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

Welcome back President Trump! I look forward to working together to secure our border, lower costs for Wisconsin families, and unleash American energy.
– U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville, in response to Trump’s return to the Oval Office. 

Somehow, billionaires getting front row seats at Trump’s inauguration doesn’t give me confidence that working families are the priority.
– U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, in response to tech company CEOs Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos’ seating arrangements at Trump’s inauguration.

This week’s news

— U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s office tells WisPolitics he opposes pardons issued by President Donald Trump this week to those who attacked police during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. 

WisPolitics asked each Wisconsin Republican member of Congress to weigh in on Trump’s decision to pardon those involved in the riot. 

Van Orden’s office said the former Navy SEAL supports pardoning the non-violent participants in the events of Jan. 6, but that he “does not support pardons for the individuals who assaulted police officers.” Van Orden is a Prairie du Chien Republican.

Other House Republican offices did not immediately respond to the inquiry. 

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, weighed in on President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon five of his family members due to his concerns the incoming Trump administration will unfairly target them. 

Baldwin told WisPolitics: “Presidents have the right to pardon who they want, but I fundamentally believe pardons should be used to right the wrongs of the past — not to hand out political favors or for family members.” 

Baldwin in the emailed statement also criticized Trump for using pardons “to set free violent criminals who beat up cops with fire extinguishers, metal batons, and flag poles just because they are his supporters is wrong and makes our communities less safe.”

WisPolitics asked each of the state’s Dem members to respond to Biden’s pardons.

U.S. Reps. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, and Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, both pointed to Trump’s decision to pardon those who participated in the Capitol riot. 

“Why am I being asked to comment on this news when Donald Trump just pardoned 1,500 insurrectionists, including the leader of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers?” Moore said. “These criminals include individuals who assaulted police officers and obstructed the certification of the 2020 election.”

Pocan also noted Trump’s pardons when asked about Biden’s decision to pardon his family members. 

“Not sure you can equate preventing the political witch hunt for five family members to a mob who assaulted police officers and committed attacks on our democracy,” Pocan said in a statement to WisPolitics. 

Wisconsin Republicans criticized Biden’s pardon decision online this week. 

“Joe Biden’s final act in office was admitting that his entire family is guilty of foreign corruption. What a way to cement his corrupt legacy,” U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, said on X

— The man who set fire to U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman’s Fond du Lac office has been charged with arson, terrorist threat, attempted burglary and criminal damage to property. 

Caiden Sage Stachowicz, 19, of Menasha, appeared in court Wednesday after allegedly setting fire to the Glenbeulah Republican’s Fond du Lac office early Sunday. 

The complaint says that Stachowicz set fire to the office because the GOP congressman voted to require the sale of TikTok unless the company divested from its Chinese parent company. TikTok was temporarily down from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon. 

Bond has been set at $500,000, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 30. 

“We are grateful for the quick actions of the Fond du Lac Police and Fire Departments that ensured nobody was injured in this attack and prevented more significant property damage,” District Attorney Eric Toney said in a release. “We will continue to aggressively prosecute anyone that attempts to intimidate government officials from performing their lawful duties, regardless of whether we agree with the government action.” 

“Nobody was hurt in the fire and the damage has been contained,” Grothman said on X following the fire. “Thank you to the FDL firefighters and police officers for your swift response.”

— Wisconsin Republican members of Congress all celebrated Trump’s return to the White House at his inauguration. 

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, was the only Wisconsin Dem to attend the event. Former GOP U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Transportation, also attended the ceremony. 

U.S. Reps. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, and Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, skipped the event.

Pocan participated in community service events for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and met with Centro Hispano of Dane County, LGBTQ+ advocates and local postal workers. Pocan at a news conference Monday said he “thought it was a far more important use of my time to get around the district and talk to populations of folks that I’m afraid are at risk under a Trump presidency.” 

Moore on WISN’s “UpFront,” produced in partnership with WisPolitics, said: “It’s been very hard to respect Donald Trump.”

“It was a process, my deciding not to go,” Moore said. “When I came to the realization that Inauguration Day was going to fall on MLK Day, something that hasn’t happened since Bill Clinton was inaugurated, my constituents really, it was a drumbeat of folks begging me to come and go to the events I go to every single year since there’s never any conflict.

“I think the final straw for me was his whining about Jimmy Carter’s, about the flag being flown at half-staff to honor the 39th president,” Moore added. “I just, you know, I think that it’s been very hard to respect Donald Trump.”

Moore said she has “no problem” with Baldwin attending. 

Also on “UpFront,” state GOP Chair Brian Schimming dismissed Democrats who didn’t plan to attend, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“Personally, if members of the delegation make their own decision not to show up, I think that looks worse for them than it does for us,” Schimming said. “And, I will say this: I don’t know how many Republicans at this event will be missing Nancy Pelosi.”

— Wisconsin is one of 20 states and cities suing to block an executive order Trump signed to end birthright citizenship for certain people born in the United States. 

Dem Gov. Tony Evers and Dem Attorney General Josh Kaul announced the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. They argued the order, one of dozens signed by Trump on his first day in office, is clearly unconstitutional.

“The Constitution, federal law, and Supreme Court precedent all make clear that the children who would be impacted by this executive order are United States citizens,” Kaul said. “This attempt to deny them citizenship in blatant violation of the Constitution should be rejected.”

Birthright citizenship is protected under the Fourteenth Amendment, but Trump has argued it doesn’t extend to everyone born on American soil. 

The lawsuit calls Trump’s order a “flagrantly unlawful attempt to strip hundreds of thousands American-born children of their citizenship based on their parentage.” The filing argues the Fourteenth Amendment “unambiguously and expressly” bestows citizenship on those born in the country. It notes Congress codified that right in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.

The filing also states if upheld, thousands of children would be at risk of deportation and lose access to a myriad of social services and the right to engage in economic and civic life in the U.S. 

The filing calls the move “a policy tactic to purportedly deter immigration to the United States.”

“Despite a President’s broad powers to set immigration policy, however, the Citizenship Stripping Order falls far outside the legal bounds of the President’s authority,” it states.

Trump’s directive asserts birthright citizenship does not automatically apply in cases: “when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth” or “when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary … and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.” 

Along with the state of Wisconsin, plaintiffs in the lawsuit include: Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Colorado, Delaware, Nevada, Hawaii, Maryland, Maine, New Mexico, Vermont, the District of Columbia, and the city of San Francisco. Vermont and Nevada are the only states led by GOP governors to join the lawsuit. 

— U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, split on legislation to require the Homeland Security secretary to take into custody those in the country without documentation who are charged in the U.S. with theft.

The bill cleared the Senate 64-35 and now goes to the House to sign off on changes that were made before it can head to President Donald Trump.

Baldwin previously voted to allow debate on the bill while raising concerns that she believed it was flawed and wanted a larger discussion about immigration. 

In a statement after the vote, Baldwin said the bill as now drafted will “cause more chaos” while failing to “prioritize the people who are guilty of committing crimes.”

“I came to the table to debate the Laken Riley Act because I’ll work with anyone to fix our broken immigration system and keep our Wisconsinites safe – and I’m glad to have improved the bill to ensure that violent criminals and those who assault cops are going to be prioritized,” Baldwin said, adding the bill needed more changes.

— House Speaker Mike Johnson has officially announced his choice of U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville, to continue as chair of the House Administration Committee this session. 

The reappointment of Steil to the post had been expected.

“As Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, I am excited to continue working to strengthen our elections and ensure the Capitol is open and accessible for all Americans,” Steil said in a statement. “I am proud of the progress we have made so far, but our work is just beginning. I thank Speaker Johnson for his support, and I look forward to continuing to achieve results over the next two years.”  

— Former Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy was approved unanimously to serve as the new head of the Dept. of Transportation. 

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation voted 28-0 to approve Trump’s pick to lead DOT.

Duffy had received bipartisan support at his confirmation hearing last week, with both Wisconsin senators endorsing him. 

Next, Duffy’s nomination will head to the entire Senate for a vote. That date has not yet been set. 

Posts of the week

ICYMI

Punchbowl News: Steil wants Congress to go big and bigger on crypto

WMTV: 19-year-old arrested for setting fire to U.S. Representative Glenn Grothman’s office building

The Daily Cardinal: ‘A very eye-opening day’: Pocan urges Wisconsinites to support immigrant communities following Trump’s inauguration

WPR: President Trump pardons more than 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants, including 11 from Wisconsin

Dryden Wire: U.S. House passes Congressman Tom Tiffany’s ACRES Act by voice vote