Here is how our House members and New York’s two senators voted on select issues during the legislative weeks ending July 18, as reported by Targeted News Service. Click here for previous votes.
Michael Lawler (R), District 17 (including Philipstown)
Lawler, 39, 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, 43, 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.
Cybersecurity of Mobile Networks
The House on July 14, by a 360-10 vote, passed the Understanding Cybersecurity of Mobile Networks Act (H.R. 1709), sponsored by Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), to require a report on cybersecurity and mobile telecommunications networks by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Landsman said the report would be “an important step toward understanding and improving our cybersecurity for the safety and protection of all Americans.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Artificial Intelligence and Regulation
The House on July 14, by a 336-36 vote, passed the Consumer Safety Technology Act (H.R. 1770), sponsored by Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.), to require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to study its potential use of artificial intelligence, as well as ways to use blockchain technology and concerns involving digital tokens. Soto said the bill “could help make the CPSC more efficient by the use of this technology, and it is critical that we protect consumers.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Communications Networks
The House on July 15, by a 380-33 vote, passed the Communications Security Act (H.R. 1717), sponsored by Rep. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), to authorize the Federal Communications Commission to establish the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council, which advises the FCC on the security and reliability of communications networks. Menendez said the bill would ensure the continuation of its work to improve “the reliability, availability, and performance of our communications networks during natural disasters, terrorist attacks and cybersecurity attacks.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Blockchain Digital Assets
The House on July 17, by a 294-134 vote, passed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (H.R. 3633), sponsored by Rep. J. French Hill (R-Ark.), to assign the Commodity Futures Trading Commission responsibility for most regulation of markets in digital commodities that utilize blockchains and establish various regulatory requirements for digital commodity markets.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Regulating Cryptocurrency Stablecoins
The House on July 17, by a 308-122 vote, passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (S. 1582), sponsored by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.). The bill outlines standards for federal regulation of stablecoins, which are digital cryptocurrencies intended to have a relatively static value by tying them to another asset, such as gold or the dollar.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Central Bank Digital Currencies
The House on July 17, by a 219-210 vote, passed the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act (H.R. 1919), sponsored by Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), to bar Federal Reserve banks from selling products or services directly to individuals, and bar them from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Finalizing Rescissions Act
The House on July 18, by a 216-213 vote, passed a resolution (H. Res. 590), sponsored by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.). The resolution stipulated that its passage would signify that the House, without holding a separate roll call vote, had concurred in the Senate amendment to the Rescissions Act (H.R. 4).
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Foreign HIV Education Programs
The House on July 18, by a 326-104 vote, rejected an amendment sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 4016), that would have eliminated funding for HIV prevention education efforts in foreign countries.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted no
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Aid to Ukraine
The House on July 18, by a 353-76 vote, rejected an amendment sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 4016), that would have eliminated funding for aid to Ukraine.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted no
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Aid for Lebanon Military
The House on July 18, by a 355-76 vote, rejected an amendment sponsored by Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 4016), that would have eliminated funding for Lebanon’s military.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted no
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
2026 Military Budget
The House on July 18, by a 221-209 vote, passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 4016), sponsored by Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), to provide $832 billion of fiscal 2026 funding for the military, including increases in spending on building ships, and a so-called Golden Dome for America domestic missile defense effort. Calvert said the bill “champions America’s military superiority in a variety of ways,” including spending on programs to counter drug trafficking, modernizing nuclear weapons, and new types of aircraft. An opponent, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), criticized the Golden Dome proposal as incomplete, and said: “This bill limits the ability of service personnel and their families to receive the reproductive healthcare they deserve.”
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 Precision Agriculture Satellite Connectivity Act (H.R. 1618), to require the Federal Communications Commission to review certain rules of the commission and develop recommendations for rule changes to promote precision agriculture;
■ The Sinkhole Mapping Act (H.R. 900), to direct the U.S. Geological Survey to establish a program to map zones that are at greater risk of sinkhole formation; and
■ The NTIA Policy and Cybersecurity Coordination Act (H.R. 1766), to establish the Office of Policy Development and Cybersecurity.
SENATE
Appeals Court Judge
The Senate on July 14, by a 46-42 vote, confirmed the nomination of Whitney Hermandorfer to be a judge on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Hermandorfer was most recently a strategic litigation director for Tennessee’s attorney general; she has clerked for two Supreme Court justices and two federal courts in Washington, D.C. A supporter, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), said Hermandorfer “will show respect for the rule of law. She will show respect for the Constitution as it is written. She will not be a judge who will try to rewrite it.” An opponent, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), questioned her lack of experience, particularly in trial cases, and said she had shown “a level of partisanship and deference to this president that is unacceptable.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Overseeing Financial Companies
The Senate on July 15, by a 69-30 vote, confirmed the nomination of Luke Pettit to be the Treasury Department’s Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions. For the past three years, Pettit had been a policy advisor to Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.). Previously, he was a Federal Reserve staffer, economist on the Senate Banking Committee, and employee at the Bridgewater Associates hedge fund.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Military Official
The Senate on July 15, by a 52-46 vote, confirmed the nomination of Anthony Tata to be the Defense Department’s Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness. Tata was an Army officer for nearly three decades, then a public school official, North Carolina’s Transportation Secretary, and a policy official at Defense during the first Trump administration. An opponent, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), called disqualifying Tata’s “history of controversial and divisive statements” against politicians and others with whom Tata has political disagreements.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Citizenship and Immigration
The Senate on July 15, by a 52-47 vote, confirmed the nomination of Joseph Edlow to be director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at Homeland Security. Edlow, a lawyer, acting director, and deputy director for policy at the agency in the second half of the first Trump administration, had been at the Justice Department, a lawyer in the House, and, for most of the Obama administration, was an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lawyer. Since 2021, he has had his own consultancy, Edlow Group.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
International Disaster Aid
The Senate on July 16, by a 50-49 vote, rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Christopher Coons (D-Del.), to the Rescissions Act (H.R. 4) that would have removed $496 million for international disaster aid from the bill. Coons said the aid funding “doesn’t just save lives in countries around the world when they suffer earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and natural disasters. It strengthens our standing, brings us closer to our allies, and helps us compete with China.” An amendment opponent, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), said that even with the removed $496 million, which he said has frequently gone to questionable causes, there would still be more than $6 billion of unobligated aid funding available.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Public Broadcasting
The Senate on July 16, by a 52-47 vote, rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), to the Rescissions Act (H.R. 4) that would have eliminated the bill’s cancellation of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Baldwin said: “Eliminating this funding would be devastating for local public radio and television stations. It would reduce or eliminate access to educational programming, local news, and lifesaving alerts during emergencies and natural disasters.” An amendment opponent, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), said: “If you want to watch leftwing propaganda, turn on MSNBC, but the taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize it.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Aid to Africa
The Senate on July 16, by a 51-48 vote, rejected a motion sponsored by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), to recommit the Rescissions Act (H.R. 4) to the Senate Appropriations Committee with instructions to restore funding to African countries under the State Department’s Economic Support Fund. Warner said: “Rescinding these economic support and development funds is harmful today, but it is, in the long run, a clear and avoidable catastrophe, one that mortgages our strategic interests, our credibility, and our security.” A motion opponent, Sen. Eric Schmitt, (R-Mo.), said “the funding we are rescinding in this package will have no bearing on the safety, security or prosperity of the American people.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Global Health Programs
The Senate on July 16, by a 51-46 vote, rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), to the Rescissions Act (H.R. 4) that would have reduced the amount of cancelled funding for global health programs by $434 million. Schiff said the amendment was needed “to ensure that funding for HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and maternal health and nutrition programs remain.” An opponent, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), said the bill’s cuts targeted “egregious waste like $7.4 million for a curriculum that teaches practitioners about environmental racism and DEI.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Children’s Programs on PBS
The Senate on July 16, by a 50-47 vote, rejected a motion sponsored by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), to recommit the Rescissions Act (H.R. 4) to the Senate Appropriations Committee with instructions to restore funding for children’s educational programs broadcast on public television stations. Markey said the bill’s cuts “will cause stations that deliver this essential children’s programming to go dark. These cuts will be especially devastating to millions of children and families in rural and underserved and low-income communities that don’t have access to a high-speed network.” A motion opponent, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), said: “American taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize programming that glorifies radical gender ideology at schools or encourages children to defund the police.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Aid to Europe, Asia
The Senate on July 17, by a 50-49 vote, ejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), to the Rescissions Act (H.R. 4) that would have reduced the amount of cancelled funding for aid to European and Asian countries by $200 million. Shaheen said: “Now is not the time to cut funds that have rebuilt Ukraine’s energy grid, sustained Ukraine’s ability to export agricultural goods and supported efforts to keep the Ukrainian government accountable to its anti-corruption commitments and reform efforts.” An amendment opponent, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), said there would still be abundant aid to Ukraine, and that the aid fund had been used for dubious programs.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Rescinding Government Funding
The Senate on July 17, by a 51-48 vote, passed the Rescissions Act (H.R. 4), sponsored by Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), to withdraw $9.4 billion of unobligated funding for various government agencies, including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and about a dozen State Department programs. A supporter, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), called the bill a step toward reducing wasteful deficit spending and asserting Congressional control over the budget, rather than having the government “writing checks to leftwing propaganda outlets and spending billions overseas on countries that hate us.” An opponent, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), said agreeing to President Trump’s requested spending withdrawals would be a retreat from Congressional budget authority, and would cause harm by reducing support for vital emergency broadcast and public health measures.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
The Senate also passed the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act (S. 283), to require a standard methodology for identifying the country of origin of seafood to support enforcement against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
