Welcome to our weekly DC Wrap, where we write about Wisconsin’s congressional delegation. Sign up here to receive the newsletter directly.
Quotes of the week
No Republican should embrace Biden’s spending levels. There’s no justification for not returning to a pre-pandemic baseline of spending. I’ve proposed a number of common sense options that would save trillions of dollars.
– U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, in a post on X advocating to reduce federal spending under the incoming Trump administration.
I challenge every one of my colleagues who believes the national minimum wage should stay at $7.25 to try to survive on it! Seriously. If anyone thinks it’s a liveable wage, I want to see them actually give it a try.
– U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, in one of his several X posts arguing that Congress should increase the national minimum wage.
This week’s news
— Democratic lawmakers remembered the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and promised a more peaceful transfer of power this year, while Republicans celebrated the certification of president-elect Donald Trump.
“Today we remember January 6, 2021, where Donald Trump incited a violent mob of his supporters to attack the Capitol because he lost a presidential election,” U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, said on X. “No attempts to downplay or lie about what happened will erase the truth.”
Moore continued to speak out against Trump, citing concerns with his promise to pardon those who stormed the Capitol four years ago.
U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, described Jan. 6, 2021, as a day when rioters were “tricked” by a defeated president into defying democracy by storming the capitol.
“January 6th was one of the darkest days in our nation’s history and a stain on our tradition as a peaceful transfer of power,” Pocan said on X. “While I wish the results were different, I supported certifying the election because the peaceful transfer of power is what makes our democracy work.”
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, acknowledged those mourning a loved one on the anniversary of Jan. 6 in a statement on X, then said she still had a job to do: “Certify the 2024 election because, whether I like the results or not, I am committed to a peaceful transition of power and accepting the results of a fair election.”
— Republican members shared their excitement about the new administration on social media.
U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil announced in the House on Monday that Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes went to Trump.
While U.S. Rep Derrick Van Orden described Jan. 6, 2025 as “the day the American people have been waiting for, for four years,” on X.
Following the certification, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany posted on X: “Congress has officially certified President Donald J. Trump’s victory. In 14 days we make America great again.”
And U.S. Rep. Tony Wied congratulated Trump and vice president-elect JD Vance, while looking to what’s next on his priorities.
“Now it’s time to secure the border, lower inflation, and deliver an America first agenda for the people.”
— Both Reps. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, and Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, voted against a GOP measure aiming to crack down on border security.
The measure passed 264-159 on Tuesday, with 48 Dems joining Republicans in favor. Moore and Pocan did not return requests for comment on why they opposed the bill.
All six of the state’s GOP members voted to pass the Laken Riley Act, named for the 22-year-old Georgia nursing student killed by a Venezuelan man who came into the United States illegally.
The bill would require the Department of Homeland Security to detain noncitizens arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting. It would also allow states to sue the federal government over immigration enforcement-related decisions, including releasing a noncitizen from custody.
U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, in a floor speech said the legislation would “go a long way to reverse the lawlessness of the Biden administration.”
He noted the case of a 26-year-old Venezuelan non-citizen with suspected gang ties, Jose Coronel Zarate. He was arrested in Prairie du Chien on charges of domestic disorderly conduct, two counts of domestic battery, strangulation/suffocation, physical abuse to a child, disorderly conduct and two counts of second degree sexual assault.
“None of this needed to happen if the law was adhered to. None of this would have taken place if this person was detained and deported for a simple property crime,” Van Orden said.
— WisPolitics has been tracking committee assignments for Wisconsin Congress members this session. Assignments tracked so far include:
- U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, will serve on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and the Appropriations Committee.
- U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, will be the chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and will serve on the Finance Committee, the Budget Committee and the Aging Committee.
- U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville, will serve on the Financial Services Committee.
- U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, will serve on the Armed Services Committee.
- U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, will serve on the Appropriations Committee.
- U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, R-De Pere, will serve on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Agriculture Committee.
- U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, will serve on the Ways and Means Committee and the Joint Economic Committee. She will also be on the Subcommittees on Social Security, Tax Policy, and Work and Welfare.
– President Joe Biden has signed U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s bill to authorize the construction of a monument to women’s suffrage on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
“Women’s right to vote and have their voices heard was not given, it was hard fought for by generations of women, locking arm in arm in the struggle for a more just country,” the Madison Dem said. “It’s our job to ensure that these women and the fight for this fundamental right is remembered and honored.”
– Baldwin told “UpFront” she has “concerns” about some of Trump’s nominees.
She is pushing to meet with some of the more controversial picks to ask “tough questions” ahead of confirmation votes in the U.S. Senate. Baldwin singled out Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for Defense secretary, and Kash Patel, his pick to lead the FBI.
“Their concerns are different types with regard to each of those nominees, and that’s why I’m going to be very interested to see the FBI vetting materials, to meet with them if possible, and to see the hearings unfold when they are asked tough questions and have to answer,” Baldwin said on the show, produced in cooperation with WisPolitics.
Baldwin, though, has said she will back former northern Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy, tapped by Trump to lead the Department of Transportation.
“I worked on transportation issues with Sean Duffy when he served in the House of Representatives,” Baldwin said. “So I feel really good about the idea of having a Wisconsinite in that role who actually knows the infrastructure needs of our state.”
Also on the show, U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville, discussed his huddle with House Speaker Mike Johnson and two key Republican holdouts just moments before they returned to the House floor to change their votes for speaker.
“The conversation that I was a part of was just a group of members before we went back out for a vote on the House floor,” Steil told “UpFront.” “I wouldn’t describe it as arm-twisting. I would describe it really is just a true family conversation about how do we deliver upon our agreed-upon goals and objectives? Again, we’re unified in policy, and I think you saw that on the campaign as President Trump and conservatives across the country ran for office.”
See more from the show here.
Posts of the week
ICYMI
Politico: Duffy confirmation hearing tentatively set
The Hill: Ron Johnson: Reducing ‘out of control’ government spending is not only ‘reasonable but doable’
WMTV: Stepping into the minority: Senator Baldwin sworn into US Senate
Spectrum News 1: Wisconsin lawmakers on Trump’s promise to eliminate the Department of Education
