Two Month Round-Up

Truly…what a week. Understandably, at the top of people’s mind is whether or not Chuck Schumer has the capability or willingness to stand up to encroaching fascism. But I would be remiss if I ignored the 119th Congress’ two months on the job. Which also means we have a pretty fair marker to call out the Democrats in both chambers that don’t seem bothered at all by the country being two stanzas into the new edition of First They Came.

The House

Since the beginning of the session, 8 bills or resolutions have received a floor vote that are either fascist or directly aid fascism:

• HR 29: Laken Riley Act

• HR 23: Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act

• HR 28: Protection of Women & Girls in Sports Act

• SR 5: Laken Riley Act (revised with Senate Amendments)

• HR 26: Protecting American Energy Production Act

• HR 35: Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act

• H Res 189: Censure of Representative Al Green

• H Res 1968: Continuing Resolution (CR)

I do want to mention that there may be past bills that end up fitting this description. The HALT Fentanyl Act is a poorly written, knee-jerk, and potentially damaging bill. In any other time, anything faulty in the bill could be chalked up more to ignorance than menace. However, rumors have circulated that Trump is planning an executive order declaring fentanyl to be a weapon of mass destruction, and with the HALT Fentanyl Act expanding the illegality to chemicals that are atomically similar, that could very well create a whole swath of military powers for the President.

That said, I only want to make that call with bills that are unashamed of their goals and have backing evidence to their fascist intents. So, for now, it’s just those eight, but that may be subject to change.

Judging by those eight bills and resolutions, there are 18 Democrats in Congress that have voted yay for half or more:

• 4 of 8

  • Angie Craig (MN-2)

  • Don Davis (NC-1)

  • Susie Lee (NV-3)

  • April McClain Delaney (MD-6)

  • Chris Pappas (NH-1)

  • Kim Schrier (WA-8)

  • Emilia Sykes (OH-13)

• 5 of 8

  • Jim Costa (CA-21), (voted for 5 of the 7 bills)

  • Laura Gillen (NY-4)

  • Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34)

  • Adam Gray (CA-13)

  • Marcy Kaptur (OH-9)

  • Greg Landsman (OH-1)

  • Jared Moskowitz (FL-23)

  • Tom Suozzi (NY-3)

• 6 of 8

  • Henry Cuellar (TX-28)

  • Jared Golden (ME-2)

  • Marie Glusenkamp Perez (WA-3)

On the positive side, 129 House Democrats (~60%) haven’t voted for a single fascist bill

The Senate

The Senate has predominantly been focused on confirming Trump’s 32 cabinet and cabinet adjacent nominees. However, there have been a few fascist bills that have made their way through:

• SR 5: Laken Riley Act

• SR 9: Protection of Women & Girls in Sports Act

• H Res 1968: Continuing Resolution (CR)

The extra fun with these is in the Senate each vote to pass the law first needs a cloture vote. This means 60 Senators have to vote yay to move onto the actual vote and exists as a way to shut down any chance of a Senator filibustering a bill.

Now, the good news, only two Senators have supported Trumpist motions over half the time. The bad is 12 (~25%) Senators have voted for more than a third.

• John Fetterman (PA), 3 of 5 bills, 14 of 27 nominees (53.1%)

• Jeanne Shaheen (NH), 4 of 5 bills, 15 of 32 nominees (51.4%)

• Ruben Gallego (AZ), 2 of 5 bills, 14 of 32 nominees (43.2%)

• Maggie Hassan (NH), 2 of 4 bills, 13 of 32 nominees (41.7%)

• Elissa Slotkin (MI), 2 of 4 bills, 12 of 31 nominees (40.0%)

• John Hickenlooper (CO), 2 of 5 bills, 12 of 31 nominees (38.9%)

• Gary Peters (MI), 3 of 5 bills, 11 of 31 nominees (38.9%)

• Tim Kaine (VA), 1 of 5 bills, 13 of 32 nominees (37.8%)

• Jacky Rosen (NV), 2 of 5 bills, 12 of 32 nominees (37.8%)

• Michael Bennett (CO), 2 of 5 bills, 11 of 32 nominees (35.1%)

• Mark Kelly (AZ), 2 of 5 bills, 11 of 32 nominees (35.1%)

• Mark Warner (VA), 2 of 5 bills, 11 of 32 nominees (35.1%)
  

And now, even more bad news. Of those 12, only one is up for re-election in 2026 (Hickenlooper) and two are retiring (Peters, Shaheen). Even worse, only 5 have voted nay for any bills, nominees, or cloture since the unanimous confirmation of Marco Rubio. So, if you’re calling to convince your representatives to oust Schumer, I’d encourage you to suggest one of those five (Mazie Hirono (HI), Ed Markey (MA), Jeff Merkley (OR), Chris Murphy (CT), & Patty Murray (WA)) to replace him.

As of now, the House and Senate are in an informal recess, so this will be the only article. However, if you need some cheering up, check out my thread on Bluesky about the political leanings of the cats from Cats.