Votes

Mayorkas Impeachment  |  H.Res. 863

The articles of impeachment (“Willful and Systemic Refusal to Comply With the Law” and “Breach of Public Trust”) contained in House Resolution 863 would impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas for high crimes and misdemeanors, including for his handling of issues involving immigration and border security.

The House adopted the articles of impeachment on February 13, 2024 by a vote of 214 to 213 (Roll Call 43). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because Secretary Mayorkas deserves impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold office in the future. He has failed to uphold his duty to support and defend the U.S. Constitution by repeatedly violating laws enacted by Congress regarding immigration and border security. His unlawful conduct has allowed illicit drugs and millions of illegal aliens to enter and remain in the United States annually by means of insecure borders. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress power to “establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization,” as well as to call forth “the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions,” and Article II, Section 4 provides that “all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of … high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

U.S. Military in Syria  |  S.J.Res. 51

Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) made a motion to discharge the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from further consideration of Senate Joint Resolution 51, which would direct the president to remove U.S. armed forces “from hostilities in or affecting Syria … unless and until a declaration of war or specific authorization for such use of United States Armed Forces has been enacted.”

The Senate rejected Paul’s motion on December 7, 2023 by a vote of 13 to 84 (Roll Call 333). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because under the U.S. Constitution, the power to declare war belongs to Congress, and the United States should follow a policy of noninterventionism, minding its own business in foreign affairs.

Spending Reductions  |  H.R. 6363

During consideration of the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act (H.R. 6363), Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) offered an amendment to reduce funding in the bill by 15 percent, except for the Department of Defense, military construction, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and to rescind $30 billion in enforcement funds provided to the Internal Revenue Service.

The Senate rejected Paul’s amendment on November 15, 2023 by a vote of 32 to 65 (Roll Call 311). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because reining in government spending ought to be an urgent priority given that about 80 percent of the current federal bureaucracy is unconstitutional and the national debt recently surpassed $33 trillion. Members of Congress must also be willing to take more drastic and immediate action to eliminate all spending that is not specifically authorized by Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. Their ongoing failure to do so is contributing to the erosion and decline of the American Republic.

Student Loan Repayment Rule  |  S. J. Res. 43

S. J. Res. 43 would formally disapprove of a July 2023 Department of Education rule modifying Income Driven Repayment (IDR) plans for student-loan borrowers. This rule, unveiled shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Biden administration student loan-forgiveness plan in Biden v. Nebraska, would reduce the amount borrowers pay and make it easier to forgive loans held for 20 to 25 years. Speaking on the Senate floor, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) stated the rule “transfers the burden of $559 billion in Federal student loans to the 87 percent of Americans who don’t have student loans, who chose not to go to college, or who already responsibly paid off their debts.”

The Senate rejected S. J. Res. 43 on November 15, 2023 by a vote of 49 to 50 (Roll Call 310). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because the federal government has no authority under the Constitution to subsidize or involve itself in higher education. Furthermore, the Department of Education’s rule merely transfers the cost of these unpaid loans to taxpayers, harming Americans and further eroding our nation’s fiscal situation.

Defunding OSHA  |  H.R. 5894

During consideration of the fiscal 2024 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill (H.R. 5894), Representative Mary Miller (R-Ill.) offered an amendment to defund the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) by $536,922,000 — its total earmarked budget for fiscal 2024.

The House rejected Miller’s amendment on November 14, 2023 by a vote of 131 to 300 (Roll Call 648). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution does not authorize Congress to establish a federal regulatory agency, such as OSHA, to inspect workplace conditions. Nor does the Constitution empower the federal government to require Americans to take vaccines, especially experimental mRNA injections, as a condition of their employment, as OSHA tried to do.

IRS Firearms and Ammunition  |  H.R. 4664

During consideration of the fiscal 2024 financial-services appropriations bill (H.R. 4664), Representative Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) offered an amendment to strike all funding for firearms and ammunition for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The House rejected Harshbarger’s amendment on November 8, 2023 by a vote of 187 to 238 (Roll Call 625). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because the federal government is not constitutionally authorized to engage in domestic law enforcement, as the 10th Amendment clarifies. IRS agents should not be armed with guns, ammunition, or military-style equipment. Rather, the IRS ought to be defunded and abolished. The American people must demand that Congress end the weaponization of the federal bureaucracy, reject all efforts to create a nationalized police force, and work to repeal the 16th Amendment (income tax).

Defunding “Kill-switch” Mandate  |  H.R. 4820

During consideration of the fiscal 2024 Transportation-HUD appropriations bill (H.R. 4820), Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) offered an amendment that would prohibit the use of federal funds to implement Section 24220 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which requires that all new passenger motor vehicles be equipped with “advanced drunk and impaired driving prevention technology.”

The House rejected Massie’s amendment on November 7, 2023 by a vote of 201 to 229 (Roll Call 616). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because this federal “kill-switch” mandate to forcibly “monitor the performance” of every driver and automatically “prevent or limit motor vehicle operation” is a violation of the fundamental right of the American people to travel freely, with a reasonable expectation of privacy. The Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution not only protect against “unreasonable searches and seizures” of persons and their possessions, but also provide that no person shall be deprived of “liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

National Monument Declarations  |  H.R. 4821

During consideration of the fiscal 2024 environment-interior appropriations bill (H.R. 4821), Representative Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) offered an amendment to prohibit funds from being used to provide additional funding for national monument designations under the Antiquities Act. According to Ogles, “In the 8 years that Joe Biden was Vice President under the Obama administration, the Antiquities Act was weaponized for 550 million acres of land. That is roughly a quarter of the land by acreage in the United States. That is a problem that goes beyond the scope and intent of this act.”

The House rejected Ogles’ amendment on November 2, 2023 by a vote of 175 to 244 (Roll Call 592). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because, although the Founding Fathers did not envision the federal government indefinitely “owning” 30 percent of the land area of the states as it now does, they did grant Congress, not the president, the “Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States” (Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution). As to whether the federal government has the right to ownership and control of a large percentage of the land area of the states for an indefinite period of time, here’s Founding Father Thomas Jefferson’s answer in his Kentucky Resolutions of 1798: “The several states composing the United States of America, are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their General Government; but that by compact under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States and of amendments thereto, they constituted a General Government for special purposes, delegated to that Government certain definite powers, reserving each state to itself, the residuary mass of right to their own self Government; and that whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force.”

Consolidated Appropriations Minibus  |  H.R. 4366

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (H.R. 4366) would provide roughly $279 billion in total discretionary spending for three of the 12 fiscal 2024 appropriations bills. This includes funding for Defense Department military construction projects; the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Transportation, and Department of Housing and Urban Development; and various other government agencies.

The Senate passed H.R. 4366 on November 1, 2023 by a vote of 82 to 15 (Roll Call 284). We have assigned pluses to the nays because, with the exception of the Department of Defense, none of these federal departments or agencies is authorized by the Constitution. Furthermore, in light of a $33.9 trillion national debt and a $1.7 trillion budget deficit, this appropriations bill is fiscally irresponsible.

Audit the Fed  |  H.R. 4366

During consideration of a consolidated appropriations minibus (H.R. 4366), Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) offered an amendment to require that the U.S. comptroller general conduct a full audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve banks.

The Senate rejected Paul’s amendment on November 1, 2023 by a vote of 46 to 51 (Roll Call 280). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because the Federal Reserve System, essentially a cartel of private banks functioning as a central bank, is unconstitutional and responsible for many of the nation’s current financial problems via its control of money and credit. Auditing the Fed would shed light on its otherwise secretive practices, and perhaps lead to its eventual abolishment.

U.S. Military in Niger  |  S. J. Res. 44

Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced a joint resolution (S. J. Res. 44) to direct the president to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities in or affecting Niger. The resolution noted that a coup d’etat in July 2023 triggered a regional conflict that threatens to involve U.S. military forces in the country. As of June 2023, more than 1,000 members of the U.S. military were deployed there.

The Senate blocked Paul’s joint resolution on October 26, 2023 by a vote of 11 to 86 (Roll Call 270). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because the deployment of U.S. forces to Niger was not specifically authorized by Congress, and under the Constitution only Congress has the power to declare war.

Mask Mandates  |  H.R. 4366

During consideration of a consolidated appropriations minibus (H.R. 4366), Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) offered an amendment that would prohibit any funds made available by the bill for the Transportation Department for fiscal 2024 to be used to enforce a Covid-19 mask mandate.

The Senate adopted Vance’s amendment on October 25, 2023 by a vote of 59 to 38 (Roll Call 266). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because the federal government has no authority under the Constitution to impose mask mandates.

Continuing Resolution  |  H.R. 5860

H.R. 5860, the “Continuing Appropriations Act, 2024 and Other Extensions Act,” would appropriate federal government funding at fiscal 2023 levels from October 1, 2023 through November 17, 2023. Additionally, it would appropriate $16 billion in disaster relief for fiscal 2024 and extend federal authorization for multiple programs, including certain Medicare, Medicaid, and Federal Aviation Administration programs. Notably, the bill does not include funding for Ukraine.

The Senate passed H.R. 5860 on September 30, 2023 by a vote of 88 to 9 (Roll Call 247). We have assigned pluses to the nays because Congress needs to cut spending to avoid fiscal disaster. Additionally, Congress’ inability to promptly pass a 2024 budget, instead using a continuing appropriations bill that funds the federal government at bloated fiscal 2023 levels, illustrates the breakdown of the federal budgeting process.

Continuing Resolution  |  H.R. 5860

Representative Kay Granger (R-Texas) made a motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 5860, the “Continuing Appropriations Act, 2024 and Other Extensions Act,” which would appropriate federal government funding at fiscal 2023 levels from October 1, 2023 through November 17, 2023. Additionally, it would appropriate $16 billion in disaster relief for fiscal 2024 and extend federal authorization for multiple programs, including certain Medicare, Medicaid, and Federal Aviation Administration programs. Notably, the bill does not include funding for Ukraine.

The House agreed to Granger’s motion on September 30, 2023 by a vote of 335 to 91 (Roll Call 513). We have assigned pluses to the nays because Congress needs to cut spending to avoid fiscal disaster. Additionally, Congress’ inability to promptly pass a 2024 budget, instead using a continuing appropriations bill that funds the federal government at bloated fiscal 2023 levels, illustrates the breakdown of the federal budgeting process.

Prohibiting UNESCO Funding  |  H.R. 4665

During consideration of the fiscal 2024 state-foreign operations appropriations bill (H.R. 4665), Representative Greg Steube (R-Fla.) offered an amendment to prohibit funding in the bill from aiding the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The House rejected Steube’s amendment on September 28, 2023 by a vote of 198 to 232 (Roll Call 494). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because nowhere in the Constitution is Congress authorized to allocate federal funding to international organizations such as UNESCO. Such organizations threaten U.S. sovereignty and constitutionally protected freedoms, and the United States has no business being involved in them.