Copyright Boulder Daily Camera
Here’s a look at how Colorado members of Congress voted over the previous week. Along with roll call votes this week, the Senate also passed a resolution (S. Res. 467), designating Oct. 30 as a national day of remembrance for the workers of the U.S. nuclear weapons program. There were no key votes in the House this week. Senate votes APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Rebecca L. Taibleson to be a judge on the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. A Justice Department prosecutor in Wisconsin for close to a decade, Taibleson was formerly an assistant to the U.S. solicitor general. She earlier clerked for Antonin Scalia and Brett Kavanaugh. A supporter, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said: “Standing up for the rule of law without fear or favor is exactly what we should want to see in our federal judges. I see those attributes in Ms. Taibleson.” The vote, on Oct. 27, was 52 yeas to 46 nays. NAYS: Bennet D-CO, Hickenlooper D-CO ALABAMA JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Bill Lewis to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. Lewis had been a circuit court, appeals court, and, since earlier this year, Alabama Supreme Court judge in the state, after starting his legal career at his own law firm and as a local district attorney. The vote, on Oct. 27, was 58 yeas to 40 nays. NAYS: Bennet, Hickenlooper AGAIN REVISITING CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS BILL: The Senate has rejected a cloture motion to end debate on the motion to consider the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act (H.R. 5371), sponsored by Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., to provide funding for federal government programs through November 21, and increase spending on security for government officials. A bill supporter, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said: “Government workers and every other American affected by this shutdown have become nothing more than pawns in the Democrats’ political games.” An opponent, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said: “Americans are on the brink of a crisis that could send millions and millions of families into financial disaster. Donald Trump and Republicans, meanwhile, are not even here in Washington to deal with the crisis heading straight toward us.” The vote to end debate, on Oct. 28, was 54 yeas to 45 nays, with a three-fifths majority required. NAYS: Bennet, Hickenlooper FLORIDA JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Jordan Emery Pratt to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. A state appeals court judge since spring 2023, Pratt had been a lawyer at the Justice Department and Small Business Administration, in Florida’s government, and at the First Liberty Institute. An opponent, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said: “Pratt’s record clearly reflects a level of partisan ideology and judicial activism that is inappropriate for someone nominated to a lifetime position on the federal bench.” The vote, on Oct. 28, was 52 yeas to 47 nays. NAYS: Bennet, Hickenlooper BRAZIL TRADE EMERGENCY: The Senate has passed a bill (S.J. Res. 81), sponsored by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., that would end the national emergency and associated 40 percent tariff on imports from Brazil that President Trump declared in late July, in retaliation for Brazil’s alleged actions against its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, and U.S. citizens and businesses. Kaine said: “If we allow President Trump to declare this prosecution an emergency, we will have given any president a completely blank check to invent an emergency and do whatever they want and bypass Congress for doing so.” A bill opponent, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said canceling the Brazil emergency would be “counterproductive to the progress already made by President Trump and to new gains that he can still achieve in the ongoing negotiations with our trading partners.” The vote, on Oct. 28, was 52 yeas to 48 nays. YEAS: Bennet, Hickenlooper SECOND ALABAMA JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Edmund G. LaCour, Jr., to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. The state’s solicitor general for the past six years, LaCour had been a private practice lawyer in Washington, D.C., and Houston, at three different law firms. An opponent, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said: “As the solicitor general of Alabama, Mr. LaCour has repeatedly put politics ahead of the rule of law. He has resisted the orders of federal courts–including the Supreme Court–after they ruled against him and the state of Alabama in voting rights cases.” The vote, on Oct. 29, was 51 yeas to 47 nays. NAYS: Bennet, Hickenlooper BARRED OWLS IN WEST COAST FORESTS: The Senate has rejected a motion to proceed to consideration of a bill (S.J. Res. 69), sponsored by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., that would have disapproved of and voided a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule that seeks to promote the spotted owl in West Coast forests by killing barred owls that are displacing spotted owl populations. Kennedy said of the rule: “This is foolish. This is reckless. This is expensive. It is unsupported by evidence. It is unnecessary, and it won’t work. I cannot think–I cannot think–of a better example of the arrogance, the hubris of the federal administrative state.” The vote, on Oct. 29, was 25 yeas to 72 nays. NAYS: Bennet, Hickenlooper CANADA TRADE EMERGENCY: The Senate has passed a bill (S.J. Res. 77), sponsored by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., to end the 25 percent tariff on most imports from Canada that President Trump imposed in February, in a national emergency declaration that tied the tariffs to Canada failing to prevent illicit drugs from passing into the U.S. Kaine said: “Tariffs are hurting our economy, hurting our citizens, hurting our businesses. Let’s terminate this bogus emergency and let our households and businesses save some money.” A bill opponent, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, called it “counterproductive to the progress already made by the president and to new gains he can still achieve in the ongoing negotiations with our trading partners.” The vote, on Oct. 29, was 50 yeas to 46 nays. YEAS: Bennet, Hickenlooper ALASKA PETROLEUM RESERVE: The Senate has passed a bill (S.J. Res. 80), sponsored by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, to disapprove of and void a Bureau of Land Management rule issued in 2022 that put new restrictions on oil and natural gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. Sullivan said canceling the rule “is going to help with jobs, it is going to help with national security, and it is what the Native people in my state who actually live there want.” The vote, on Oct. 30, was 52 yeas to 45 nays. NAYS: Bennet, Hickenlooper GLOBAL TRADE EMERGENCY: The Senate has passed a bill (S.J. Res. 88), sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., to terminate the national emergency regarding global trade, and placing tariffs on an array of imports, that President Trump declared on April 2. Wyden said: “It is possible for the Senate to focus on bringing families relief to their wallets. Congress can vote to repeal Donald Trump’s trade taxes and stop taking money out of Americans’ pockets.” An opponent, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, called the bill “counterproductive to the progress already made by the president and the new gains he can still achieve in the ongoing trade negotiations” with other countries. The vote, on Oct. 30, was 51 yeas to 47 nays. YEAS: Bennet, Hickenlooper
