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Quotes of the week

“Quiet, piggy.” That’s how Donald Trump responded to a female reporter asking about the Epstein files. That is the attitude of a life-long abuser of women and girls, and exactly why Republicans are scared of the Epstein files.
– U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, in response to President Donald Trump calling CBS News reporter Jennifer Jacobs “piggy” when she asked him about files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

Democrats spent years obstructing transparency and protecting those within their own ranks who maintained relationships with a convicted sex offender. Their conduct, including exploiting victims’ trauma to distract from their reckless 43-day government shutdown, has been disgraceful.
– U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, in a statement on his vote to release the Epstein files. 

This week’s news

— Wisconsin members of Congress this week voted in favor of a resolution to require the release of Department of Justice documents related to the investigation into late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

The resolution passed the House 427-1, with just U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., in opposition. The Senate then quickly passed the bill by unanimous consent, sending it to President Donald Trump for action. 

Tuesday’s votes came after Trump reversed course and came out in support of the House resolution amid GOP support for the measure. Trump and his administration had repeatedly railed against Republicans who said they supported it, but the president in a Truth Social post over the weekend advised House Republicans to back the resolution.

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, said the vote was “long overdue” and knocked past GOP efforts to block the resolution as Dems sought to highlight Trump’s past friendship with Epstein. 

“Speaker Johnson worked to block efforts to release these files from reaching the House floor, including recessing the House several times to stop Democratic attempts to push for the release,” Moore said. “At the White House, Trump engaged in a major pressure campaign to keep Republican members from supporting the petition. It did not work.” 

She called the vote “a vital step” toward transparency and accountability. 

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, said Democrats had failed to release the documents during the Biden administration.

“Only through complete transparency can we restore trust in our institutions. For years under President Biden, Democrats kept these files sealed, and today, I voted to release the Epstein files and give the American people the sunlight they deserve,” Tiffany said. 

U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said the vote promotes transparency and oversight. 

“I am confident the DOJ will handle this responsibly and not let it turn into another political witch hunt but instead treat it as a genuine effort to uncover the truth. Americans have a right to know what the government knows, and this is a step toward justice for those affected by Epstein’s horrific crimes,” Fitzgerald said. 

No Wisconsin Republicans signed the petition filed by U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., to force a vote on the Epstein files. 

Ahead of the Senate vote, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and fellow Senate Dems penned a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., urging a vote in the upper chamber. 

“The victims of Jeffrey Epstein – and the American people – deserve answers, accountability and the truth. So far, they have only seen empty promises from President Trump and his Administration,” they wrote. “Now that a majority of the U.S. House of Representatives has responsibly acted to provide transparency on this matter – we call on you to quickly hold a vote in the U.S. Senate to help deliver the accountability that was promised and that so many Americans are demanding.”

— New acting U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel told WisPolitics that Attorney General Pam Bondi had no alternative but to appoint someone to the position after the commission established by Wisconsin’s U.S. senators failed to agree on any candidates for the vacant post.

The former GOP AG said in the phone interview he hopes to persuade districts judges in the Eastern District to sign off on extending his appointment, which is for 120 days, after proving he’s in this “for the right reasons, for public service, that I’m not going to be a political bomb thrower, that I’m not interested in politics at all.”

Schimel told WisPolitics he originally applied for the post through the Federal Nominating Commission that U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, use to identify candidates for appointments such as U.S. attorney. But Schimel said he failed to get the required support from five of the six commissioners to be advanced to the White House for consideration.

Commission proceedings are typically private, and Schimel declined to say who told him he didn’t have enough support of the members to advance and the body failed to agree on anyone else. Schimel said he was told all three of Johnson’s appointments backed him as a candidate.

Johnson in a statement confirmed the commission didn’t agree on any candidates for the Eastern District, as well as for the Western District, which is based in Madison.

“Luckily for Wisconsinites, Brad Schimel is a man of integrity and will serve Wisconsin well as our interim U.S. Attorney,” Johnson said. “I sincerely hope the District Court votes to make Brad’s appointment last for the length of President Trump’s term.”

Baldwin’s office shared with WisPolitics a letter the commission co-chairs sent Aug. 14 notifying the senators they were unable to recommend anyone from either U.S. attorney appointment.

Schimel, 60, was a local prosecutor before he was elected Waukesha County DA in 2007. He served in that role for eight years before serving a single term as attorney general. After losing his reelection bid as AG in 2018, then-Gov. Scott Walker, who also lost his reelection bid that fall, appointed Schimel to the Waukesha County Circuit Court. Schimel gave up that seat for a run at the state Supreme Court this spring, losing by 10.1 percentage points.

Baldwin accused Trump of blowing up the Federal Nominating Commission process and slammed Schimel’s appointment, pointing to his losses in 2018 and this spring as she said he had been “soundly rejected twice by Wisconsinites because they knew he would play politics with the law, not deliver justice fairly for everyone – and he has no business being a top prosecutor in Wisconsin.”

Schimel called Baldwin’s comments disappointing, saying his experience from the campaign trail is that the “general public would like to see less vitriol, and they would like us to play better in the sandbox.” Schimel argued he gave AG Josh Kaul “room to do his job without any ankle-biting coming from me” after his Dem rival won in 2018. He also said he accepted his loss to liberal Susan Crawford right away in the spring Supreme Court race while saying he hopes she succeeds.

“If you run for office, then you’re branded a failed politician and you can’t do public service in any other way?” Schimel said. “I don’t think that’s really what anyone intended.”

Schimel said a four-month appointment prevents him from getting too deep into any case work. Instead, he plans to take the coming months to advocate for the office financially, saying it is short-staffed currently and needs additional resources to avoid burning out high-performing staff. He also planned to work on building relationships with partners in law enforcement.

Schimel told WisPolitics he has ruled out a future run for public office.

“One of the things appealing about this position is I am out of politics,” Schimel said. “No more endorsing judges. No more going to anybody’s events. I’m out of that, and I’m going to enjoy that break.”

— The latest results in a national Marquette University Law School Poll have warning signs for Republicans on the political environment building ahead of the 2026 elections.

And though Dems are less popular than Republicans in the results, that doesn’t seem to be hurting their electoral prospects.

That’s the conclusion of Poll Director Charles Franklin and Marquette Law School Lubar Fellow Craig Gilbert, who discussed the results of the latest survey during a WisPolitics-State Affairs event in Washington, D.C., this week.

The poll found 43% of adults approve of the job Trump is doing, while 57% disapprove, unchanged from September.

Gilbert noted while Trump’s overall number has remained steady, it’s been declining with independents. Just 25% approved of his job performance in the latest poll, compared to 37% shortly after he took office.

Gilbert said those are the people most likely to flip in an election.

“Republicans are living in an environment where at best they can try to match the Democrats in turnout but may not even do that, and then on top of that, if they’re losing battle for true swing voters and true independent voters, that’s a pretty daunting one-two combination, again, if we’re looking at the same kind of environment in October a year from now,” he said.

The poll also found Dems have an advantage both in the generic ballot and whose voters are most motivated to turn out. At the same time, only 36% of adults approve of Dems in Congress, while 64% disapprove.

At the same time, 49% of registered voters plan to vote for a Dem in congressional elections next year, while 44% plan to support a Republican. Among those who say they’re certain to vote, the split was 53-44 in Dems’ favor.

Franklin said part of what’s driving the unpopularity of Congressional Dems is their base being unhappy with the party for not resisting Trump enough or being effective in countering him. In the poll, 64% of self-identified Dems are happy with their party in Congress, compared to 79% of Republicans who approve of the job their party’s members are doing.

At the same time, 96% of Dems plan to vote for a Democratic congressional candidate, compared to 91% of Republicans who plan to support a GOP one.

Add that in with the results seen earlier this month in places like Virginia and New Jersey, and it shows that surveys focusing on how unpopular the Dem Party is are missing important context that Dem voters are still showing up at the polls, Franklin said.

“The underlying dynamic of it is different, and the electoral implications of it are different,” Franklin said.

Watch the video.

— U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is cosponsoring a Dem bill, the Anti-Cash Grab Act, to repeal a measure allowing senators to sue up to $500,000 for each instance their data is obtained without their consent.

Baldwin, D-Madison, voted against the now-enacted bill to reopen the federal government, which included the provision. 

“While 22 million Americans are being told there’s no money to stop their skyrocketing premiums, Republicans greenlit a taxpayer-funded payday for themselves,” Baldwin said. “Americans believe no one is above the law, and if you are part of an attempt to overturn a fair and free election, you should be investigated – not paid $500,000.”

Senate GOP leadership inserted the provision into the government funding bill after the FBI obtained call logs for eight senators, including U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, without their consent. The FBI accessed the information during the Biden administration amid a probe into efforts to subvert the 2020 election results. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he disapproves of the measure. 

Johnson, R-Oshkosh, has argued the GOP senators were targeted for being Republicans. Records related to the Jan. 6, 2021, violent protest at the Capitol show Johnson’s office was involved in an effort to pass a false slate of electors to then-Vice President Mike Pence that claimed Trump won Wisconsin when Joe Biden had secured its 10 electoral votes.

Johnson has said he supports the measure “as a deterrent to prevent future misuse of federal agencies.”

— U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running for governor next year, indicated he’d vote against expanding Affordable Care Act subsidies. 

The Minocqua Republican made the comments on WISN 12’s “UpFront,” produced in partnership with WisPolitics. 

“Well, we can do so much better,” Tiffany told “UpFront.” “I’m not sure why I would vote for the status quo that got us in this trouble. Remember, these are COVID-era subsidies, enhanced subsidies at this point. They’re going to people who make as much as $500,000 a year. Plus, there’s billions of dollars going to the health insurance companies. Is that who we want it to go to? No, we want it to go to the people who are going to benefit from it, so that requires reform. The ACA is not working as it was intended, so we do need to fix it.”

Tiffany is running against Washington County Exec Josh Schoemann in the August GOP primary for governor.

Tiffany also said he didn’t believe Dem Gov. Tony Evers was following the law when he directed the state to load November FoodShare benefits for Wisconsinites during the government shutdown. 

“But ultimately, what he should have done is he should have gotten on the phone with Sen. Baldwin and said, ‘Vote for the continuing resolution so that we know those SNAP benefits are going to be there.’ I voted to continue to fund the government seven weeks ago,” Tiffany said. 

— U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden said he is praying for former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s mother after she was hospitalized this week. 

Buttigieg had planned to hold a town hall in La Crosse in the Prairie du Chien Republican’s district this week to criticize Van Orden, but canceled it in light of the family emergency. 

“I have been made aware that @PeteButtigieg’s mother was recently admitted to the hospital for an urgent matter. I am praying for her full recovery and that Pete and his entire family find comfort,” Van Orden said in a post on X. 

Posts of the week

ICYMI

PBS Wisconsin: Baldwin describes focus on health care during the shutdown

Wisconsin Public Radio: Wisconsin congressional delegation split on deal reopening government

Racine County Eye: Rep. Bryan Steil talks about shutdowns, election reform, Epstein files, immigration, and more in Nov. 17 telephone town hall

WAAY31: Derrick Van Orden: ‘I’m not gonna get in between’ Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene

KABC: Two Republican senators hold hearing on Palisades Fire; blame local and state officialsBloomberg: Obamacare on ‘life support’ in Congress, says Rep. Gwen Moore

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