrointestinal surgeon and health policy professor at Johns Hopkins, and a researcher and author.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Managing Federal Budget
The Senate on March 26, by a 53-45 vote, confirmed the nomination of Dan Bishop to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Bishop was a House member, representing a North Carolina district, from fall 2019 to the start of 2025. He had been a lawyer and local and state-level politician in the state for several decades previously. An opponent, Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), cited Bishop’s “willingness to break the law, especially when it comes to Congress’s power of the purse. He supports the administration’s efforts to illegally withhold funding that Congress has passed into law.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Legal Policy Head
The Senate on March 26, by a 52-46 vote, confirmed the nomination of Aaron Reitz to be Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy. Reitz was chief of staff for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), for the past two years, and previously was in the Texas Attorney General’s office and a private practice lawyer in Austin. Cruz said Reitz “possesses the vision, the experience, and the leadership needed to excel in this role, and I have no doubt that he will lead the office with the same dedication he has shown throughout his career.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Treasury Deputy Secretary
The Senate on March 26, by a 53-43 vote, confirmed the nomination of Michael Faulkender to be deputy secretary of the Treasury. Faulkender, most recently a finance professor at the University of Maryland, was a policy official at the Treasury Department in 2019 and 2020. A supporter, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), said Faulkender’s “depth of experience in the public and private sector, in addition to his academic credentials, makes him a highly qualified choice.” An opponent, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), said that during consideration of his nomination, Faulkender had been “dodging nearly all the tough questions and misrepresenting his role in what is going on in the Trump administration” and what Wyden claimed was a plan to kick “tens of millions of Americans off their health insurance.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Regulating Decentralized Finance
The Senate on March 26, by a 70-28 vote, passed a resolution (H.J. Res. 25), sponsored by Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio), to disapprove of and void an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rule regulating the computer infrastructure that enables decentralized finance systems, including cryptocurrencies.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Bank Overdraft Charges
The Senate on March 27, by a 52-48 vote, passed a resolution (S.J. Res. 18), sponsored by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), to disapprove of and void a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule issued in December that regulated account overdraft charges levied on customers by very large banks. Scott said some people who have minimal savings accept such overdraft charges, instead of payday loans or credit card charges, when paying bills and capping overdraft charges means “eliminating the possibility of people working paycheck to paycheck to make the decision — to make the decision — to continue to use their resources in the most effective way.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
VA Deputy Secretary
The Senate on March 27, by a 51-45 vote, confirmed the nomination of Paul Lawrence to be deputy secretary at the Veterans Affairs Department. Lawrence was the VA’s undersecretary for benefits for the last three years of the first Trump administration, following three decades as a business consultant and executive, and two-and-a-half years as an Army captain in the early 1980s.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) did not vote
