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
Prices are continuing to rise. My Republican colleague’s response? Cut Medicaid and add trillions to the debt, just to give a tax cut for their ultra-rich donors.
– U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, on the reconciliation bill recently signed into law.
Democrats in Congress lied and covered up Joe Biden’s cognitive decline. They allowed a mass invasion of illegal aliens. They drove inflation to a 40-year high. Gas prices reached all-time highs under their leadership. Never forget the consequences of their radical agenda.
– U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua.
This week’s news
— U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville, outraised Dem challenger Randy Bryce 45-to-1 over the past three months, according to quarterly reports filed with the FEC.
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Bryce launched his campaign May 20 after losing to Steil by a dozen points in 2018. He is the only Dem who has announced a campaign to unseat Steil next year from the 1st CD.
Steil reported raising $1.2 million over the period between April 1 and June 30. He spent $255,618 and had $3.7 million in his warchest. Meanwhile, Bryce raised just $25,768. The ‘Iron Stache’ spent $6,523 and had $19,245 in the bank. By comparison, Bryce raised $8.5 million in the 2018 election cycle.
Meanwhile, Eau Claire nonprofit leader Rebecca Cooke topped fellow Dem candidates’ fundraising in the 3rd CD race, raising $937,905. She spent $631,144 and had $1.3 million cash on hand. Eau Claire City Council President Emily Berge raised $150,878, spent $64,119 and had $86,758 in her warchest. Eau Claire Ald. Laura Benjamin raised $22,503, spent $12,035 and had $10,468 in the bank.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden raised $1.25 million. He spent $772,056 and had $1.7 million cash on hand.
Other incumbents cash and fundraising numbers included:
- U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, reported $85,000 raised and $95,494 in spending, with $124,860 in cash.
- U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, reported raising $199,322 and spending $105,762, with $1.1 million in cash.
- U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, reported $210,346 raised, $89,340 spent and $1.1 million in cash.
- U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Glenbeulah, reported raising $140,024 and spending $95,136, with $502,529 in cash.
- U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, reported raising $182,971 and spending $180,775, with $49,832 in cash.
- U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, R-De Pere, reported $140,132 raised, $67,639 spent and $240,463 in cash.
— Wisconsin senators split over a rescissions package that would claw back $9 billion in federal funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, voted against the package while U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, voted to pass it. The bill passed 51-48 and now goes to the House.
Ahead of the vote, Baldwin criticized Republicans for supporting it.
“Wisconsin families across the state, especially those in rural and farming communities, depend on their local public radio and TV stations to stay safe during emergencies like flash floods, AMBER Alerts, snow storms, and tornadoes,” Baldwin in a statement to WisPolitics. “My Republican colleagues voted to fund these programs and now, just because the President says he doesn’t like it, they are going to bend the knee and take these resources away from our local communities.”
Johnson in a post on X said it’s the “least” Congress can do to cut spending.
“Rescinding $9 billion from $7,000 billion in total spending should be a chip shot,” Johnson said. “With $1,900 billion average deficits over the last five years, it’s the very least we can do.”
The package would eliminate dollars for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides funding for NPR and PBS. Republicans have argued the media outlets are biased and shouldn’t receive funding from the government. The bill would also rescind funding from USAID, a foreign aid agency the Trump administration has been working to eliminate.
The chamber removed a provision that would have ended the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which was created under former President George W. Bush to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
— Gay Wisconsin Dems are pushing back on plans to shut down the LGBTQ+ hotline within the national suicide and crisis lifeline.
President Donald Trump had announced last month his administration plans to shut down the service today.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, who coauthored the 2020 bill to create the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, argued the hotline serving LGBTQ+ youth has saved lives and criticized President Donald Trump for “cutting off specialized services for gay, lesbian, bi, and trans children.”
“This outrageous and cruel attack on LGBTQ+ youth comes at a time when we should be building on the success of this lifesaving service, not turning suicide prevention into a partisan issue, Baldwin said in a release yesterday.” I’ll fight tooth and nail to stop this administration from taking away this precious lifeline, and I call on my Republican colleagues who have long supported this program to fight for these kids, too.”
U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had promised to meet with him on the HHS plan to shut down the LGBTQ+ hotline, but said Kennedy has not responded to multiple requests to meet.
“This shortsighted and dangerous plan undermines 988’s ability to provide tailored support for a population with a higher risk of suicide and will have lethal consequences if enacted,” Pocan said in a release yesterday. “I urge the Secretary meet expeditiously to discuss this further.”
An HHS spokesperson told WisPolitics in an email the LGBTQ+ option within the 988 lifeline had run out of congressionally directed funding, and continuing the option would have threatened “massive reductions in service” throughout the whole lifeline.
“The 988 Lifeline will continue to be a direct connection to immediate support for all Americans, regardless of their circumstances,” the spokesperson said. “It is a resource for anyone in crisis. That has not changed.”
— U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson issued a subpoena to FBI Director Kash Patel for records related to the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally last July.
“One year following the assassination attempt of President Trump, the American people still do not have answers to all of their questions about the breakdown of security at the Butler campaign rally and detailed information about the would-be assassin, Thomas Crooks,” the Oshkosh Republican said in a release last week.
Johnson, who chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said he expected the FBI “to be more forthcoming” with information about the assassination attempt. He added he is issuing the subpoena to “promote transparency.”
With the subpoena, Johnson said he’d expect the FBI to provide:
- Security camera footage obtained that may identify Crooks’ movements in advance of the shooting;
- Forensic reports on the assassination attempt, including ballistics, trajectory, explosive, and drone analysis records; and
- Records about Crooks, including documents relating to his social media and email accounts, search history, call logs and other communications.
Johnson said the deadline for the subpoena is August 1.
— U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil says it was “a bit of a strange analysis” when asked about recent comments by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins that Medicaid recipients could replace farmworkers who are in the country illegally.
“I think there’s a significant number of jobs that are available,” Steil told WISN 12’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “The work requirement simply says you need to be even looking for work, volunteering 20 hours a week or working 20 hours a week or 80 hours a month. As you drive around communities here in southeast Wisconsin, I think we see plenty of ‘Help Wanted’ signs. Again, it’s about getting people back into the workforce and then into good and better-paying jobs.”
Beyond that, the Janesville Republican said he would not support any type of amnesty program for farmworkers.
Posts of the week
ICYMI
WPR: What does Trump’s budget law mean for Wisconsin taxpayers?
Spectrum News 1: GOP Congressman claims credit for a provision in state budget, but the Governor’s office says he had nothing to do with it
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Gwen Moore signs onto letter urging ICE to avoid deporting crime victim visa applicants
NPR: U.S. senator wants DOGE out of sensitive payment system for farmers
AP: Milwaukee man pleads guilty to carrying concealed pistol near Republican National Convention
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Republicans at odds with Trump over release of Epstein case documents
