Bryan Watch: June 24-27

Time once again to review what Congress is up to, especially Bryan Steil, Republican representative from Wisconsin's First District.

Steil cast his second extreme vote on June 26. It was an amendment to HR 3351 that would have increased funding for the IRS Tax Counseling for the Elderly Program. (Malinowski amendment #40, RC 422, June 26). Steil voted against providing senior citizens assistance to fill out their income taxes. A majority of Republicans, 129-65, supported Malinowski.

The first big bill for Congress this week was the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill (HR 3055). There were votes on six amendments, and Steil went with the Republicans on five of the six.

His only good vote? Supporting Pramila Jayapal (WA) on adding a million dollars for transitional housing and homeless services (Jayapal Amdt 268, RC 406, June 25). Republicans voted 64-127 against helping the homeless.

Steil voted against the overall appropriations bill (RC 408, June 25) and for a motion to recommit by Rep. Will Hurd (TX) that would have taken away money from the Census to pay for more immigration judges at the border. (RC 407, June 25) While Hurd’s wish to increase immigration judges on the border is laudable, the Census is the wrong place to go looking for extra money.

Steil joined Jim Banks (Wacko-Indiana) in his continuing quest to cut federal spending by 14 percent with across the board cuts in appropriations bills (Banks Amendment #251, RC 405, June 25).

Steil also supported a move by Wisconsin crazy Glenn Grothman to cut funding by 4.6 percent (RC 402, June 24).

Steil voted against an amendment by Peter DeFazio (OR) that would prohibit the transport of liquified natural gas by rail tanker. Liquified natural gas is highly explosive and a train carrying it would be a potential terrorist target, with the potential to kill thousands of people. Steil sided with the petroleum industry against public safety. (DeFazio amendment #233, RC 399, June 24)

And to burnish his anti-LGBT credentials, Steil supported two mean-spirited amendments by Jeff Duncan of South Carolina (Amdts 234 and 235). One would eliminate protections for transgender residents of public housing and the other would deny equal access protections based on gender identity. (RC 400 and 401, June 24)

Steil joined most other Republicans in voting against providing $4.5 million in additional funding for the humanitarian crisis on the US-Mexican border (HR 3401). The only Republicans to vote to help immigrants and refugees were Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) , Hurd (Texas), and Christopher Smith (New Jersey). [RC 414, June 25]. Steil also voted for a motion to recommit by Rep. John Rutherford of Florida to increase funding for ICE by $64 million (RC 413, June 25)

There were two amendments to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act on Tuesday. Steil supported Steve King (Bigot-Iowa) in his attempt to strip prohibitions on spending money for Trump’s border wall out of the bill. This was a major pro-wall vote. (King Amendment #3, RC 411, June 25)

And Steil joined most Republicans in opposing Eleanor Holmes Norton’s (DC) efforts to keep the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Economic Research Service in the Washington DC Area (Holmes amendment #4, RC 412, June 25). The Trump Administration is in an ideological fight with these agencies because the scientists there provide research that conflicts with the Bizarro worldview of Donald Trump. They are seeking to punish the agency by moving their staff from Washington DC to Kansas City. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists: “This is a blatant attack on science and will especially hurt farmers, ranchers, and eaters at a particularly vulnerable time.’’ Steil sided with the Trump administration against sound science on this one.

There were four consideration votes on Tuesday June 25. On HR 3491 and HR 2722. Steil and every other Republican voted against consideration (RC 403, 404, 409 and 410). HR 2722, the Securing America’s Federal Elections Act, directly addresses the issue of cyber attacks on the 2020 federal election.

On Wednesday, the House dealt with the Financial Services Appropriations bill (HR 3351). Steil and every other Republican voted against passage. He and most other Republicans voted for a red herring motion to recommit by Rep. Sam Graves (MO) regarding funding for fighting terrorism (RC 423, June 26)

Steil sided with Jim Banks once again to cut funding in the Financial Services bill by 14 percent across the board (Banks amendment, RC 417, June 26). And sided with Grothman in attempting to cut funding by 3.1 percent (Grothman amendment, RC 415, June 26)

There were several very non-controversial amendments that passed by wide margins on Wednesday. (Kim Amendment, RC 421, 408-17; Dean Amendment, RC 420, 373-51; Lee (NV) amendment, RC 419, 400-27 and Souzzi amendment, RC 418, 406-19)

Steil also joined with every Republican in voting against an en bloc amendment to HR 3351, which contained multiple amendments (Quigley amendment, RC 416) The most interesting was Amdt 16 by Steve Cohen (TN), which would prohibit the use of federal funds at business entities related to the Trump Corporation. The House Report (116-126) lists 373 separate business accounts linked to Trump and associates.

On Wednesday, the US Senate rejected the House version of HR 3401 (the supplemental appropriations bill for the border crisis) and passed a highly amended version, which they returned to the House. On Thursday, House Republicans (including Steil) voted against consideration of the new version of HR 3401, even though it is supported by Republicans in the Senate (RC 425, June 27)

A few hours later, Steil and most Republicans voted to pass the Senate version of HR 3401 (176-7). Most Democrats (129-95) voted for it as well, in a major loss for Speaker Pelosi. (RC 429)

On Thursday, Steil and the Republicans also voted against the Securing America's Federal Elections Act (HR 2722). The bill would provide for voter verifiable paper ballots in federal elections, a necessary safeguard for protecting against fraud and computer manipulation. The only Republican to vote yes was Brian Mast of Florida (RC 428, June 27)

Steil did support an motion to recommit by Rodney Davis (IL) regarding foreign interference in elections that would actually make it more difficult for people to submit absentee ballots (Davis MTR, RC 427, June 27)

Steil also voted in favor of approving the journal, which placed him with Democrats on a largely procedural vote (RC 430, June 27).

Final Score: There were 32 votes this week, 26 party line and 6 non-party line. Steil voted with the Republicans 24 of 26 times, a support score of 92 percent.

Note: The House is not in session next week thanks to the Fourth of July. The House next meets on July 9-12.