In addition to the roll call votes below, the House also elected its Speaker for the 117th Congress this week. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., received 216 votes and was elected Speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., received 209 votes, two other individuals received votes for Speaker, and six representatives voted present or did not vote.

In other actions, the House also passed the Inspector General Protection Act (H.R. 23), to require congressional notification for certain changes in status of inspectors general; and the Settlement Agreement Information Database Act (H.R. 27), to require the publication of settlement agreements.

The Senate also passed the Eastern European Security Act (H.R. 2444), to authorize the Secretary of State to make direct loans under section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act; and a resolution (S. Res. 684), calling on the Government of Cameroon and separatist armed groups from the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions to end all violence, respect the human rights of all Cameroonians, and pursue a genuinely inclusive dialogue toward resolving the ongoing civil conflict in Anglophone Cameroon,

HOUSE VOTES

HOUSE RULES PACKAGE: The House has passed a resolution (H. Res. 8), sponsored  by Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., to establish the House’s rules for the new 117th Congress. The rules include limiting the ability to submit a motion to recommit legislation, making permanent the Office of Diversity, and establishing the Inclusion and Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth. Hoyer said the rules “are not denigrating or denying anybody’s free speech any more than the Republicans denied free speech in the most closed Congress in our history just a few years ago.” An opponent, Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said the rules package “tramples on minority rights and it ensures a power grab by Democratic leadership. It will change the nature of this institution, and not for the better.” The vote, on Jan. 4, was 217 yeas to 206 nays.

YEAS: Chellie Pingree, D-1st District; Jared Golden, D-2nd District

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PUBLISHING BUDGET MATERIALS: The House has passed the Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act (H.R. 22), sponsored by Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., to require federal government agencies to publish materials for justifying their budgets on a public website. Quigley said the requirement was needed to remedy the current situation, in which “agencies are inconsistent in posting congressional budget justifications online, making them difficult to access because they are either not publicly available or are scattered across the Internet.” The vote, on Jan. 5, was 412 yeas to 2 nays.

YEAS: Pingree, Golden

ARIZONA ELECTORAL COLLEGE: The House has rejected an objection to the certification of Arizona’s Electoral College voting for president. A supporter of the objection, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Arizona had failed to follow a constitutional provision that reserves authority over election law to the state legislatures. An opponent, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said: “If a governor certifies a slate of electors and there are no competing slates in that state, the governor-certified must be counted.” The vote, on Jan. 6, was 121 yeas to 303 nays.

NAYS: Pingree, Golden

PENNSYLVANIA ELECTORAL COLLEGE: The House has rejected an objection to the certification of Pennsylvania’s Electoral College voting for president. A supporter of the objection, Rep. Elise M. Stefanik, R-N.Y., said the state’s “supreme court and secretary of state unilaterally and unconstitutionally rewrote election law eliminating signature matching requirements.” An opponent, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said: “Rejecting the electors certified to Congress by sovereign states violates the 12th Amendment and the entirety of the Constitution it amends, notwithstanding claims that you must read certain sections first.” The vote, on Jan. 6, was 138 yeas to 282 nays.

NAYS: Pingree, Golden

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SENATE VOTES

ARIZONA ELECTORAL COLLEGE: The Senate has rejected an objection, submitted by Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to the certification of Arizona’s Electoral College voting for president. An opponent of the objection, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said: “Arizona’s elections were fairly administered and certified by a Republican governor, a Democratic secretary of state, and public servants at every level of government and representing both political parties.” The vote, on Jan. 6, was 6 yeas to 93 nays.

NAYS: Susan Collins, R-Maine; Angus King, I-Maine

PENNSYLVANIA ELECTORAL COLLEGE: The Senate has rejected an objection, submitted by Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to the certification of Pennsylvania’s Electoral College voting for president. Hawley said the state’s adoption of universal mail-in balloting for the November elections appeared to violate its constitution’s strict limitations on the possibility of mail-in balloting. A motion opponent, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said that blocking certification would be “wildly out of proportion to the purported offenses” against Pennsylvania’s electoral laws that have been alleged by objectors. The vote, on Jan. 7, was 7 yeas to 92 nays.

NAYS: Collins, King

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