Here is how New York’s two senators voted on select issues during the legislative week ending Aug. 1, as reported by Targeted News Service. The House was not in session. Click here for previous votes.
Regulating Nuclear Power
The Senate on July 28, by a 50-39 vote, confirmed the nomination of David Wright to be a commissioner on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a five-year term ending in the middle of 2030. Wright has been an NRC commissioner since mid-2018, and its chairman since this January. An opponent, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), said the Energy Department and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have been interfering with the NRC’s independence, and a no vote was needed “to protect an important agency because it is essential to accomplishing a key bipartisan goal to renew America’s nuclear industry safely and productively.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) did not vote
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Military General Counsel
The Senate on July 29, by a 50-47 vote, confirmed the nomination of Earl Matthews to be General Counsel at the Defense Department. A White House staffer specializing in military policy for the first Trump administration, Matthews has been in a variety of lawyer roles in intelligence agencies and the military.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Trade Promotion
The Senate on July 29, by a 51-47 vote, confirmed the nomination of William Kimmitt to be the Commerce Department’s Under Secretary for International Trade. A current partner at the Kirkland & Ellis law firm, specializing in commercial law and trade, Kimmitt was a senior advisor to the U.S. trade representative in the first Trump administration.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
CDC Director
The Senate on July 29, by a 51-47 vote, confirmed the nomination of Susan Monarez to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently acting director at the CDC, after being deputy director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Health in 2023 and 2024, Monarez had previously been a White House staffer, and a manager and researcher at various federal agencies.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Managing VA Cemeteries
The Senate on July 29, by a 54-44 vote, confirmed the nomination of Sam Brown to be Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs at the Veterans Affairs Department. A former Army officer who was badly wounded in Afghanistan in 2008, Brown has since operated a pharmaceutical business in Nevada and ran for a Senate seat in the state last year.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Appeals Court Judge
The Senate on July 29, by a 50-49 vote, confirmed the nomination of Emil J. Bove III to be a judge on the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Bove was a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for nine years ending in 2021, then a defense attorney, including for Donald Trump, and has been a senior Justice Department attorney for the last half-year. A supporter, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), said Bove “has a strong legal background and has served his country honorably. I believe he will be diligent, capable, and a fair jurist.” An opponent, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), said Bove was nominated for his loyalty to President Trump, “not because of his legal accomplishments or his dedication to a conservative method of constitutional interpretation.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Counsel for Justice Department
The Senate on July 30, by a 53-45 vote, confirmed the nomination of Thomas Elliot Gaiser to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Gaiser had been Ohio Solicitor General since late 2023, after time as a lawyer at the Jones Day and Boyden Gray firms, and as a Supreme Court clerk.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Counterterrorism Director
The Senate on July 30, by a 52-44 vote, confirmed the nomination of Joe Kent to direct the National Counterterrorism Center of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Kent was an Army and CIA officer for two decades; he ran for a Congressional seat in a Washington district in 2022 and 2024. A supporter, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), said Kent “has committed to returning the National Counterterrorism Center to its statutory mission of integrating threat intelligence from foreign terrorist organizations and to getting out of purely domestic activities.” An opponent, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), called Kent “a conspiracy theorist who espouses white supremacist views and is patently unqualified for this important role in just about every way imaginable.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Selling Weapons to Israel
The Senate on July 30, by a 70-27 vote, rejected a motion to discharge from the Foreign Relations Committee a resolution (S.J. Res. 41), sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (ID-Vt.), that would have barred the proposed sale of 20,000 automatic carbine rifles to Israel for use by its national police. Sanders said that when “Israeli soldiers are shooting civilians trying to get food aid on a near-daily basis, when extremist settlers are pushing Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank and when Gaza is witnessing mass starvation as a result of Israeli government policy, the United States should not and must not be providing more weapons to enable these atrocities.” A resolution opponent, Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), said cancelling the sale “would abandon America’s closest ally in the Middle East.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Agriculture Department Lawyer
The Senate on July 31, by a 52-45 vote, confirmed the nomination of Tyler Clarkson to be General Counsel at the Agriculture Department. Clarkson had been a lawyer at Ginkgo Bioworks, a biotechnology company; he was a senior Agriculture lawyer in the first Trump administration, after four years as a lawyer at a Washington, D.C., firm.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
U.S. Marshals
The Senate on July 31, by a 59-39 vote, confirmed the nomination of Gadyaces Serralta to direct the U.S. Marshals Service. Serralta had been the U.S. marshal for southern Florida since August 2018, following close to three full decades as a police officer and official in several different police departments in Florida.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
VA Inspector General
The Senate on July 31, by a 53-45 vote, confirmed the nomination of Cheryl Mason to be Inspector General at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Department. Mason was for five years on a judicial board that heard veterans’ appeals of VA disability benefits rulings, and most recently was a senior advisor to the VA’s secretary. An opponent, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), claimed Mason was beholden to President Trump and VA Secretary Doug Collins as “part and parcel of the policies and actions of this administration that have been so dangerous and damaging to the VA in these past months.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Intelligence Official
The Senate on July 31, by a 53-44 vote, confirmed the nomination of Matthew Kozma to be Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis at the Homeland Security Department. A senior manager at Intel for the last three years, Kozma was a chief information officer for intelligence during the first Trump administration.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Employment Discrimination
The Senate on July 31, by a 52-45 vote, confirmed the nomination of Andrea Lucas to be a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for a term ending in mid-2030. Lucas has been on the Commission since 2020, and its acting chair since this January. She was a labor and employment lawyer in Washington, D.C., for nearly a decade previously.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
The Senate, along with its roll call votes, also passed these measures:
■ A bill (S.1020), to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend the time period during which licensees are required to commence construction of certain hydropower projects;
■ The Chief Herbert D. Proffitt Act (S. 911), to include certain retired law enforcement officers in the public safety officers’ death benefits program; and
■ A resolution (S. Res. 344), observing the 20th anniversary of the date on which Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast and recognizing the progress of efforts to rebuild the affected Gulf Coast region.
