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
Democrats’ soft-on-crime policies have failed everywhere they’ve been tried. It’s simple: when police are prohibited from enforcing the law and district attorneys refuse to prosecute criminals, our communities are less safe.
– U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, R-De Pere, criticizing Democrats as soft on crime.
Letting a guy who smuggled nearly a million pounds of cocaine out of jail scot-free is not tough on drugs.
– U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, condemning President Donald Trump’s pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was serving a 45-year prison sentence for drug trafficking.
This week’s news
— GOP U.S. Reps. Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden, two of Dems’ top targets next fall, are knocking the state Supreme Court after it created two panels of judges to hear a pair of lawsuits challenging Wisconsin’s congressional lines.
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The court last week appointed two separate three-judge panels, opening the door to new maps for the 2026 elections.
Steil, R-Janesville, in a statement to WisPolitics said “everyone should be concerned about the lack of transparency from the Supreme Court in selecting district judges to oversee this case, without providing any rationale for why they were chosen.”
Steil said he plans to run for reelection and win regardless of that process.
“Four years of reckless spending under the Biden Administration drove up costs by more than 20%,” Steil said. “Today, costs remain high and families are still struggling to make ends meet. I remain focused on making life more affordable for working families, securing our communities, and protecting our seniors.”
Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien responded to news about the court’s order with a post on X saying: “These folks care about one thing: power.”
The state Supreme Court’s move comes amid a national redistricting battle spurred after President Donald Trump pushed Texas to create more GOP seats ahead of the midterms. That triggered a series of states to consider redrawing their congressional maps due to a narrow majority in the House.
In Wisconsin, Republicans hold a 6-2 majority in the House delegation despite being a swing state.
One of the suits challenges the maps as a partisan gerrymander, while the other argues the maps are an anti-competitive gerrymander that protects incumbents and eliminates real competition.
Attorney Doug Poland with Law Forward, the firm involved in the anti-competitive gerrymander suit, hailed the court for rejecting “efforts to stonewall our case by attorneys” for GOP congressmen and the Republican-controlled state Legislature. He said the firm looks forward to “prevailing on the merits, and delivering competitive congressional maps for the voters of Wisconsin.”
It’s unclear how long the three-judge panels could take to review the legal challenges. The state Elections Commission has said maps must be in place by March so candidates can start circulating nomination papers April 15.
— U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers introducing a resolution honoring World AIDS Day after the Trump administration declined a commemoration for the first time since it was created 37 years ago.
World AIDS Day, which took place Monday, honors those who have lost their lives to HIV/AIDS and aims to fight stigma against those fighting HIV/AIDS. The resolution commemorates the holiday, supports efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, and affirms the goal of reaching zero new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths.
Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, chairs the congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus.
“I’m honored to be part of a bipartisan group in Congress to recognize this important day,” Pocan said. “We’re closer than ever before to eradicating this disease; we cannot give up now. This is the time for the government to fulfill its commitment to ending the HIV epidemic and for leaders around the globe to reaffirm their commitment to ending AIDS once and for all.”
Pocan introduced the resolution with Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., in the House. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is leading the Senate version.
— U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, has reintroduced a bill that would give state and local governments the ability to reject proposed refugee resettlements.
The reintroduction comes as Tiffany, who is running for governor, is again criticizing the admission of Afghan refugees at Wisconsin’s Fort McCoy in 2021 after a 29-year-old Afghan national faces charges for shooting two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., last week, killing one of them.
Tiffany has argued Afghan refugees brought into the country weren’t properly vetted and must all be “reexamined.” His press release noted the resettlement of Somali refugees in western Wisconsin last year.
“America is generous, but no community should be blindsided or have its resources stretched thin because the federal government made the decision for them to resettle refugees,” Tiffany said. “This commonsense legislation ensures that the people most affected have the final say in the refugee resettlement process now and into the future.”
U.S. Reps. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, and Tony Wied, R-De Pere, are co-sponsors of the Community Assent for Refugee Entry Act.
— A PAC backing Republican Michael Alfonso’s bid for the 7th CD has poured another $293,312 into its efforts, according to a new filing with the FEC.
The expense for a media placement has pushed the group’s overall effort supporting Alfonso to $788,317 since its first outlay Nov. 13.
The group has been running a TV ad in the northern Wisconsin district praising Alfonso as an “America First” conservative who will partner with President Donald Trump to defeat the radical left. The 25-year-old political newcomer is the son-in-law of U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who formerly represented the seat.
Along with Alfonso, Jessi Ebben, who ran for the 3rd CD in 2020, and businessman Paul Wassgren, have filed as Republicans to run for the seat. Kevin Hermening, a former Marathon County GOP chair and a financial adviser, told WisPolitics last month he has decided to run for the seat, but won’t formally launch his campaign until next year.
On the Dem side, former state Rep. Fred Clark, who represented a district in south-central Wisconsin while in the Legislature; Chris Armstrong, of New Richmond; and Ginger Murray, of New Lisbon; have filed to run.
Posts of the week
ICYMI
New York Times: Trump administration will no longer commemorate World AIDS Day
The Hill: Ron Johnson shoots down tariff checks
Spectrum News 1: Wisconsin Congressman defends second boat strike in Caribbean
WFRV: Congressman Tony Wied backs bipartisan bill to boost U.S. blood supply
Wisconsin Public Radio: ‘No one necessarily knows what it means’: Navy cancels ships planned in Marinette
