Here is how area members of Congress voted on major issues in the week ending Feb. 10.
SENATE
Jeff Sessions, U.S. attorney general: The Senate on Feb. 8 confirmed, 52-47, Jeff Sessions, a four-term GOP senator from Alabama, as U.S. attorney general. A yes vote backed Sessions, 70, over Democratic criticism of his record on issues such as immigration, ballot access and civil and women’s rights. A yes vote was to confirm Sessions.
Yes: John McCain, R, Jeff Flake, R
Vote to Silence Elizabeth Warren: The Senate on Feb. 7 voted, 49-43, to silence Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., for having “impugned” the conduct of Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., in debate over his nomination.
Republicans faulted her for reading Coretta Scott King’s criticism of Sessions. A yes vote was to silence Warren in debate over the Sessions nomination.
Yes: McCain, Flake
Tom Price, secretary of health and human services: The Senate on Feb. 10 confirmed, 52-47, Tom Price, a GOP congressman from Georgia, as secretary of health and human services. A yes vote backed Price over arguments that overlaps between his legislative actions and personal stock portfolio raise issues of conflicts of interest. A yes vote was to confirm Price.
Yes: McCain, Flake
Betsy DeVos, secretary of education: On a tally of 51-50, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote, the Senate on Feb. 7 confirmed Betsy DeVos as secretary of education. A yes vote backed DeVos, 59, over objections to her plans to add private schooling to public K-12 education in the U.S. A yes vote was to confirm DeVos.
Yes: McCain, Flake
HOUSE
Public land management: Voting 234-186, the House on Feb. 7 killed a new rule updating the way the Bureau of Land Management obtains science-based information and public comments in its management of 245 million publicly owned acres in the West. A yes vote was to send the measure (HJ Res 44) to the Senate.
Voting yes: Martha McSally, R-2, Paul Gosar, R-4, Andy Biggs, R-5, David Schweikert, R-6, Trent Franks, R-8, Kyrsten Sinema, D-9
Voting no: Tom O’Halleran, D-1, Raul Grijalva, D-3, Ruben Gallego, D-7
White House Holocaust statement: The House on Feb. 7 blocked, 234-187, a Democratic bid to force floor debate on a resolution affirming that the Holocaust occurred and that it targeted Jews. Democrats raised this issue after the White House omitted mention of Jews in the International Holocaust Remembrance Day statement it released Jan. 27. Six million Jews died in the Holocaust, which was carried out by German leader Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime between 1933-1945. (H Res 91) A yes vote was to quash a Democratic attempt to bring up a Holocaust resolution.
b McSally, Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert, Franks
No: O’Halleran, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema
K-12 education rule: The House on Feb. 7 killed, 234-190, a rule giving states and localities requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act, which is the K-12 schools law that replaced No Child Left Behind. A yes vote was to rescind the rule, clearing the way for the Trump administration to issue a replacement. A yes vote was to send the measure (HJ Res 57) to the Senate.
Yes: McSally, Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert, Franks
No: O’Halleran, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema
Standards for assessing teachers: The House on Feb. 7 killed, 240-181, a rule designed to upgrade federally set standards for assessing teacher training on state and local levels. The rule dealt mainly with means of measuring teacher performance. A yes vote opposed the rule as federal overreach and would send the measure (HJ Res 58) to the Senate.
Yes: O’Halleran, McSally, Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert, Franks, Sinema
No: Grijalva, Gallego
