John Heckenlively
Stories (116/0)
Bryan Watch: Xmas Edition
Let’s start with the obvious news of the week: At 8:32 PM Eastern Standard Time on December 18, Donald Trump became the third US President to be impeached by the House of Representatives. The first article, regarding Trump’s quid pro quo deal with the Ukranians, passed 230 to 197, with only two Democrats (Collin Peterson and Jeff Van Drew) voting no. Every single Republican sided with Donald Trump. The second article, regarding obstruction of Congress, passed 229 to 198, with Peterson, Van Drew and Jared Golden of Maine against. Every single Republican voted in favor of allowing the President to hinder a congressional investigation.
By John Heckenlively4 years ago in The Swamp
Bryan Watch: Dec Wk2
The big vote during the second week of December was on HR 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act. As the title suggests, the bill is designed to lower consumer drug prices by forcing Medicare to negotiate for lower prices. Steil joined all but two other Republicans (Fitzpatrick and Herrera Beutler, frequent dissenters) in voting against lower drug prices for consumers. (RC 682, Dec 12)
By John Heckenlively4 years ago in The Swamp
Bryan Watch: Dec Week 1
Other than the Judiciary Committee starting hearings that are almost certain to end with articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, it was a relatively slow week in Congress. There were only 12 votes this week, but eight of them were party line.
By John Heckenlively4 years ago in The Swamp
The Pence Record
Since there is a reasonable possibility that Michael Richard Pence will be the next President of the United States, it seems sensible to take a look at what he has being doing as Vice President. During the last three years, Pence has broken 13 ties in his duty as President of the Senate. That ranks Pence seventh on the list of VPs who cast tie-breaking votes, the most since Schuyler Colfax (with 18), Ulysses Grant’s Vice President from 1869 to 1873. Like Pence, Colfax was from Indiana.
By John Heckenlively4 years ago in The Swamp
Bryan Watch: Nov 2019
It was a fairly slow week for Congress. Only fifteen votes, and five of those on noncontroversial bills. The biggest action in the House this week was the start of Impeachment Hearings, with several career diplomats testifying. Steil is not on any of the relevant committees, but he did claim that impeachment was a distraction from Congress funding the federal government (Fund the Military, H 8970, November 13). Apparently he is not convinced that Congress can walk and chew gum at the same time.
By John Heckenlively4 years ago in The Swamp
Bryan Watch: Halloween
Obviously the big news of the week is that the House made the impeachment of Donald Trump official, setting up the rules for further proceedings. It was a party line vote, 232 to 196, with only two Democrats (Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Jeff Dan Drew of New Jersey) voting against. Steil and every other Republican voted against the investigation. (RC 603 and 604, H Res 660, October 31). Rep. Steil always answered at his party's call this week, going 21 for 21 on party-line votes.
By John Heckenlively4 years ago in The Swamp
Bryan Watch: Oct 22-25
This Wednesday, while the rest of Congressional Republicans were busy voting when they weren’t obstructing justice, Rep. Steil had a photo opportunity with Vice President Mike Pence. As a result, Steil missed votes on a bill to protect the 2020 elections against interference by foreign governments.
By John Heckenlively4 years ago in The Swamp
Bryan Watch: Sept Week 3
A major bodyslam for Donald Trump this week regarding the whistleblower complaint of August 12. In a unanimous vote of 421 to zero, the House demanded that Acting Director of National Intelligence Maguire immediately stop stonewalling and send the complaint to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. They also demanded that Maguire protect the whistleblower from any retaliation by the Trump administration (House Resolution 576, RC 548, Sep 25). This follows a similar vote by the Senate on Tuesday. Trump has literally not got a soul in Congress willing to defend him on the whistleblower issue.
By John Heckenlively5 years ago in The Swamp