Tina Smith

Motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the CLARITY Act, a 635-page crypto market structure bill giving the Commodity Futures Trading Commission primary jurisdiction over digital commodities, exempting assets on blockchains the bill deems mature from SEC registration in defined circumstances, amending the Federal Reserve Act to bar Federal Reserve banks from offering products or services directly to individuals, and prohibiting the use of a central bank digital currency for monetary policy. Rejected 49-50, well short of the 60 votes required. Every Democrat present voted nay, 44 of them, joined by Sens. King (I-ME) and Sanders (I-VT) and by Republicans Collins (ME), Hawley (MO), Moran (KS), and Tillis (NC). Sen. Coons (D-DE) was absent. Sen. Tillis, who negotiated the bill's ethics title with Sen. Gallego, voted nay and immediately entered a motion to reconsider, the step that preserves a future cloture vote. Lead author Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) said Democrats had secured 126 concessions and written more than half the text over a year of daily negotiation, and that the President had twice accepted new ethics restrictions covering himself, the Vice President, federal officeholders, judges, and their spouses. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) led the opposition and said the ethics language, released the Sunday night before the vote after negotiation with the White House, was written so that only the Attorney General could enforce it against the President, with an Office of Government Ethics legal opinion able to waive it entirely, while leaving World Liberty Financial and the Trump meme coin untouched and leaving the President free to create new ventures. Warren said Trump and his family took in $1.4 billion from crypto ventures in 2025, more than any publicly traded crypto company in America, while buyers of his meme coins lost close to $4 billion. She also argued the bill would let companies with nothing to do with crypto put assets on a blockchain to escape securities law, let banks deploy deposits into crypto lending and trading, and preempt state and tribal consumer protection enforcement, a provision the president of the Indian Gaming Association called the greatest threat to tribal sovereignty in a generation, and that labor unions opposed it over pension risk. Project 2029 position is nay: crypto markets do need statutory rules, and Democrats have said so. But a framework whose only enforcement against the sitting President runs through his own former criminal defense lawyer, now Attorney General, and can be waived by an ethics office he controls, is a conflict of interest written into permanent law by the person who profits from it.

Senate cloture vote on the motion to proceed to S. 5271, a bill by Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) to amend the Help America Vote Act so that election officials could not hand an in-person federal ballot to any voter without a valid physical photo ID. Voters lacking ID could cast only a provisional ballot, and it would count only if they returned with photo ID within three days or signed an affidavit citing a religious objection to being photographed; mail voters would have to enclose a copy of their ID or their last four Social Security digits plus an affidavit. Introduced August 5 and forced to the floor three days later in a pre-dawn vote at the end of the marathon session before the August recess, it was a rerun of the March SAVE America Act cloture fight, engineered to put Democrats on record against voter ID before the midterms - and to give Husted, locked in a competitive race with Sherrod Brown, a campaign talking point. Cloture failed 52-46, short of the 60 votes needed: every Republican voted yea, every Democrat and Independent voted nay, with McConnell and Welch not voting. Project 2029 position is nay: a 2023 national survey by the Brennan Center, VoteRiders, and the University of Maryland found roughly 2.6 million adult citizens hold no government photo ID at all, while in-person impersonation fraud - the only thing a photo ID requirement can stop - occurs at rates between 0.0003 and 0.0025 percent. A federal photo ID mandate solves a problem that does not exist by shrinking the electorate among elderly, low-income, Black, Latino, and young voters.

Confirmation of Todd Blanche, Trump's lead criminal defense lawyer in the Manhattan hush money trial and the federal cases, as Attorney General. Confirmed 50-49 at 4:17 a.m. on August 8 in an overnight session before the recess. The post opened when Trump fired Pam Bondi on April 2, reportedly frustrated that prosecutions of James Comey and Letitia James had collapsed and by her handling of the Epstein files; Blanche, then Deputy Attorney General, became acting AG. Sens. Collins and Murkowski were the only Republican nays. Collins said the Department 'has become increasingly political' and that Blanche 'has taken several actions that have further eroded the Department's independence'; Murkowski said the country needs an Attorney General 'who will check the worst impulses of this administration' and 'I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.' Sen. Cassidy supplied the deciding vote after Blanche rescinded a $1.8 billion 'Anti-Weaponization Fund' that would have paid January 6 defendants and Trump allies claiming persecution, and withdrew tax-audit immunity for Trump and his family. Sen. Durbin: 'If there is ever a moment in history when we need an Attorney General above reproach... it's right now.' Project 2029 position is nay: Chapters 17 and 28 exist because the Justice Department was turned into an instrument of the President's personal grievances. Confirming the President's own defense attorney to run it, after he signed off on a fund to compensate the President's allies, does not restore independence. It makes the capture permanent.

Confirmation of Dr. Erica Schwartz, a retired Public Health Service rear admiral and deputy surgeon general in the first Trump administration, as Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Confirmed 51-44. The CDC had gone nearly a year without a confirmed director after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired Susan Monarez in August 2025, 29 days into the job, when she refused to pre-approve his vaccine policy changes. Schwartz told the HELP Committee 'I believe in vaccines,' called mRNA technology safe and effective, and pledged 'I will never betray the science,' but did not commit to independence from Kennedy and said she was unaware of some of his changes to the childhood schedule. Chairman Cassidy said the agency needs a director 'that will actually stand up to crazy, stupid things.' The American Public Health Association backed her; the National Public Health Coalition of former CDC employees said her commitments were 'incomplete, vague, or missing.' Sen. Kaine (D-VA) was the lone Democratic yea, saying he regretted his vote against Monarez. Project 2029 position is nay: Chapter 14 is built on restoring a CDC whose guidance is set by evidence rather than the Secretary's beliefs. The last director who tried was fired within a month, and a nominee who would not say she would resist the same pressure offers no assurance the next one will fare differently.

Senate vote on the motion to proceed to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse's Congressional Review Act resolution overturning an EPA rule that delayed, for the third time, the start of PFAS reporting under Section 8(a)(7) of the Toxic Substances Control Act. The underlying 2023 rule, mandated by Congress in the FY2020 defense authorization, requires every company that has manufactured or imported PFAS 'forever chemicals' since 2011 to tell EPA what they made, how much, how it was used and disposed of, and what they know about exposures and hazards - the first comprehensive national inventory of roughly 1,000 PFAS compounds linked to cancers, kidney and liver disease, hormone disruption, and developmental harm. The reporting window was originally to open in November 2024. Trump's EPA published the latest delay on April 13, 2026, the very day the window was finally scheduled to open, pushing the start to January 31, 2027 or 60 days after EPA finalizes a separate rule narrowing what must be reported, whichever comes first. The motion failed 48-50: all 45 Democrats and both Independents voted to restore the deadline, joined by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) as the lone Republican; 50 Republicans voted to preserve the delay, with Blackburn and McConnell not voting. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposed the resolution and the White House threatened a veto. Project 2029 position is yea: communities cannot clean up contamination they are not allowed to know about. Delaying disclosure while simultaneously rewriting the rule to add exemptions is the chemical industry's preferred outcome delivered by administrative slow-walk rather than by any vote of Congress.

Motion to discharge S.J.Res. 181, directing the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities against Iran. Introduced by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). Rejected 49-50 on July 30 - one vote short, with Sen. McConnell absent. Republicans Collins, Murkowski, and Paul voted yea; Sen. Cassidy voted nay again; Sen. Fetterman (D-PA) was once more the lone Democratic nay and the decisive vote. Two days earlier Iran had fired ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in the region, and Central Command answered with what it called a 'heavy wave of strikes.' Eighteen U.S. service members had been killed and more than 600 wounded since February. Collins said 'the President's authority as Commander-in-Chief is not without limits.' Gillibrand: 'Under the Constitution, we have the power to end this war today. Let's use it.' Project 2029 position is yea: for the second time this year the Senate fell exactly one vote short of a majority to end the war, and the same senator supplied the margin both times. Five months in, with the ceasefire gone and casualties mounting, every recorded nay is a vote to keep an unauthorized war going.

Senate vote on the motion to proceed to Sen. Patty Murray's Congressional Review Act resolution overturning the Trump HHS rule 'Restoring Flexibility in the Child Care and Development Fund,' finalized in May 2026. The rule rescinds the 2024 CCDF rule's core protections for the roughly one million low-income families who receive federal child care subsidies: the cap limiting family copayments to 7 percent of household income, the requirement that states pay providers prospectively and by enrollment rather than by attendance so that providers can keep their doors open, and the requirement that states use grants and contracts to build supply for infants and toddlers, children with disabilities, and underserved areas. The Center for American Progress estimated that families in states without their own copay caps could pay from $450 to more than $15,000 a year more. The White House called the 2024 protections 'dangerous Biden-era mandates' and threatened a veto. The motion failed 47-52 on a straight party-line vote: all 45 Democrats and both Independents voted to overturn the rule, all 52 voting Republicans voted to keep it, with McConnell not voting. Murray's framing on the floor: 'You are either voting to lower child care costs or to increase them.' Project 2029 position is yea: at a moment when child care averages more than $13,000 a year per child, stripping the copay cap and the enrollment-based payment rule is a direct transfer of costs onto working parents and a destabilizer for the providers who serve them, dressed up as 'state flexibility.'

Confirmation of Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Trump's first-term SEC chairman, as Director of National Intelligence. Confirmed 51-47 on a party-line vote. The post opened when Tulsi Gabbard resigned in May citing her husband's cancer diagnosis; Trump then installed Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte, a loyalist with no intelligence experience, as acting DNI in June, and Pulte announced staff cuts of roughly 30 percent at the office. At his July 15 hearing Clayton refused to say Joe Biden won the 2020 election, offering only that Biden was 'certified,' and Intelligence Vice Chair Mark Warner came away with 'serious reservations about whether he would be willing to stand up to political pressure when it matters most.' Sen. Wyden pressed him on subpoenas his office issued to New York Times journalists over reporting on the Qatari-donated Air Force One and later alleged he gave false testimony about them. Section 702 surveillance authority remained lapsed through the confirmation. Project 2029 position is nay: Chapter 7 rests on an intelligence community that reports facts the President does not want to hear. A DNI who will not state a settled fact about an American election, taking over the intelligence community in the middle of an unauthorized war, is the wrong person to guarantee that.

Motion to discharge S.J.Res. 180, directing the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities against Iran. Introduced by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). Rejected 47-49 on July 23 - the first Senate war powers vote after the ceasefire collapsed and U.S. strikes resumed. That weekend three U.S. troops were killed in an Iranian attack on a base in Jordan and a fourth died in Iraq; oil passed $100 a barrel and gas hit $4. Sen. Collins was the only Republican yea. Sens. Paul and Murkowski, both prior supporters, were absent along with McConnell and Britt, and Sen. Cassidy voted nay, saying an 'immediate' withdrawal would not be 'reasonable.' Sen. Fetterman (D-PA) was again the lone Democratic nay. The House adopted a parallel nonbinding resolution (H.Con.Res. 89) 214-208 the same day. Van Hollen called the war 'a strategic blunder on a massive scale.' Project 2029 position is yea: Congress directed an end to this war in June, the President ignored it, and the fighting escalated. A binding joint resolution is the only instrument left, and a chamber that will not even discharge it from committee is choosing not to act.

Motion to proceed to a Congressional Review Act resolution overturning the CMS 'WISeR' model, which since January 2026 has piloted AI-driven prior authorization in traditional Medicare across six states (NJ, OH, OK, TX, AZ, WA). Led by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). Rejected 46-50 on a straight party-line vote - every Democrat and Independent for repeal, every Republican against - so the AI denial pilot continues. Project 2029 position is yea: traditional Medicare's core promise is that a doctor's judgment, not an insurance algorithm, decides care. Importing Medicare Advantage's worst feature - automated denial machinery - into original Medicare breaks that promise for the sickest patients.

Cloture on the motion to proceed to the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act rejected 50-46 - every Democrat and both Independents voting no, threatening the NDAA's unbroken passage streak since 1961. Democrats blocked the roughly $1.5 trillion defense topline over the administration's refusal to seek authorization for the Iran war, demands by Sen. Duckworth for hearings on domestic military deployments to American cities, and a shut-down amendment process. Leader Thune voted nay only to preserve reconsideration. Project 2029 position is nay: Congress's power of the purse is its last effective check on an undeclared war. Refusing to authorize a record defense budget while the administration ignores a war powers directive from both chambers is that check being used.

One day after the Senate passed H.Con.Res. 86, it refused 47-50 to proceed to S.J.Res. 185 - the binding joint resolution version that would actually reach the President's desk. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who had voted for the measure on May 19, flipped to nay after a White House briefing by Vice President Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff; Sen. Rand Paul voted present. The reversal killed the only vehicle with legal force, one the White House had already threatened to veto. Project 2029 position is yea: a concurrent resolution the White House dismisses as non-binding plus a blocked joint resolution equals a war Congress has voted against but cannot stop - which is exactly why this procedural vote mattered as much as the historic one the day before.

The Senate agreed 50-48 to H.Con.Res. 86, directing the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran - making it the first war powers resolution directing an end to an ongoing war ever adopted by both chambers of Congress. Republicans Cassidy, Collins, Murkowski, and Paul voted yea; Sen. Fetterman (D-PA) was the lone Democratic nay. The White House declared the concurrent resolution an unconstitutional legislative veto that 'will not reach' the President's desk, and did not remove forces; the ceasefire collapsed July 8 and strikes resumed. Project 2029 position is yea: both chambers of Congress have now formally directed an end to this war. An executive that ignores that directive is not debating war powers - it is nullifying them.

Final Senate action (motion to concur, 85-5) on the most significant housing supply legislation in decades: expanded affordable-housing financing, streamlined environmental review for housing, manufactured-housing reform, a new community-bank housing lending title, and a bar on large institutional investors (350+ single-family homes) buying up additional single-family homes. Only five Republicans opposed: Johnson (WI), Lee, Paul, Scott (FL), Tuberville. Became law July 11, 2026 without the President's signature. Project 2029 position is yea: the housing shortage is a supply crisis, and this is the rare bill that attacks it from every angle - including finally curbing Wall Street's bulk purchase of family homes.

Motion to discharge S.J.Res. 172, directing the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities against Iran. Introduced by Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA). Rejected 47-48. The four Republican supporters held (Cassidy, Collins, Murkowski, Paul) and Sen. Fetterman (D-PA) remained the lone Democratic nay; absences on both sides narrowed the margin. Project 2029 position is yea: each of these votes is a named, recorded answer to one question - does Congress authorize this war? A senator who keeps answering 'don't ask' is answering.

Budget reconciliation bill appropriating roughly $70 billion for immigration enforcement through September 2029: $38.5 billion for ICE (expansion to 100,000 detention beds, including converted warehouses, and a target of 1 million removals per year), $22.6 billion for Border Patrol hiring, $3.5 billion for surveillance technology, and $5 billion in flexible DHS funds - with no officer-conduct safeguards, body camera requirements, or due process reforms. Passed 52-47 after a two-day vote-a-rama; Sen. Murkowski (R-AK) was the only Republican to vote nay and no Democrat voted yea. Republicans used reconciliation to bypass the Democratic filibuster that had held through a 76-day DHS shutdown, after Democrats demanded accountability reforms following the killing of two U.S. citizens during ICE's Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis. Project 2029 position is nay: this is a blank check for a mass deportation infrastructure - detention camps, quota-driven removals, and militarized communities - explicitly stripped of every safeguard Democrats asked for.

Motion to discharge S.J.Res. 185, directing the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities against Iran. Introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA). Agreed to 50-47 - the first time an Iran war powers measure won a Senate majority, on the eighth attempt. Four Republicans voted yea: Paul, Collins, Murkowski, and Cassidy (new). Sen. Fetterman (D-PA) remained the lone Democratic nay. Majority Leader Thune then let the resolution sit on the calendar for five weeks without floor time. Project 2029 position is yea: this vote proved a bipartisan Senate majority opposed the undeclared war - and that leadership scheduling, not the will of the chamber, was what kept it alive.

Confirmation of Kevin Warsh as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, replacing Jerome Powell at the end of his term. Confirmed 54-45 - the closest and most partisan Fed chair confirmation in modern history. Every Republican voted yea; Sen. Fetterman (D-PA) was the only Democrat to join them. Trump had spent years attacking Powell and openly expects Warsh to cut rates; a DOJ investigation of Powell was dropped in April 2026, clearing the path. At his hearing, Sen. Warren called Warsh a 'sock puppet' for the White House, noting he advocated rate hikes under Biden and flipped to advocating cuts under Trump. Project 2029 position is nay: an independent central bank is a load-bearing wall of both economic stability and democratic government. Installing a chair selected for his willingness to deliver the White House's preferred rates - after a pressure campaign against his predecessor - is exactly the politicization of the Fed that Project 2029 Chapter 24 warns against.

Motion to discharge S.J.Res. 163, directing the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities against Iran. Introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR). Rejected 49-50 - one vote short. The seventh Senate attempt to rein in the Iran war. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joined Paul and Collins as a new Republican yea, citing the administration's refusal to provide 'clarity' after the 60-day War Powers window passed. Sen. Fetterman (D-PA) was once again the lone Democratic nay - the decisive defection. Project 2029 position is yea: three months into an undeclared war, Congress voting to enforce its own constitutional war powers should not fail by a single vote.

Motion to discharge S.J.Res. 184, directing the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities against Iran. Introduced by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA). Rejected 47-50 on April 30 - the day before the disputed 60-day War Powers Resolution deadline for the war launched February 28. The administration claimed the April 8 ceasefire 'terminated hostilities' and stopped the 60-day clock; Democrats disputed this. Sens. Collins and Paul were the only Republicans to vote yea; Sen. Fetterman (D-PA) was again the only Democrat to vote nay. Project 2029 position is yea: the 60-day clock exists precisely so a President cannot wage an undeclared war indefinitely. Letting the deadline pass without a vote to enforce it hollows out the War Powers Resolution itself.

FY2026 budget resolution with reconciliation instructions directing the Homeland Security and Judiciary committees to approve up to $70 billion in new spending for immigration enforcement, specifically ICE and Border Patrol. Passed 50-48 after an all-night vote-a-rama marathon. Provides a filibuster-proof path to massively expand detention, deportation operations, and border enforcement without Democratic votes. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Rand Paul (R-KY) joined all Democrats in voting nay - Murkowski on policy grounds, Paul citing deficit concerns. Project 2029 position is nay: oppose mass deportation infrastructure funded through reconciliation, which bypasses democratic deliberation and expands a system that separates families and violates due process rights.

Motion to discharge S.J.Res. 114, directing the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran not authorized by Congress. Rejected 46-51. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the only Republican to vote yea; Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was the only Democrat to vote nay. Three senators did not vote: Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Dave McCormick (R-PA), and Mark Warner (D-VA). The fifth Senate defeat of a war powers resolution on Iran, occurring just days before the May 1 War Powers Act deadline by which Trump must either halt operations or seek congressional authorization. Project 2029 position is yea: Congress - not the executive - holds the constitutional authority to commit the United States to war.

Congressional Review Act resolution overturning a Bureau of Land Management rule that withdrew 225,504 acres of National Forest in northeastern Minnesota from mineral and mining leasing, protecting the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from copper-nickel mining. Passed 50-49 - the narrowest possible Senate margin. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) was the only Republican to vote against opening the wilderness to mining; Sen. Angus King (I-ME) joined all 47 Democrats in opposition. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) did not vote. Project 2029 position is nay: stripping federal wilderness protections to open a pristine freshwater watershed to industrial copper-nickel mining - for private corporate profit and at the expense of the regional ecosystem, tourism economy, and indigenous treaty rights - is the extractive resource policy Project 2025 was designed to enable.

Motion to discharge S.J.Res. 32, a joint resolution of disapproval under section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act that would have blocked the sale of D9R and D9T Caterpillar bulldozers to Israel (Transmittal No. 24-38), with parts, support, and logistics. Led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Rejected 40-59. Thirty-eight Democrats and both Independents (Sanders, King) voted to advance the arms-sale block. Voting against the motion to discharge - siding with Republicans to preserve the arms sale - were Sens. Blumenthal (CT), Coons (DE), Cortez Masto (NV), Fetterman (PA), Gillibrand (NY), Rosen (NV), and Senate Minority Leader Schumer (NY). Project 2029 position is yea: Congress has both the constitutional authority and the moral responsibility to review arms sales to governments conducting military operations resulting in documented mass civilian casualties. The foreign military sales review process exists precisely for situations like this.

Motion to discharge S.J.Res. 138, a joint resolution under section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act prohibiting a proposed foreign military sale to Israel (Transmittal No. 26-32, published March 12, 2026) of 12,000 BLU-110A/B general-purpose 1,000-pound bomb bodies, which Sen. Sanders valued at $151 million. Led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and taken up the same evening as S.J.Res. 32 (roll 80), which targeted a separate $295 million sale of D9R and D9T Caterpillar armored bulldozers; Sen. Van Hollen put the two together at 12,000 bombs and 132 bulldozers worth more than $446 million. Rejected 36-63, four votes fewer than the bulldozer resolution: 34 Democrats and both Independents voted yea; 11 Democrats and 52 Republicans voted nay; Sen. Tillis (R-NC) did not vote. Sens. Peters (MI), Reed (RI), Warner (VA), and Whitehouse (RI) voted to block the bulldozers but not the bombs, joining the seven Democrats who opposed both: Blumenthal (CT), Coons (DE), Cortez Masto (NV), Fetterman (PA), Gillibrand (NY), Rosen (NV), and Minority Leader Schumer (NY). It was still the largest Senate vote yet to block bombs for Israel, up from 24 on S.J.Res. 34 in July 2025: Sens. Bennet, Booker, Cantwell, Hassan, Hickenlooper, Padilla, Schiff, and Wyden, who voted nay then, voted yea, as did Gallego, Kelly, and Slotkin, who missed the July votes. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), a Desert Storm combat pilot, announced his yes vote on the floor, citing the war with Iran, which he opposes, Israel's expanded war in Lebanon, and home demolitions in the West Bank. The vote came during a fragile ceasefire in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and the same day the Senate rejected an Iran war powers measure. Van Hollen quoted Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz saying on March 31 that all homes in Lebanese villages near the border would be destroyed 'in accordance with the Rafah and Beit Hanoun model in Gaza,' Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) warned the bombs could be used in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, or Iran, and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) noted that senators had challenged only 6 of the 27 arms transfers to Israel noticed this Congress, all of them offensive. Risch said passage would embolden Iran. Project 2029 position is yea: 12,000 more bombs, sold in the middle of an unauthorized regional war and as Israel's defense minister promised to apply the Gaza model to southern Lebanon, is exactly the kind of offensive transfer the arms-sale review process exists to stop.

Motion to discharge S.J.Res. 123, directing the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran not authorized by Congress. Sponsored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL). Rejected 47-52. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the only Republican to vote yea; Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was the only Democrat to vote nay. Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) did not vote. The fourth consecutive Senate defeat of a war powers resolution. Democrats pledged to force weekly votes until Republicans join them to end the unauthorized war. Project 2029 position is yea: Congress must reclaim its constitutional war powers authority under Article I. The President cannot wage war on a foreign nation without congressional authorization.

Senate cloture vote on the Husted Amendment to H.R. 7147, which would have imposed federal photo identification requirements for voting in federal elections and required documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote. Failed 53-47, short of the 60-vote threshold needed to advance. Every Republican voted to advance federal voter ID; every Democrat and Independent voted against. Project 2029 position is nay: photo voter ID requirements disproportionately suppress turnout among elderly, minority, low-income, and young voters who are statistically less likely to hold qualifying identification - a documented voter suppression mechanism deployed under the cover of election integrity.

Senate vote on a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn an IRS rule tightening 'beginning of construction' requirements for clean electricity production credits, making it harder for wind and solar projects to qualify for credits enacted under the Inflation Reduction Act. Failed 47-53: every Democrat and Independent voted to restore the more permissive standard; every Republican voted to preserve the more restrictive IRS interpretation. Project 2029 position is yea: the IRS rule is an administrative sabotage of the clean energy tax credit framework Congress enacted - designed to slow the renewable energy buildout by bureaucratic restriction rather than legislation.

Senate confirmation of Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) as Secretary of Homeland Security, replacing Kristi Noem while a 60-day partial DHS shutdown was ongoing. Confirmed 54-45. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) crossed the aisle to confirm; Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) joined all remaining Democrats and Independents in opposition. Mullin was confirmed to lead an agency actively conducting mass deportations, operating detention facilities with documented due-process abuses, and engineering a deliberate government shutdown to force unrestricted enforcement funding. Project 2029 position is nay: confirming the architect of coercive immigration policy is a vote against humane, lawful, and constitutional immigration enforcement.

Joint resolution directing the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Iran not authorized by Congress, invoking the War Powers Resolution of 1973. Sponsored by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA). The motion to discharge was rejected 47-53, with Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) the only Democrat to join Republicans in voting against it. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the only Republican to cross over and support the resolution. Project 2029 position is yea: Congress must reclaim its constitutional war powers authority. The President cannot unilaterally order military strikes on a foreign nation without congressional authorization.

Motion to discharge S.J.Res. 41, a joint resolution under the Arms Export Control Act prohibiting a proposed export, licensed under section 36(c), of 20,000 Colt 5.56mm fully automatic carbine rifles to M.R.D. Efram Investments Ltd for ultimate end use by the Israel National Police (Transmittal No. DDTC 23-077). Led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), with Sens. Welch (D-VT), Merkley (D-OR), Van Hollen (D-MD), Durbin (D-IL), and Kaine (D-VA) speaking in support. Rejected 27-70, the most votes the Senate had cast to block a weapons transfer to Israel (earlier resolutions drew 17 to 19 votes in November 2024 and 15 in April 2025) and the first time a majority of the 47-member Democratic caucus voted to block one: 25 Democrats and both Independents voted yea. The 17 Democrats voting nay were Bennet (CO), Blumenthal (CT), Booker (NJ), Cantwell (WA), Coons (DE), Cortez Masto (NV), Fetterman (PA), Gillibrand (NY), Hassan (NH), Hickenlooper (CO), Padilla (CA), Peters (MI), Rosen (NV), Schiff (CA), Minority Leader Schumer (NY), Warner (VA), and Wyden (OR); all 53 Republicans voted nay; Sens. Gallego (D-AZ), Kelly (D-AZ), and Slotkin (D-MI) did not vote. Twelve senators who had not voted yea in April voted yea here: Foreign Relations Ranking Member Shaheen (NH), Klobuchar (MN), Murray (WA), Baldwin (WI), Ossoff (GA), Reed (RI), Whitehouse (RI), Warnock (GA), Duckworth (IL), Alsobrooks (MD), Blunt Rochester (DE), and King (I-ME). Sanders said the rifles would arm a police force overseen by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who he said had handed out weapons to settlers in the West Bank, and that the Biden administration had held the rifles back over fear they would be used by settlers against Palestinians. The vote came as famine spread in Gaza: Sanders read the U.N.-backed IPC's finding the day before that 'the worst case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza strip,' and Durbin, who said he had devoted his career to supporting Israel, said 'Gaza is starving and dying because of the policies of Benyamin Netanyahu.' Risch called the transfers defensive weapons Israel needs and said the solution was in the hands of Hamas. Project 2029 position is yea: fully automatic rifles for a police force run by a minister who has armed settlers are not defensive by any definition, and Congress had the direct power to stop the transfer.

Motion to discharge S.J.Res. 34, a joint resolution under section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act prohibiting a proposed foreign military sale to Israel (Transmittal No. 25-26) of 5,000 1,000-pound general-purpose bomb bodies (201 MK-83 and 4,799 BLU-110) and 5,000 JDAM guidance kits for them, a sale Sens. Sanders and Van Hollen put at $675 million. Led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and debated jointly with S.J.Res. 41, which was voted on half an hour earlier. Rejected 24-73: 22 Democrats and both Independents voted yea; 20 Democrats and all 53 Republicans voted nay; Sens. Gallego (D-AZ), Kelly (D-AZ), and Slotkin (D-MI) did not vote. Three Democrats who had just voted to block the rifle export, Sens. Ossoff (GA), Reed (RI), and Whitehouse (RI), voted against blocking the bombs, joining the 17 Democrats who opposed both: Bennet, Blumenthal, Booker, Cantwell, Coons, Cortez Masto, Fetterman, Gillibrand, Hassan, Hickenlooper, Padilla, Peters, Rosen, Schiff, Schumer, Warner, and Wyden. Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) described a June 30 strike on Gaza's crowded al-Baqa beachfront cafe, which he said used a U.S.-provided JDAM and which CNN reported killed 40 people. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said a vote for the resolutions would not cut a dollar of the $18 billion in defense aid the Senate approved the year before, only insist that it be defensive, and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said he would vote against any weapon of war for Israel until every woman and child in Gaza had adequate nutrition. Project 2029 position is yea: 1,000-pound bombs and the kits that guide them are offensive weapons, and approving them the day after the U.N.-backed IPC warned that famine was playing out in Gaza told the Netanyahu government that U.S. weapons would keep coming no matter how the war was fought.

Motion to discharge from the Foreign Relations Committee S.J.Res. 33, a joint resolution under section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act prohibiting a proposed foreign military sale to Israel of 35,529 MK-84 or BLU-117 general-purpose 2,000-pound bomb bodies and 4,000 I-2000 penetrator warheads (Transmittal No. 25-34), which Sen. Sanders valued at more than $2 billion. Introduced and led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and debated together with S.J.Res. 26. Rejected 15-82. Fourteen Democrats and Sanders voted yea: Durbin (IL), Heinrich (NM), Hirono (HI), Kaine (VA), Kim (NJ), Lujan (NM), Markey (MA), Merkley (OR), Murphy (CT), Schatz (HI), Smith (MN), Van Hollen (MD), Warren (MA), and Welch (VT). Twenty-eight Democrats, Sen. Angus King (I-ME), and all 53 Republicans voted nay, among them Minority Leader Schumer (NY) and Foreign Relations Ranking Member Shaheen (NH); Minority Whip Durbin broke with Schumer to vote yea. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) voted present, and Sens. Coons (D-DE) and Murray (D-WA) did not vote. Sanders told the Senate that Israel had dropped 2,000-pound bombs, with a blast radius he put at more than 350 meters, on crowded apartment buildings in Gaza; that the Trump administration had used a 'bogus emergency declaration' to bypass congressional review; and that the sales broke U.S. law barring offensive arms to governments that block U.S.-backed humanitarian aid, noting that no aid had entered Gaza for 31 days since Israel ended the ceasefire. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) cited Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) argued the weapons were needed to deter Iran and its proxies and to strike tunnels and hardened sites, and Foreign Relations Chairman Jim Risch (R-ID) read a written administration position urging defeat. Project 2029 position is yea: the 2,000-pound bomb is the weapon most tied to mass civilian death in densely populated Gaza, and this sale went forward during a total blockade of humanitarian aid, the situation Section 620I addresses by barring U.S. security assistance to governments that restrict U.S.-backed aid.

Motion to discharge S.J.Res. 26, a joint resolution under section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act prohibiting a proposed foreign military sale to Israel (Transmittal No. 24-13) of 2,166 GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs, 2,800 MK-82 500-pound bomb bodies, 17,479 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kits that turn unguided bombs into guided ones, most of them for 2,000-pound bomb bodies, and 17,475 fuzes, a package Sen. Sanders valued at almost $7 billion. Led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and voted on minutes after S.J.Res. 33. Rejected 15-83, with the same 15 senators voting yea: Sanders and Democrats Durbin (IL), Heinrich (NM), Hirono (HI), Kaine (VA), Kim (NJ), Lujan (NM), Markey (MA), Merkley (OR), Murphy (CT), Schatz (HI), Smith (MN), Van Hollen (MD), Warren (MA), and Welch (VT). Twenty-nine Democrats, Sen. King (I-ME), and all 53 Republicans voted nay, including Minority Leader Schumer; Sen. Coons (D-DE), absent for the first vote, voted nay on this one, Sen. Baldwin (D-WI) again voted present, and Sen. Murray (D-WA) did not vote. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) singled out this sale's JDAM kits in urging a no vote, arguing that guided bombs let the Israeli Air Force hit military targets more precisely and so save civilian lives. Sanders answered that the systems in both sales had been linked to dozens of illegal airstrikes documented by human rights monitors, including strikes on designated humanitarian sites, and that none of them is needed to protect Israel from incoming rockets or drones. Project 2029 position is yea: guidance kits and bombs are offensive weapons, not missile defense, and a precise strike does not protect civilians when the target itself is a shelter, a home, or a designated humanitarian site.

Cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 23, the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, which would require the President to impose visa and property-blocking sanctions on any foreign person who assists the International Criminal Court in investigating, arresting, detaining, or prosecuting a U.S. person or a citizen of a U.S. ally that has not accepted the court's jurisdiction, extend visa sanctions to those persons' immediate family members, and rescind all U.S. funds appropriated for the court. Sponsored by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), the bill passed the House 243-140 on January 9, 2025. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) brought it up in response to the court's November 2024 arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) led it on the floor. Cloture failed 54-45, six short of the 60 needed: all 53 Republicans and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), the only Democrat in favor, voted yea; 43 Democrats and both Independents (Sanders, King) voted nay; Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) did not vote. Most of the Democratic opposition was about drafting rather than the court. Foreign Relations Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) called the bill overly broad, warning that it would reach the court's administrative, catering, and sanitation workers and their families, could sanction U.S. companies such as Microsoft that provide the court technical services, and would hit the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan as the court's host and largest donors. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called it a bill 'I largely support' but 'poorly drafted and deeply problematic,' and said Republicans refused small fixes to protect U.S. companies and allies. Cotton called the court's targeting of Israel 'a trial run to go after Americans.' Project 2029 position is nay: sanctioning the staff of an international court, and their families, for pursuing war crimes cases is an attempt to put the officials charged beyond the reach of international law, and it weakens an institution that, as Schumer himself noted, has also pursued Vladimir Putin and the atrocities in Darfur. Whether the conduct of the Gaza war broke the laws of war should be decided in court, not shut down by sanctions.

Required mandatory ICE detention of undocumented immigrants charged with theft, burglary, or violent crimes, overriding prosecutorial discretion. Senate passed 64-35 with 12 Democrats voting yes. Project 2029 position is nay: oppose mandatory detention without conviction as a violation of due process, and oppose the political weaponization of individual tragedies to advance mass deportation policy.

Senate passage of H.R. 82, eliminating WEP and GPO penalties that had cut Social Security benefits for millions of public sector workers. Passed 76-20 with rare bipartisan support. Every senator who voted nay chose to preserve an unjust penalty against teachers, firefighters, and police. Project 2029 supports full, earned Social Security benefits for all workers.

Provided $61 billion in military, economic, and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine following months of delay caused by House Republican opposition. Passed with significant bipartisan support after Speaker Johnson brought it to the floor. Project 2029 supports defending democracy and the rules-based international order against authoritarian aggression.

Legislation raising the debt ceiling and imposing discretionary spending caps for two years. Included provisions clawing back unspent COVID funds, ending student loan payment pause, and accelerating permitting for energy projects. Project 2029 position is nay - the spending caps and student loan provisions were harmful to working families, and progressive senators who voted nay were right to resist the austerity framework even if default risk was real.

Year-end omnibus bill funding the government through September 2023. Included significant progressive wins: increased IRS enforcement funding targeting wealthy tax cheats, mental health parity provisions, and domestic violence housing protections. Project 2029 supports government funding and the progressive provisions included.

Expanded access to retirement savings by requiring automatic enrollment in new 401(k) plans, increasing the age for required minimum distributions, expanding access for part-time workers, and creating a matching contribution for low-income workers retirement savings. Passed with broad bipartisan support. Project 2029 supports expanding retirement security for all workers.

Clarified that the Vice President's role in certifying Electoral College results is purely ceremonial, raised the threshold for objecting to electoral votes, strengthened procedures for resolving disputes. Passed as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act after January 6th exposed vulnerabilities in the Electoral Count Act of 1887. Critical Project 2029 democracy protection.

Repealed the Defense of Marriage Act and codified federal recognition of same-sex and interracial marriages. Required states to recognize valid out-of-state marriages. Passed with bipartisan support after the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision raised fears about Obergefell. Project 2029 supports marriage equality and LGBTQ+ rights.

Landmark climate, healthcare, and tax legislation. Invested $369 billion in clean energy and climate programs, capped insulin at $35 per month for Medicare beneficiaries, allowed Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices for the first time. Core Project 2029 alignment on climate, healthcare, and economic equity.

Expanded VA health care and benefits eligibility for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits, Agent Orange, and other hazardous substances. The most significant expansion of veteran benefits in decades, covering an estimated 3.5 million veterans. Project 2029 strongly supports comprehensive care for those who served.

Provided $52 billion to revitalize US semiconductor manufacturing and $200 billion for scientific research and development. Aimed at reducing dependence on foreign chip manufacturing and competing with China on strategic technology. Project 2029 supports industrial policy and strategic economic competition.

First significant federal gun safety legislation in 28 years. Enhanced background checks for gun buyers under 21, closed the boyfriend loophole in domestic violence gun restrictions, funded crisis intervention programs, and cracked down on illegal gun trafficking. Project 2029 supports common-sense gun safety measures.

Reformed ocean shipping industry regulations to address supply chain disruptions and unfair practices by foreign ocean carriers. Required carriers to accept exports, prohibited unreasonable refusals to negotiate service contracts, and strengthened FMC enforcement authority. Project 2029 supports fair trade practices and supply chain resilience.

Reauthorized and expanded VAWA with new protections for LGBTQ+ survivors, Native American survivors, and survivors in rural areas. Closed the boyfriend loophole allowing domestic abusers to purchase firearms. Funded housing protections and economic support for survivors. Project 2029 supports comprehensive protections for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure law investing in roads, bridges, broadband internet, clean water, electric vehicle charging, and public transit. Largest infrastructure investment in decades. Project 2029 supports investment in public infrastructure and economic modernization.

Republican Senator Scott (FL) moved to commit H.R. 1319 (the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan) to the Homeland Security Committee - a procedural maneuver to kill the bill. Voting nay (no) on this motion blocked the Republican attempt and allowed the ARP to proceed to final passage. All Democrats voted nay. Project 2029 position is nay: oppose the Republican attempt to kill COVID relief, direct payments, and the Child Tax Credit expansion.

Rolled back key Dodd-Frank protections for mid-sized banks by raising the SIFI threshold from $50B to $250B in assets, exempting more banks from stress tests and enhanced prudential standards. Sixteen Senate Democrats crossed the aisle to pass this with Republicans 67-31. The banks freed from oversight - including Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank - subsequently collapsed in March 2023, triggering the largest bank failures since 2008. Project 2029 position is nay: oppose weakening consumer and systemic financial protections for corporate bank profits.