This Week in Research: July 27 - August 4

1. On July 27, 2023, the United States Senate passed their version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024. This bill, which was passed by the House on July 14th and covered in this blog two weeks ago, passed the Senate by a vote of 86-11. Like every NDAA bill, this legislation appropriates funds for Department of Defense (DOD) programs, military construction, and the national security programs in the Department of Energy (DOE), among other things. To read more about the bill, and how your senators voted, click here. To read a speech from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, click here. To read a speech from Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, click here. To read a speech from Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska, click here. Lastly, to read a statement from Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, click here.

2. On July 27, 2023, the United States House of Representatives voted on the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2024. Passed by a vote of 219-211 this bill, like the NDAA, appropriates funds for military construction, any and all Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) programs, and other similar agencies. It will now move on to the U.S. Senate for consideration. To read more about this bill, and how your representatives voted, please click here. To read a statement from the bill’s sponsor, Representative John Carter of Texas, click here. To read a statement from Representative Hillary Scholten of Michigan, click here. To read a statement from Representative Joe Neguse of Colorado, click here. Lastly, to read a statement from Representative Nicholas Langworthy of New York, click here.

3. On August 1st, 2023, Former President Donald Trump received his third indictment. A federal grand jury convened by special counsel Jack Smith, in Washington, DC, indicting him regarding the 2020 election probe. The former President has been charged with four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing the nation’s process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election, conspiracy to impede the January 6 congressional proceeding, a conspiracy against the right to vote and to have that vote counted, and obstruction of, and attempt to obstruct and impede the certification of the electoral vote. To read a statement from the Former President, Donald Trump, click here. To read a statement from Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, click here. To read a statement from Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, click here. To read a statement from Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, click here. To read a statement from Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, click here. Lastly, To read a statement from Representative Elise Stefanki of New York, click here.

Elections

By the Elections Research team: Nick, Zachary, Seth, and Caleb and Interns Riya, Francesca, David, Golsa, Nicholas, and Kelly

Biographies & Elections:

Want to learn more about the candidates running for special elections in Rhode Island and Utah this year? You can see the full list here:

• Rhode Island Special Congressional Election

• Utah Special Congressional Election

Want to learn more about elected officials in your state? You can see the full list here:

• Congressional Officials

• New Jersey State Legislative Officials

• West Virginia State Legislative Officials

Want to learn more about the leadership in each state legislature? You can see the full leadership rosters here:

• Legislative Leadership

Want to learn more about which committees elected officials are a part of? You can see the full list of committees for each state here:

• State Legislative Committees

Want to learn more about the results of special elections happening around the country? You can see the list of elections that happened this week here:

• New Hampshire State Legislative Special Election

• Tennessee State Legislative Special Elections

Officials

By the Officials Research team: Sam, Johanan, Neal, Thomas, Quinn, Max, and Jessica. Interns: Mark, Laura, Alexa, Henry, Margaret, Nicholas, Sonali, Nicole and Jordan.

Public Statements: 567 statements were added this week. See highlights from the week for notable statements.

Key Votes:

States: 40 new votes were added.

• Maryland Governor signed SB 185 - Requires Maryland State Police gun center to track all firearms surrendered through final protective orders

• Maryland Governor signed SB 858 - Defines requirements around safe storage of firearms

• Maryland Became Law Without Governor’s Signature SB 54 - Repeals crimes of “unnatural” or “perverted” sex practices

• Maryland Governor signed SB 611 - Establishes the Environment and Natural Resources Crimes Unit of the Office of the attorney general

• Michigan House passed HB 4474 - Specifies what constitutes a hate crime

• U.S. Congress: 4 new votes were added.

  • Congress passed S 2226 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024

  • Congress passed HR 4366 - Military construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024

  • Congress passed S J Res 9 - A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service relating to “Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Lesser Prairie-Chicken; Threatened Status with Section 4(d) Rule for the Northern Distinct Population Segment and Endangered Status for the Southern Distinct Population Segment

  • Congress passed S J Res 24 - A joint resolution providing congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service relating to “Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Species Status for Northern Long-Eared Bat”

Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

• This year to date, the SIGs team has entered 18,766 ratings and 9,568 endorsements for candidates.