Along with roll call votes this week, the Senate also passed a resolution (S. Res. 199), condemning the horrific shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16, 2021, and reaffirming the commitment of the Senate to combating hate, bigotry, and violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community; and a resolution (S. Res. 200), condemning recent hate crimes committed against Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

There were no key votes in the House this week.

SENATE VOTES

BUDGET MANAGEMENT: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Jason Scott Miller to serve as the Office of Management and Budget’s deputy director for management. Miller was an economic advisor in the Obama administration, and then became CEO of the Greater Washington (D.C.) Partnership. A supporter, Sen. Gary C. Peters, D-Mich., said Miler “has an extensive track record of tackling difficult management challenges and driving innovation both in government and in the private sector.” The vote, on April 27, was 81 yeas to 13 nays.

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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Janet Garvin McCabe to serve as the Environmental Protection Agency’s deputy administrator. McCabe was a senior EPA official in the Obama administration, and since 2017 has been a law professor at Indiana University. A supporter, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said: “Her dedication and her know-how will be invaluable in protecting clean air and clean water, addressing the climate crisis, and realizing environmental justice for the most vulnerable among us.” An opponent, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said that if confirmed, McCabe would work to enact policies that destroy communities and livelihoods tied to fossil fuels. The vote, on April 27, was 52 yeas to 42 nays.

YEAS: Collins, King

MILITARY POLICY: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Colin Kahl to serve as Under Secretary of Defense for policy. Kahl was Vice President Biden’s National Security Advisor from October 2014 to January 2017; since then, he has been a professor at Stanford University. An opponent, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said: “I have grave concerns about Dr. Kahl’s lack of support for one of our great allies, Israel, weakness toward Communist China and desire to rejoin the disastrous Iran Deal.” The vote, on April 27, was 49 yeas to 45 nays.

NAYS: Collins

YEAS: King

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Samantha Power to serve as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID). Power, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 2013 to January 2017, has since been a professor at Harvard University. A supporter, Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., said: “She will take her compassion, inclusivity, and unwavering desire for action and achieve great things for the people of the United States and for the world at USAID.” An opponent, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, questioned whether, in her time as U.N. ambassador, Power’s staff had wrongly lobbied to remove the Islamic Relief Agency, suspected of links to terrorist groups, from the Treasury Department’s sanctions list. The vote, on April 28, was 68 yeas to 26 nays.

YEAS: Collins, King

REGULATING OIL AND NATURAL GAS: The Senate has passed a resolution (S.J. Res. 14), sponsored by Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., to disapprove of and nullify a September 2020 Environmental Protection Agency rule concerning methane emissions and oil and natural gas production. Heinrich said cancelling the rule would “slow climate change and simultaneously reduce the incredible waste of a valuable energy resource.” An opponent, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said cancellation “would lay the groundwork for a planned regulatory war on oil and gas.” The vote, on April 28, was 52 yeas to 42 nays.

YEAS: Collins, King

ALLOCATING WATER PROGRAM FUNDS: The Senate has rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act (S. 914). The amendment would have changed the allocation formula for funding state water pollution control programs. Rubio said the existing formula unfairly benefited a minority of the 50 states. An opponent, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said: “In order to update these formulas, we should have hearings. We should actually do this in a more studied, more detailed way than this amendment presents for us to do.” The vote, on April 29, was 14 yeas to 81 nays.

NAYS: Collins, King

WATER PROGRAMS: The Senate has passed the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act (S. 914), sponsored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., to reauthorize through fiscal 2026 various federal water infrastructure programs. Duckworth said: “Every dollar we spend improving our water systems can help save the health of our future generations.” The vote, on April 29, was 89 yeas to 2 nays.

YEAS: Collins, King