How your members of Congress voted on ending shutdown, other issues

Jan. 27--WASHINGTON -- How St. Louis-area members of Congress voted during the week of Jan. 22-26, and other key happenings involving the delegation.

House

Stopgap Government Funding --The House on Jan. 22 voted, 266-150, to fund agencies through Feb. 9, extend the Children's Health Insurance Program for six years and end a partial government shutdown then its third day. A yes vote was to send HR 195 to President Trump, who signed it into law.

Yes --Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin; Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth; Jason Smith, R-Salem; Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro; Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville; John Shimkus R-Collinsville.

No --William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis.

Senate

Funding to End Shutdown --Senators on Jan. 22 voted, 81-18, to fund the government through Feb. 9 under a bipartisan plan to allow a vote by that date on the Senate floor on the legal status of the estimated 800,000 young, undocumented immigrants known as "dreamers." A yes vote was to pass HR 195, which ended a partial government shutdown.

Yes --Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.; Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.; Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

Alex Azar, Health Secretary --The Senate on Jan. 24 confirmed, 55-43, Alex M. Azar as secretary of health and human services, replacing Tom Price, who resigned in September in a scandal involving his official travel. Azar, 50, had been president of the U.S. division of the pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly and Company. He drew Democratic criticism over his stand against allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. A yes vote was to confirm the nominee.

Yes --Blunt

No --McCaskill, Durbin, Duckworth.

Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chair --The Senate on Jan. 23 confirmed, 84-13, Jerome H. Powell as chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, replacing Janet L. Yellen. Powell, 64, a former attorney and investment banker but not an economist, has been a member of the board since 2012. A yes vote was to confirm Powell for a four-year term as leader of the Federal Reserve.

Yes --Durbin, Duckworth, Blunt, McCaskill.

Sam Brownback, Ambassador at Large --The Senate on Jan. 24 confirmed, 50-49, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, 61, as ambassador at large for international religious freedom. He drew Democratic criticism over his record of infusing personal religious beliefs into social issues including women's reproductive rights and LGBT protections. A yes vote was to confirm Brownback, a former senator from Kansas, for the State Department position.

Yes --Blunt

No --McCaskill, Durbin, Duckworth

Additionally

--The Senate, in a voice vote, passed bipartisan legislation sponsored by Blunt and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., that expands veterans' access to peer counseling, to prevent suicide and for other mental health treatments.

--McCaskill and Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., introduced legislation banning "earmarks," those special projects that members of Congress at one time designated as pork spending in their home states or districts.

Currently, only congressional rules prohibit earmarks. Those rules were put into place after a "bridge to nowhere" to a sparsely populated Alaskan island nd other wasteful projects were exposed, and a former member of Congress and lobbyist Jack Abramoff and other lobbyists, along with former congressional aids went to jail on federal spending scandals that involved earmarks.

McCaskill called earmarks "the swampiest of swamp creatures" in Washington, and she and Flake ate barbecued pork at a press conference highlighting the introduction of their bill. McCaskill and Flake said they introduced the bill after President Donald Trump recently suggested bringing back earmarks as a way that Congress could cut bigger deals, and some House Republicans began pushing a re-institution of the process.

KEY VOTES AHEAD

The Senate will vote on an anti-abortion bill and judicial nominations in the week of Jan. 29, while the House schedule was to be announced.

The votes and descriptions are compiled by "Voterama in Congress" a legislative tracking organization.

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