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

Thank you, @SecWar, for standing up for our military members and taking a step in the right direction to right the Biden administration’s unconscionable wrongs.
– U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, praising U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for no longer requiring troops to receive the flu vaccine. 

The changes this administration is trying to implement when it comes to vaccines are putting kids at risk of debilitating, fatal and completely preventable diseases.
– U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, criticizing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at hearing on the agency’s budget this week with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Baldwin knocked proposed research funding cuts, which she said would “cut off hope” for millions of Americans with life-threatening diseases. 

This week’s news

—  U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin said “now is the time to act” as she urged fellow senators to support her resolution to halt ongoing U.S. military operations in Iran, which she called “unnecessary, illegal and unwise.”

Baldwin, D-Madison, spoke in a floor speech yesterday before the chamber voted against advancing the resolution, which would require congressional approval for the war to continue. The measure failed 46-51, with U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voting in favor and U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., voting against.

“We have no idea if the president will, as he has many times, change his position and go through with his threat to commit war crimes and bomb civilian infrastructure. So now is the time to act,” Baldwin said. “We simply do not have any time to waste and see if an entire civilization will die because the president gets impatient. This entire war has been unnecessary, illegal and unwise, and we need to put a check on this president before it gets even worse.”

Baldwin remarks referenced Trump’s comments earlier this month threatening Iran by saying “a whole civilization will die tonight” without an agreement to stop the hostilities. 

The office of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, who voted against the resolution, did not immediately return a request for comment.

Johnson has defended the war, though he has also warned President Donald Trump would lose his support if he carried out threats to attack Iranian power plants and bridges. 

Yesterday’s vote marked the fifth time the GOP-controlled Senate has blocked resolutions to end the war since U.S. and Israeli forces attacked Iran in late February. So far, at least 13 American servicemembers have died in the war. 

Baldwin noted the deaths along with hundreds of injured, thousands of civilian deaths and higher gas prices since the onset of the war.

“The American people have been crystal clear that they do not want this war. … They want what they were promised from this president: lower costs and no foreign wars,” she said. 

— Wisconsin House Republicans are knocking Democrats for an ongoing Department of Homeland Security partial shutdown in response to Gov. Tony Evers’ push for more storm aid. 

Evers sent a letter to the state’s congressional members over the weekend asking them to advocate for disaster aid for Wisconsin and for the Trump administration to approve previous requests for federal funding it rejected in the wake of severe flooding last year. 

“If Tony Evers actually cared about disaster relief, he wouldn’t be writing letters, he’d be calling Tammy Baldwin and Senate Democrats to fully fund DHS and FEMA so Wisconsin isn’t left scrambling when storms hit,” U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, said in a statement to WisPolitics. 

Baldwin in a statement to WisPolitics noted the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill last month to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, including FEMA. The measure excluded funding for ICE and Border Patrol amid the department’s ongoing partial shutdown. 

“Nearly a month ago, the Senate unanimously passed a bill to fund FEMA and make sure that communities can rebuild after disasters,” Baldwin said. “House Republicans are still refusing to act – and every day they sit on their hand, it’s putting support for communities hit hard by disasters, like Wisconsin, at risk. They need to pass this bill now.”

With Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., declining to bring the proposal to the floor for a vote, the Senate this week kicked off an effort to fund border security and immigration enforcement through the reconciliation process in order to avoid relying on Dem support.

U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, in response to Evers’ letter noted the state received $29.8 million in disaster aid for homeowners late last year after the Trump administration approved a disaster declaration for Milwaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties. 

The administration also rejected a more than $26.5 million request for public assistance for six counties — Door, Grant, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha — to help support emergency work and repair or replacement of damaged facilities, while the request for Hazard Mitigation funding hasn’t been addressed. 

“I have voted repeatedly this Congress to fund the Department of Homeland Security, while Democrats continue to keep the agency shut down for political reasons. Their reckless decision to prioritize illegal aliens over Wisconsinites is directly impacting FEMA’s ability to help Americans across the United States recover from horrific storms,” Fitzgerald said. 

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville, has urged Evers to immediately begin the process of formally requesting FEMA assistance. 

“To conduct any unnecessary delays or politicize the needs of communities across Wisconsin will only delay support for families in need,” Steil wrote in a post on X. 

— Former Eau Claire City Council President Emily Berge suggested national Dem leaders are hypocritical for backing well-funded candidates while also advocating to reverse a Supreme Court ruling that unleashed unlimited outside spending in elections. 

Berge didn’t mention rival Rebecca Cooke by name at a recent forum of 3rd CD Dems in Stevens Point. Still, her comments came as she has criticized the Dem establishment for backing Cooke in the primary. Cooke is on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s list of 12 candidates it’s backing to flip key districts this cycle. 

Berge said she’s always supported removing big money from politics, but over the past year living the experience as a congressional candidate, “it’s even more evident and it’s disgusting.” 

She decried elected officials at the national level saying they want to overturn Citizens United while then backing the top-funded candidate. 

“You can’t have it both ways,” Berge said. 

Cooke raised $2.4 million over the first three months of the year, outraising incumbent U.S.Rep. Derrick Van Orden as well as her Dem rivals. The haul included nearly $1.7 million from individual donors. 

Meanwhile, Cooke criticized Van Orden for taking maximum contributions from people like tech entrepreneur Elon Musk. She also noted her past Dem opponent Katrina Shankland had challenged her to sign a pledge not to take corporate PAC money, which she said he has stuck to. 

“I’m not going to be beholden to corporations with special interests in Congress,” Cooke said, noting she supports ending Citizens United and banning congressional stock trading.

Read more in Wednesday’s AM Update.

— GOP businessman and attorney Paul Wassgren has suspended his campaign for the 7th CD, saying he plans to instead support fellow Wisconsin Republicans and get more involved in the Catholic Church.

Wassgren, who largely self-funded his bid, cited the April election results in calling on “all Republicans, including candidates, to prioritize the interests of the Republican Party and the State of Wisconsin.”

His departure leaves four Republicans vying for the party’s nomination to succeed GOP U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running for governor.

“While I have the resources and message to win this race and be a fierce advocate for our district in Congress, I recognize that a bloody and highly expensive primary will only benefit the Democrats,” he said.

Read more in Tuesday’s PM Update.

Posts of the week

ICYMI

Spectrum News 1: Are Democrats missing an opportunity to flip a Wisconsin congressional seat? Experts weigh in

Wisconsin State Journal: Rep. Mark Pocan urges state to protect Ridglan Farms’ dogs

WPR: Paul Wassgren drops out of race for 7th Congressional District

WPR: Wisconsin businesses could recoup millions paid in illegal tariffs

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Here’s who is raising the most money in the race for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District

New York Times: Tammy Baldwin introducing bill intended to make sports TV more accessible to fans