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
I think we can do oversight and hold this administration to account at the same time that we’re addressing the very central needs that voters have told us, not just in Wisconsin, but across the country.
– U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, on what Democrats should do with their new majorities.
The House, the Senate, and state legislators, state governors have got to get in. If they want to change this party and become a majority party again, they’ve got to start taking some control and start making their own decisions, and not just let the president of the United States make the decision.
– Former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson on the future of the GOP.
This week’s news
— U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries “is going to be the speaker” of the House when Democrats take control next year.
Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, said he did not expect a challenge to the New York Democrat’s bid to lead the House. A handful of newly elected progressives have indicated they may withhold their support for Jeffries, though an alternative House speaker has not emerged.
Pocan noted Democrats had picked up one of their largest House majorities in years under Jeffries’ leadership.
Democrats will control at least 255 seats in the House next year, with control of 12 seats yet to be decided. Depending on how those seats go, Dems will have their largest majority since 2011, when they controlled 257 seats, or 1993, when they controlled 267.
“I think everyone is watching this wishing that the effort was going towards something like helping us lower the accessibility age for Medicare or something else rather than a race that’s unopposed,” Pocan said in an interview with WisPolitics. “But I’ll be done next week and then we can focus on the stuff that people actually voted for.”
He dismissed a failed procedural vote that shelved U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie’s articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, saying he’d spoken with Massie and expected the Kentucky Republican to file new articles of impeachment against Hegseth.
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told The Hill yesterday she thought it possible Massie could bring an impeachment vote forward before he leaves office next year.
Pocan blamed the absence of 11 Democrats from Tuesday’s vote on members being delayed from another event due to D.C. traffic.
“It was just a temporary setback, but also hopefully a wake-up call that if you’ve got something that’s not up on the Hill around vote time, maybe plan accordingly,” Pocan said.
— Pocan questioned whether House Republicans would be able to muster the numbers to pass legislation in the lame-duck session.
He pointed to members who missed votes Tuesday night and noted the majority caucus has only a three-seat edge on Dems.
Senate Republicans on Tuesday passed a resolution vowing to confirm every judicial and executive nominee the caucus supports – which does not require House votes – and to pass another budget reconciliation package – which does.
With current federal spending set to expire on Dec. 11, Pocan said it was an “open question” how Democrats would move forward on funding the federal government but said he doubted it would lead to a government shutdown.
He said he expected House members to work together to pass the least controversial of the 12 appropriations bills the House will have to sign off on, with a continuing resolution as a “backup option.”
“I do think there is a preference to get bills done if you can do them in a non-hyperpartisan way,” Pocan said.
— Rebecca Cooke says in her first 100 days in Congress she wants to renew Affordable Care Act tax credits that expired in 2025 and expand Medicare.
Cooke, who ousted U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden from his 3rd CD seat, told reporters in a press call last week she’d like to see the ACA premium tax credits extended for three years.
The Eau Claire Dem also wants to add hearing, vision and dental coverage to Medicare and increase reimbursement rates for Medicaid and Medicare.
Cooke also expressed support for a public health insurance option.
She said her district has had both a healthcare access and cost issue, with two major hospitals having closed in the past two years, adding she had met with and planned to continue engaging with rural hospital administrators.
“Healthcare has always been at the top of my platform, and we’ve seen things really get worse off for people in the 3rd. So I think working to claw back what some of these Medicaid cuts are setting in motion is a top priority,” Cooke said, referring to healthcare spending cuts in last year’s Republican-authored budget reconciliation bill.
Beyond healthcare, Cooke said she wants to work to end the war in Iran, cease tariffs and ban members of Congress from trading stocks. She also hopes to pass a farm bill to support small- and mid-sized farms and serve on the U.S. House’s agriculture and small business committees.
Van Orden, who lost by 6.6 points in last week’s election, has filed paperwork to run against Cooke in 2028.
— Members of Wisconsin’s House delegation split along party lines as Republicans blocked taking up articles of impeachment filed against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The House voted 211-204 to send the articles back to the Judiciary Committee. GOP leadership can keep them there until the next Congress convenes in January, effectively killing the measure for the remainder of the year.
Rep. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, introduced the articles of impeachment. He was the only Republican to join all Dems who voted in opposing the move.
U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, didn’t vote on the motion even though he was in Washington, D.C., yesterday. Still, he took a shot at Massie following yesterday’s vote in a social media post.
“Massie is a disgraceful joke that got used like a $20 hooker by the democrats and does not even understand it because he is a $20 hooker for attention,” Van Orden wrote.
GOP U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who lost the governor’s race last week, also didn’t vote on the motion to move the articles to committee. The House had three roll call votes late yesterday. Tiffany voted on the other two, while Van Orden was recorded as casting a ballot on one.
Ahead of the vote, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, posted on social media that she planned to support the effort.
“He has abused his official duties and breached public trust — endangering service members & civilians — leaving America less safe and harming our military readiness,” she wrote.
— U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, says he refused to participate in the Senate GOP leadership elections after his calls for a delay were rebuffed by the conference.
He wrote in a social media post that “a defeat of this magnitude demands serious reflection and change.” Senate Republicans went into the election with a 53-47 majority.
Dems are set to enter Congress with at least 55 seats after Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde Smith conceded the Mississippi Senate race to Democrat Scott Colom yesterday. Alaska’s Senate race has still not been called, though Dem Mary Peltola led in unofficial returns as of yesterday evening.
“Holding a rushed election ignores the message our voters sent. We must acknowledge where and why we failed and develop strategies to succeed,” Johnson wrote.
Johnson led an effort to delay leadership elections after last Tuesday’s losses for the Senate caucus, saying in a letter co-signed by four Senate Republicans to Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton that holding elections without a “robust” discussion and evaluation of leadership candidates would be “political malpractice.”
He told the Washington Examiner on Monday he would walk out if Republicans moved to elect Senate leadership today.
National media reported no alternatives emerged to U.S. Sen. John Thune, the South Dakota Republican who served as majority leader this session and was reelected to lead the caucus Tuesday.
Johnson was among a half-dozen conservative Republicans who backed U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, in an unsuccessful race with Thune for the caucus leadership position following the 2024 elections.
Thirty-one members of the Republican National Committee, including Wisconsin committeewoman Pam Travis, also signed a letter calling for House and Senate Republicans to postpone leadership elections by at least 30 days in order to assess the election outcome.
Travis declined to speak about the letter.
— U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has introduced legislation to lower Medicare eligibility to age 50, saying the move would expand options for 58 million Americans.
The Madison Dem today touted the Medicare at 50 Act as a way to address rising healthcare costs, saying Wisconsin families “sent an unmistakable message” in the midterm elections about affordability issues.
“For too many folks in their 50s and early 60s, finding affordable health insurance means paying through the nose or going without the coverage they need altogether,” Baldwin said in a statement. “That’s just not right. We can and must be bold and meet the moment to lower the cost of health care.”
Under the bill, Americans ages 50 to 64 would have the option to buy into Medicare, according to details from her office. The release notes more than 60 million Americans fall into this age range, and 11.5% of those between the ages of 55 and 64 are uninsured.
Enrollees in this lower age range would be eligible for the same benefits and protections under Medicare Parts A, B, and D, as well as having the option to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan, Baldwin’s office says. And eligible enrollees would also get premium tax credits and cost-sharing subsidies they could get through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace.
— Baldwin and Johnson introduced a joint resolution to congratulate the Milwaukee Brewers on winning the 2026 World Series.
The Brewers set a regular season franchise record with 103 wins and had a record of 11-2 in the playoffs. It was the first World Series victory in franchise history.
Posts of the week
ICYMI
Spectrum News 1: Wisconsin’s newest members of Congress excited, overwhelmed, ‘drinking from a fire hose’ during freshman orientation
The Hill: John Thune wins Senate leadership race as Ron Johnson boycotts election
AP: Democrats have gained control in more states. That could change the way the US elects its president
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Steil’s election loss to Berman could be blow to crypto industry
WISN: Crowley says he’d sign bill redrawing congressional lines as he looks to first 100 days
Spectrum News 1: Congressman Tony Wied hopeful for collaboration with Democratic-led House
Spectrum News 1: Wisconsin concession speeches show shift away from election denial
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson accuses Trump administration of corruption