Along with roll call votes this week, the House also passed: the Promoting United Government Efforts to Save Our Sound Act (H.R. 2247), to provide assistance for programs and activities to protect the water quality of Puget Sound; the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers for Veterans Therapy Act (H.R. 4305), to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program on dog training therapy; and the Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act (H.R. 3830), to provide taxpayers with an improved understanding of government programs through the disclosure of cost, performance, and areas of duplication among them.

HOUSE VOTES

ESTUARY PROTECTION: The House has passed the Protect and Restore America’s Estuaries Act (H.R. 4044), sponsored by Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., to modify and reauthorize through fiscal 2026 the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Estuary Program. Malinowski cited several program improvements, including increasing funding for protection efforts, changes to estuary management plans to account for possible recurring extreme weather events, and plans to “develop and implement strategies to increase local awareness about the ecological health and water quality of estuaries.” The vote, on Feb. 5, was 355 yeas to 62 nays.
YEAS: Chellie Pingree, D-1st District; Jared Golden, D-2nd District

RESTORING THE GREAT LAKES: The House has passed the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act (H.R. 4031), sponsored by Rep. David P. Joyce, R-Ohio, to reauthorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative through fiscal 2026. Joyce said sustaining the Initiative would continue vital environmental restoration and preservation efforts that “protect the invaluable natural resource and economic powerhouse that is the Great Lakes system” by preventing algae blooms, invasive species such as the Asian carp, and other damage to the Great Lakes region. The vote, on Feb. 5, was 373 yeas to 45 nays.
YEAS: Pingree, Golden

POSTAL SERVICE HEALTH BENEFITS: The House has passed the USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382), sponsored by Rep. Peter A. DeFazio, D-Ore., to repeal a requirement for the U.S. Postal Service to prefund health benefits for its retired employees. DeFazio said repealing the extraordinary and unique financial burden “will help relieve pressure on the Postal Service and on rates. And I think there are a lot of Americans who would like not to see the postal rates keep going up.” A bill opponent, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said its “elimination of the prefunding requirement without instituting any reforms to tackle its fiscal status” would mean failing to resolve the Postal Service’s retiree health benefits funding problem. The vote, on Feb. 5, was 309 yeas to 106 nays.
YEAS: Pingree, Golden

SPEAKER PELOSI RESOLUTION: The House has tabled a resolution (H. Res. 832), sponsored by Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, that would have disapproved of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., tearing up a copy of President Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, as it was ending. The vote to table, on Feb. 6, was 224 yeas to 193 nays.
YEAS: Pingree, Golden

CHANGING LABOR LAWS: The House has passed the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (H.R. 2474), sponsored by Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va. The bill would make a variety of changes to labor laws with the general intent of expanding power for workers, including increased penalties for labor law violations, expanding the ability to bring civil lawsuits that claim labor law violations, and limiting the ability for employers to classify employees as exempt from labor law protections. Scott said the bill’s “sensible reforms to protect and strengthen workers’ rights” would be the greatest improvement in labor laws in 80 years. An opponent, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said it was “all about serving the interests of union bosses at the expense of workers and business owners.” The vote, on Feb. 6, was 224 yeas to 194 nays.
YEAS: Pingree, Golden

MEDICAID RESOLUTION: The House has passed a resolution (H. Res. 826), sponsored by Rep. Marc A. Veasey, D-Texas, expressing disapproval of the Trump administration’s actions harming Medicaid, with a resulting decline in Medicaid coverage. Veasey said: “Millions of hardworking Americans have finally been able to gain affordable health insurance. Now the Trump administration wants to take away the progress made by these Americans and undercut their access to healthcare.” An opponent, Rep. Robert E. Latta, R-Ohio, said the block grants to states program that was criticized in the resolution would improve Medicaid by giving states more flexibility to design coverage options that improve care at lower expense. The vote, on Feb. 6, was 223 yeas to 190 nays.
YEAS: Pingree, Golden

SENATE VOTES

IMPEACHMENT SUBPOENA MOTIONS: The Senate has rejected a motion that would have declared it in order for the Senate to debate motions to subpoena witnesses or documents in the President Trump impeachment trial. A supporter, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said it would not be right for the Senate to “adjudicate the guilt or innocence of the party who is accused without hearing from a single witness, without reviewing a single document.” Schiff also argued that impeachment trials that did not give the Senate the ability to call witnesses would erase the legislative branch’s ability to “protect the American people from a president who believes that he can do whatever he wants.” An opponent, White House lawyer Patrick Philbin, said that if senators agreed to debate subpoena motions, it would impair the integrity of future impeachments by creating a precedent for dragged-out impeachment investigations in the Senate that hurt the federal government by creating an opportunity for intrigue and corruption in prolonged impeachments that do injury to presidents who are innocent. The vote, on Jan. 31, was 49 yeas to 51 nays.
YEAS: Susan Collins, R-Maine; Angus King, I-Maine

TRUMP IMPEACHMENT SUBPOENAS: The Senate has tabled an amendment sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to the President Trump impeachment trial resolution (S. Res. 488), that would have subpoenaed Mick Mulvaney, former national security adviser John Bolton, and several other White House staffers to testify in the President Trump impeachment trial, and also subpoenaed the White House for documents related to the trial. The amendment was not debated on the Senate floor. The vote to table, on Jan. 31, was 53 yeas to 47 nays.
YEAS: Collins
NAYS: King

BOLTON SUBPOENA: The Senate has tabled an amendment sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to the President Trump impeachment trial resolution (S. Res. 488), that would have subpoenaed former national security adviser John Bolton to testify in the President Trump impeachment trial. An amendment supporter, Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., said Bolton’s testimony “could corroborate the rest of our evidence and confirm the president’s guilt” of the two impeachment articles. Deming asked senators to issue the subpoena “so you will have all of the information available to you when you make this consequential decision” on Trump’s guilt. An opponent, White House lawyer Patrick Philbin, said the subpoena would go against the constitutional principle of separation of powers by having the Senate “unilaterally decide the privileges of the executive branch” without allowing the judicial branch to mediate the dispute between Congress and the president. The vote to table, on Jan. 31, was 51 yeas to 49 nays.
NAYS: Collins, King

RULINGS IN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL: The Senate has rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., to the President Trump impeachment trial resolution (S. Res. 488), that would have required Chief Justice John Roberts to rule on motions to subpoena witnesses and documents in the Trump impeachment trial. An amendment supporter, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said that Roberts, as presiding officer in the trial, should be given authority under the Senate’s rules “to make judgments and to rule on issues of evidence, materiality, and privilege.” Schiff also claimed that the concern of amendment opponents “is not that the Chief Justice will be unfair, but rather that he will be fair.” The vote to table, on Jan. 31, was 53 yeas to 47 nays.
YEAS: Collins
NAYS: King

IMPEACHMENT TRIAL PROCEDURES: The Senate has passed a resolution (S. Res. 488), sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., establishing procedures for the President Trump impeachment trial, with House trial managers and White House lawyers presenting arguments for two days before a Senate vote on the two articles of impeachment on Wednesday, Feb. 5. The vote, on Jan. 31, was 53 yeas to 47 nays.
YEAS: Collins
NAYS: King

FIRST IMPEACHMENT ARTICLE: The Senate has acquitted President Trump of the first article of impeachment brought against him by the House. The article alleged Trump’s abuse of the powers of the presidency, namely by asking Ukraine’s government to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden in exchange for receiving aid from the U.S. A supporter of conviction, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, called Trump’s actions “a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, our national security, and our fundamental values. Corrupting an election to keep one’s self in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine.” An opponent, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said the House managers had not presented enough evidence to prove that Trump was guilty of the alleged abuse of power. Scott said House Democrats “abused historical precedents in their zeal to impeach a president they simply do not like” by not allowing White House counsel or House Republicans to adequately take part in the impeachment proceedings that preceded the trial. The vote to find Trump guilty, on Feb. 5, was 48 yeas to 52 nays.
NOT GUILTY: Collins
GUILTY: King

SECOND IMPEACHMENT ARTICLE: The Senate has acquitted President Trump of the second article of impeachment brought against him by the House. The article alleged that Trump obstructed Congress by defying House subpoenas issued to the executive branch in the course of its impeachment inquiry. A supporter of conviction, Sen. Christopher Coons, D-Del., said: “Unlike Presidents Nixon and Clinton before him, who directed their senior advisers and Cabinet officials to cooperate, President Trump stonewalled every step of this Congress’s impeachment inquiry and then personally attacked those who cooperated.” An opponent, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said: “The president’s mere assertion of privileges and immunities is not an impeachable offense. Endorsing otherwise would be unprecedented and would ignore the past practices of administrations of both parties.” The vote to find Trump guilty, on Feb. 5, was 47 yeas to 53 nays.
NOT GUILTY: Collins
GUILTY: King