Analysis: Swing District Republicans Vote in Lockstep with Marjorie Taylor Greene

By admin. Tuesday, June 6 2023

An analysis of key votes from the first five months of the 118th Congress shows that the 18 House Republicans from swing districts Biden carried in 2020 have voted in lockstep with Marjorie Taylor Greene. “While these House members pass themselves off as moderates to their constituents and the media, they are in fact pushing the MAGA agenda in Washington,” said MoveOn Executive Director Rahna Epting. “They are the Complicit Caucus, voting with the radical right wing and causing real damage to our families, our communities, and our country.”

The 18 House Republicans Representing Swing Districts That Biden Won in 2020

• Rep. Don Bacon (NE-2)
• Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-5)
• Rep. Juan Ciscomani (AZ-6)
• Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (NY-4)
• Rep. John Duarte (CA-13)
• Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1)
• Rep. Mike Garcia (CA-27)
• Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. (NJ-07)
• Rep. Jen Kiggans (VA-2)
• Rep. Young Kim (CA-40)
• Rep. Nicholas LaLota (NY-1)
• Rep. Michael Lawler (NY-17)
• Rep. Marcus Molinaro (NY-19)
• Rep. George Santos (NY-3)
• Rep. David Schweikert (AZ-1)
• Rep. Michelle Steel (CA-45)
• Rep. David Valadao (CA-22)
• Rep. Brandon Williams (NY-22)

Voting Record

MoveOn’s analysis focused on 62 key votes the 118th Congress took on House governance (leadership, rules, committees) and on final passage legislation that deeply divided the chamber. Voting behavior not included in this analysis includes procedural votes (motions to recommit, suspend the rules, or adjourn; ordering the previous question; quorum), votes on amendments, and votes on legislation that passed with sweeping bipartisan support, such as The PRC is Not a Developing Country Act. 

A review of these 62 key votes finds that the 18 House Republicans from swing districts that Biden carried in 2022 voted 100% with ultra-MAGA Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene on 37 of them (see chart below). Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick from southeastern Pennsylvania broke from Rep. Greene and the rest of the swing district Republicans three times, and Rep. Mike Lawler from the Westchester suburbs of New York broke from Rep. Greene and the rest of the swing district Republicans once. 

• All 18 swing district House members sided with Rep. Greene to elect Kevin McCarthy speaker, despite the numerous concessions he made to the radical right wing of the Republican party.
• All 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene to gut the House ethics rules and let corrupt congressional colleagues go unchecked. 
• All 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene to slash funding for the IRS and allow wealthy tax cheats to go undetected. 
• All 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene to set up a Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government in order to launch a shameless January 6 counter investigation. It‘s an idea that MTG convinced Speaker McCarthy of in order to “tell the other side of the story.“ 
• All 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene for a pair of anti-abortion measures.
• All 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene to allow more drilling on public lands.
• All 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene on four bills to undermine COVID protections. Rep. Fitzpatrick was the sole Republican to vote against a fifth COVID bill aimed at ending COVID telework options for federal workers.
• All 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene to overturn the criminal justice reform and voting rights measures passed by the democratically elected D.C. City Council.
• All 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a baseless and bigoted vote that was political retribution for Reps. Greene and Paul Gosar being removed from committees for inciting violence against Democrats. 
• All 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene to block investment plan managers from taking into account environmental and social factors in their investment decisions. 
• 16 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene to block the Biden administration from applying the Clean Water Act to wetlands and other waterways. Rep. Fitzpatrick was the sole Republican vote against this resolution. Arizona Rep. David Schweikert did not vote. 
• 17 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene to further enable far-right groups pushing for book bans and harmful new restrictions on transgender students. Rep. Lawler voted against this bill, along with four other Republicans.  
• 17 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene to pass a sweeping energy package that would undo virtually all of the climate change legislation Democrats passed last year. Rep. Fitzpatrick was the sole House Republican to vote against this legislation.
• 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene to set forth the rule for consideration of a bill to amend the Education Amendments of 1972 to provide that for purposes of determining compliance with Title IX of such Act in athletics, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth. 
• 17 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene on a resolution that specifies which bodies of water fall under the scope of the Clean Water Act and thereby under federal jurisdiction and protected. Rep Fitzpatrick voted against this. 
• 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene on an act that sets forth a variety of measures that focus on policing, including measures prohibiting the use of certain neck restraints by law enforcement officers, requiring additional procedures related to body-worn cameras, and expanding access to police disciplinary records.
• 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene on a bill that generally prohibits school athletic programs from allowing individuals whose biological sex at birth was male to participate in programs that are for women or girls.
• 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene to consider a bill to provide for a responsible increase to the debt ceiling, and for other purposes, and providing for consideration of the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 39).
• 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene on a bill that increases the federal debt limit and decreases spending. It also repeals several energy tax credits, modifies the permitting process and other requirements for energy projects, expands work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other programs, and nullifies regulations for the cancellation of federal student loan debt.
• 14 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene on a joint resolution that nullifies the final rule submitted by the Department of Commerce titled Procedures Covering Suspension of Liquidation, Duties and Estimated Duties in Accord With Presidential Proclamation 10414 and published on September 16, 2022. 
• 16 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene on a bill to secure the borders of the United States and to consider agreeing to protect taxpayers and victims of unemployment fraud. 
• 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene on a bill to secure the border.
• 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene on a bill to address victims of unemployment fraud. 
• 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene on a bill to make the assault of law enforcement a deplorable offense and to condemn efforts of defunding the police and law enforcement agencies.
• 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene on a resolution to expel Rep. Santos from the House of Representatives.
• 17 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene on a bill to establish federal law enforcement officers to purchase retired firearms.
• 14 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene on a bill to establish federal law enforcement officers to purchase retired firearms.
• 18 swing district House members voted with Rep.Greene to consider a bill to amend the Controlled Substance Act
• 17 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene on a joint resolution that nullifies the Environmental Protection Agency rule relating to Control of Air Pollution From New Motor Vehicles.
• 14 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene on a joint resolution that nullifies the final rule submitted by the Department of Commerce titled Procedures Covering Suspension of Liquidation, Duties and Estimated Duties in Accord With Presidential Proclamation 10414 and published on September 16, 2022.   
• 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene on a joint resolution that nullifies the rule issued by the Department of Education on October 12, 2022, that suspends federal student loan payments and discharges debt.
• 18 swing district House members voted with Rep. Greene to consider the Separation of Powers Restoration Act.

Key House Votes Advancing the Republican Agenda in the 118th Congress
Through June 6, 2023