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Quotes of the week
This was not going to be easy. He’s taken them out, but he has to finish the job. He’s kicked the hornet’s nest. He has to finish the job.
– U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, on how President Donald Trump has prosecuted the Iran war.
All these days into this conflict, we see the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed, gas prices here going from $3 to $5 across this country, and we see a more hardline regime in Iran that still possesses their nuclear material. So we’ve gone backwards, not forwards.
– U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison.
This week’s news
— U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore on WisPolitics’ “Capitol Chats” says a U.S. Supreme Court ruling narrowing a key component of the Voting Rights Act “is carrying us all the way back to the 19th century.”
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The high court last week issued a ruling narrowing a section of the landmark civil rights legislation barring racial discrimination in voting. That section had been used to justify considering race in redistricting, such as the drawing of majority-Black congressional districts.
Moore, D-Milwaukee and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, criticized the court for the decision and a subsequent ruling paving the way to eliminate one of two majority-Black districts in Alabama.
“It is so obvious that they’re making political decisions,” Moore said. “Just two years prior, they determined that (Alabama U.S. Rep.) Shomari Figures’ seat was constitutional, and now their ruling demonstrates, you know, the conflicting and contradictory decisions that they’re rendering just to support having a majority-Republican voting bloc. And so I think that the hypocrisy is just evident; you don’t need a law degree or some legal analyst to figure it out.”
Moore said the impact on the Congressional Black Caucus may not be felt yet in the upcoming midterm elections.
“But certainly in 2028. We suspect that all the people who didn’t redistrict this time may try to do it again; it’s clearly a race to the bottom,” Moore said, noting the Virginia Supreme Court struck down Dems’ U.S. House map in the state after voters approved it by referendum last month.
Moore also criticized the ongoing reconciliation process Republicans have kicked off to provide more than $70 billion for ICE and Border Patrol, including $1 billion in security costs for President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project.
Moore knocked the reconciliation move, which helps Republicans expedite the process and avert a filibuster in the Senate, as “a totally partisan activity.”
“We’re very proud of the fact that we got the Homeland Security bill funded, all except for ICE and the … customs and border enforcement agencies, because of the tremendous abuses that we saw. And what Democrats were asking for was not something revolutionary or new or novel or strange, but just normal policing,” Moore said.
Democrats have pushed for more accountability measures for immigration enforcement, such as requiring agents to be unmasked and identify themselves and the use of judicial warrants, in the wake of the killing of two American citizens by immigration agents in Minnesota in January.
Listen to the full “Capitol Chats” episode.
— U.S. Rep. Tony Wied says he’s open to Trump’s push to suspend the federal gas tax.
But U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan argues suspending the tax would “barely make a dent in prices” as the war in Iran continues to drive gas prices to new highs.
Trump on Monday backed suspension of the federal gas tax, but the move would require congressional approval. Some Republicans and Democrats have separately expressed support for suspending the gas tax.
That includes Wied.
“While I hope to see a swift conclusion to the conflict in Iran, which will surely bring down prices, we should consider all options to provide relief – including suspending the gas tax – to ease the burden for hardworking Wisconsin families,” the De Pere Republican said in a statement.
The United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. The Persian Gulf country has retaliated by blockading the Strait of Hormuz, through which a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil travels, sending gas prices worldwide soaring.
“We wouldn’t be having this conversation if Donald Trump hadn’t gotten us into a war of his choice,” Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, said, noting the gas tax pays for “much needed improvements” to federal transportation infrastructure.
“Gas is up more than $1.50 since the start of this war and there’s no guarantee that these oil companies won’t pocket the difference if we suspend the gas tax,” Pocan added.
The average price for a gallon of gas in Wisconsin stood at $4.51 yesterday, according to AAA’s Fuel Price Tracker, up from $3.79 a month ago and $2.92 this time last year.
The federal gas tax stands at 18.4 cents per gallon and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel, per the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
In addition, Wisconsin has its own 30.9 cent-per-gallon gas tax. That brought in some $81.6 million from gasoline sales in March, according to the state Department of Transportation.
GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan said on X that diesel hit an all-time high in Wisconsin on Tuesday, at $5.87; Illinois, Michigan and Indiana also posted record-high prices for diesel fuel.
Refinery issues and scheduled maintenance in Illinois and Indiana are also contributing to elevated gas prices in the Midwest.
Several states have suspended or reduced their gas tax in light of price increases from the Iran war.
— Wisconsin Dems are criticizing Republicans for a provision in the more than $70 billion reconciliation package to provide $1 billion in security items related to Trump’s White House ballroom project.
The package primarily seeks funding for ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The proposal also includes the $1 billion for “security adjustments and upgrades” related to the ballroom.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, this week argued there are more pressing issues that need to be addressed.
“At a moment when Wisconsinites are demanding some breathing room, President Trump and Republicans are instead trying to force families to foot the bill for a $1 billion glitzy ballroom that no one asked for,” Baldwin said. “A billion dollars is a lot of taxpayer money, and Wisconsinites deserve those resources to be invested back in their communities to make their lives easier and less expensive.”
Construction of the ballroom is being funded through private donations, and the $1 billion could only be used for security purposes, according to the bill.
The provision was included following an attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last month. Cole Allen, 31, has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president, assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon and firearm violations. He pleaded not guilty this week.
Baldwin’s office shared a memo demonstrating ways the money could be used to help Wisconsinites.
According to the memo, the $1 billion could go toward replacing every remaining lead pipe in the state. The memo also states it could cover just over six months of Affordable Care Act tax credits, which the GOP-controlled Congress let expire, for 275,000 Wisconsinites based on the average savings of $585 per month, among other examples.
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, in a statement said Republicans “couldn’t be more out of touch with working Americans.”
“They are supporting another costly war in the Middle East and worsening the cost of living crisis. While Americans struggle with skyrocketing costs, Republicans plan to use taxpayer dollars to support Trump’s gold ballroom. It is ridiculous,” Moore said.
U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Glenbeulah, criticized the provision on a recent edition of WisPolitics’ “Capitol Chats” podcast, calling it “wildly high.” Other Wisconsin GOP Congress members did not return requests for comment on the provision.
— New polling for the conservative League of American Workers found less than half the voters surveyed in northern Wisconsin’s 7th CD approved of President Donald Trump’s job performance.
Though he won the district with more than 60% of the vote in 2024, 49% approved of the job he’s doing now, while 44% disapproved.
The poll also found 45% of 7th CD voters approved of the job Republicans are doing, while 46% disapproved. The split for the Dem Party was 39-48.
Meanwhile, 51% supported the military actions against Iran, while 43% disapproved.
The poll also asked voters’ views of GOP candidates for the open 7th CD.
Thirty-nine percent had a favorable opinion of Michael Alfonso, the son-in-law of U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Sixteen percent had an unfavorable one.
The split for Kevin Hermening, a financial adviser and former Marathon County GOP chair, was 36-15, and it was 30-16 for Jessi Ebben, a director at Ashley Furniture. Niina Threlfall-Baum, who runs a digital marketing firm for rural businesses, was at 32-12.
The poll also included results from the 7th CD GOP primary, though the margin of error for that portion of the sample was plus or minus 6 percentage points.
It found 35% backed Alfonso, while 21% supported Hermening. Ebben and Threlfall-Baum were at 5% each.
The poll was conducted April 28-May 1. That was just as a PAC launched a TV ad praising Ebben.
For the overall sample, the generic congressional ballot results favored Republicans 44-41.
The survey of 504 registered voters was conducted online by TIPP using its national network of panel partners. It was weighted by gender, age, race, region and prior vote, and the margin of error for the full sample was plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
Nate Silver rates TIPP an A pollster.
— Former Gov. Tommy Thompson, who has flirted in recent months with making another run for his old office, instead endorsed fellow Republican Tom Tiffany.
In a statement to WisPolitics on Friday, Thompson said he is endorsing Tiffany, a Northwoods congressman, because he knows Wisconsin “has to keep reforming and moving forward.”
“At this critical moment, he is the right leader for Wisconsin’s future, and I look forward to campaigning for him and all Republicans across the state this November,” Thompson said.
Talk of the 84-year-old Thompson running again surfaced in recent months. Insiders saw it as a sign the ex-governor believed he was the only one who could address the challenges he sees facing Wisconsin and that Tiffany wasn’t up to the task. His endorsement of the Minocqua Republican ends that chatter and eliminates a distraction for the 7th CD congressman as he marches toward the GOP nomination.
Posts of the week
ICYMI
PBS Wisconsin: US Sen. Tammy Baldwin on the war and ceasefires with Iran
The Badger Project: Percentage of missed votes by members of Congress from Wisconsin in 2021-24
WPR: Tommy Thompson endorses Tom Tiffany’s bid for Wisconsin governor
Wisconsin Watch: Here’s how much the wealth of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation has changed since going to Washington
HNG News: Candidates line up to take on Grothman for 6th District House race
WPR: VA Secretary says Wisconsin VA hospitals are hiring, after Trump administration cut 30K positions
Channel 3000: Steil and Collins discuss veterans’ care in Janesville
