Baumgartner's Weekly Voting Record
February 09-13. 2026
Civics 101 #3:
Oh, isn’t it just fantastic to discover that Michael Baumgartner apparently has a bold new strategy for representing Eastern Washington: don’t. Because from where the good folks of CD5 are sitting, it sure doesn’t look like he’s casting votes that make life more affordable, more stable, or full of opportunity for the people who actually live here.
It does, however, make you wonder who exactly he is working for. Because it’s hard to see how these votes benefit families in Spokane, Pullman, Walla Walla, or any of the small towns in between.
Take last week, for example, when he voted against ACA tax rebates tied to the Affordable Care Act. You know, the ones that help people, oh I don’t know… afford health insurance. Apparently the new plan is: if you can’t afford coverage, maybe just… don’t get sick? Very innovative. Groundbreaking stuff. Who needs affordable healthcare anyway? It’s not like medical bills bankrupt families or anything.
Then there’s this week’s vote for the so-called SAVE Act. If it were to pass the Senate as written, Washington State’s vote-by-mail system could be thrown out. And if you’re a married woman who changed her last name? Well, grab a flashlight and head to the basement, because you’ll need to dig up your birth certificate, marriage license, and need a passport just to prove you’re you. No paperwork? No ballot. Simple as that.
And let’s not ignore how closely this lines up with the playbook outlined in Project 2025 — where rolling back access and making voting harder isn’t a side effect, it’s practically a feature. Stripping rights by drowning people in bureaucracy is still stripping rights.
But sure. This is all supposedly about “integrity” and “fiscal responsibility.” Meanwhile, healthcare gets less affordable and voting gets more complicated — especially for women.
So again, one has to ask: who exactly is being represented here? Because it sure doesn’t look like the everyday people of Washington’s 5th Congressional District.
If you actually make it to the bottom, you’ll uncover even more delightful surprises buried inside the SAVE Act. Because nothing says “we respect voters” quite like tucking the most damaging parts where you hope no one bothers to look.
The deeper you go, the clearer it gets this isn’t about “saving” anything. It’s about gatekeeping. It’s about turning voting into an administrative obstacle course designed to trip up perfectly eligible citizens — especially women who had the audacity to change their last name after marriage. Congratulations, ladies. Hope you’ve got a fireproof safe full of original documents and a spare weekday to stand in line.
The SAVE Act actually wins for “Most Deceiving Bill Title” in modern history.
But sure. Call it “SAVE.” Because if you label it with enough wholesome-sounding capital letters, maybe no one will notice what it actually does.
Following House Bills
Every week Spokane Indivisible will post a record of bills passed by the House of Representatives. We feel it is part of our civic duty, as standing members of We the People, to be aware of what bills are passed by our representatives in our name. We pay for their decisions with our tax dollars. We use the website clerk.house.gov to track bills from the House Floor summary page. Other sites to find information about the House and Senate include justfacts.votesmart.org, govinfo.gov, c-span.org, LegisScan, govtrack.us, www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.
Fun Facts
A few facts about WA Senators Murray and Cantwell and Representative Baumgartner:
Patty Murray has been a US Senator for Washington State since 1993. She is the first woman in American history to hold the position of president pro tempore of the Senate (2023-2025). She currently is the third-most senior senator, the most senior Senate Democrat, and the longest-serving female senator ever. Senator Murray is considered highly influential as a result of her committee leadership:
1. Vice Chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee (controls how federal money is actually distributed to combat Trump’s Executive Orders)
a. Subcommittees: Defense; Homeland Security; Labor, Health and Human Services; Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development; and Energy and Water Development.
2. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
3. Senate Committee on the Budget
4. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
Maria Cantwell has been a US Senator for Washington State since 2001 and is the most senior ‘junior’ senator. Senator Cantwell sits on several influential Senate committees:
1. Chair, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
a. Subcommittees: Aviation Safety; Communications; Consumer Protection; Oceans and Fisheries; Space and Science; Surface Transportation; and Tourism, Trade, and Export Promotion.
2. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
3. Senate Committee Finance
4. Indian Committee Affairs
5. Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Michael Baumgartner has been a US Representative for CD5 since 2024. Rep Baumgartner sits on the following House Committees:
1. Education and Workforce
a. Subcommittees on: Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions; Higher Education and Workforce Development (Vice Chair).
2. Foreign Affairs
a. Subcommittees on: Middle East and North Africa; South and Central Asia
3. Judiciary
a. Subcommittees: Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust
b. Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet
Bills passed by the House of Representatives during the week of Feb 09-Feb 13, 2026.
February 09, 2026
S. 3705. Semiquincentennial Congressional Time Capsule Act. This bill became Public Law # 119-79.
This bill requires the Architect of the Capitol to create a congressional time capsule in honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence to be buried in the Capitol Visitor Center on or before July 4, 2026. The time capsule shall contain a joint letter from congressional leadership and such other contents as they shall determine. The time capsule shall be sealed until July 4, 2276.
HR 5616. $2.50 for America’s 250th Act.
Voice Vote - Passed
This bill requires the minting of $2.50 coins to commemorate the 250th anniversary, or the semiquincentennial, of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Specifically, the Department of the Treasury must mint and issue a $2.50 circulating coin upon determining that such minting is technically feasible, economically feasible, and not cost prohibitive. The design of such a coin during the first five years of its issuance must be as described by the bill, however, subsequent designs may be selected by Treasury to celebrate the founding of the United States.
Treasury may also mint and issue $2.50 numismatic coins (i.e., collectible coins) in silver, clad, and other alloys, including gold. (and we all know what this coin is going to look like, right?)
HR 3390. Bringing the Discount Window into the 21st Century Act
Voice Vote - Passed
This bill requires the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to review and develop a remediation plan for its discount window lending program, which provides loans to depository institutions to support an institution’s security and liquidity.
The review must consider topics such as the sufficiency of the technology infrastructure, the effectiveness of the existing operating hours of the discount window, and how the discount window interacts with other liquidity providers during normal operations and in times of financial distress.
The remediation plan must address any identified deficiencies, establish timelines and milestones for implementation, and be approved by the board. The bill requires annual reports to Congress regarding the plan.
H.R.3682. Financial Stability Oversight Council Improvement Act of 2025
Voice Vote – Passed
This bill requires the Financial Stability Oversight Council, prior to determining that a U.S. nonbank financial company shall be supervised by the Federal Reserve Board and therefore subject to certain prudential standards, to first determine that certain alternative actions would not mitigate the threat the company may pose to U.S. financial stability.
HR 6644 - Housing for the 21st Century Act: To increase the supply of housing in America, and for other purposes
MB Voted Yes. 390 Yes/9 No
Amends federal housing programs, including by expanding available financing for affordable housing and providing grants for planning and community development activities (Sec. 1-2).
Increases the statutory maximum loan limits for mortgage insurance programs administered by the Federal Housing Administration for multifamily homes and requires the use of a more specific inflation index for such loans (Sec. 3).
Increases the maximum eligible income for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) HOME Investment Partnerships Program (grants to states and localities to support housing for low-income households) and establishes a grant program to assist regional, state, and local entities with strategies to support affordable housing (Sec. 3).
Establishes additional provisions for housing programs, including (Sec. 4):
Exempts certain housing-related activities from the environmental review process, including certain construction, improvement, or rehabilitation of residential buildings;
Restricts veterans’ disability benefits from being considered as income for purposes of determining eligibility for the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program;
Establishes a pilot program to provide grants to public housing agencies (PHAs) and other owners of federally assisted housing to test the efficacy of temperature sensors to support compliance with temperature requirements;
Repeals the requirement that manufactured homes must be constructed with a permanent chassis; and
Authorizes HUD to conduct performance reviews of organizations that provide housing counseling services.
Expands oversight of HUD and PHAs, such as by requiring PHAs to post information about contracts on their websites
HR 1531 - Pressure Regulatory Organizations to End Chinese Threats to (PROTECT) Taiwan Act
MB Voted Yes. 395 Yes/2 No (2/3 majority required)
Specifies that it is U.S. policy to seek to exclude Chinese representatives from participating in the activities of six international organizations if the President informs Congress that China’s actions pose any (Sec. 2):
Threat to Taiwan’s security, economic system, or social system; and
Danger to U.S. interests.
Specifies that the six organizations previously mentioned are the following (Sec. 2):
Group of Twenty.
Bank for International Settlements.
Financial Stability Board.
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.
International Association of Insurance Supervisors; and
International Organization of Securities Commissions.
Requires the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the Securities and Exchange Commission to take all necessary steps to advance the exclusion policy in the event that the President informs Congress of a triggering event by China (Sec. 2).
Authorizes the President to waive the application of this policy to an organization if doing so is in the national interest of the United States (Sec. 2).
HR 3190. BRAVE Burma Act.
No roll call record.
This bill extends and expands a law imposing sanctions on Burma. The bill also requires the President to appoint a Special Envoy for Burma.
FEBRUARY 11-12, 2026
S 1383 - Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act. Revised SAVE America Act. Original Bill HR 22. Passed April 10, 2025.
** THIS IS ONE WE NEED TO KEEP EYES ON. **
MB Voted Yes. 218 Yes/213 No.
The bill’s stated purpose is to prevent non-citizens (WHO DO NOT VOTE) from voting in federal elections.
See below for a more detailed analysis of this proposed legislation.*
HR 3617 - Securing America’s Critical Minerals Supply Act
**THIS IS ONE WE NEED TO KEEP EYES ON.**
MB Voted Yes. 223 Yes/206 No/3 not voting
· Requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to secure the supply of critical energy resources that are essential to the energy security of the United States (Sec. 2).
· Defines “critical energy resource” as an energy resource that is essential to the energy sector and energy systems of the United States, and the supply chain of which is vulnerable to disruption (Sec. 2).
· Requires DOE, as part of its duties, to conduct ongoing assessments of the following (Sec. 3):
Energy resource criticality;
The U.S. supply chain of critical energy resources and its vulnerabilities;
The diversity of domestic critical energy resource supply chains.
Capacity constraints on the domestic production of critical energy resources.
Federal regulations affecting the domestic production or importation of critical energy resources.
How energy security is affected by reliance on imports of critical energy resources; and
How adversarial nations seek to exploit critical energy resource markets to undermine investment in the United States.
Requires DOE to additionally do the following (Sec. 3):
Facilitate the development of strategies to strengthen critical energy resource supply chains.
Develop substitutes and alternatives to critical energy resources; and
Improve technology that reuses and recycles critical energy resources.
HR 261 – Undersea Cable Protection Act.
MB Voted Yes. 218 Yes/212 No/2 not voting
Prohibits the Department of Commerce from enforcing certain permit requirements for activities related to undersea fiber optic cables in national marine sanctuaries (Sec. 2).
Specifies that Commerce may not prohibit or require an authorization for any covered activities related to undersea fiber optic cables if a license, lease, or permit has been issued by a state or federal agency to authorize the covered activity. Covered activities are the installation, continued presence, operation, maintenance, repair, or recovery of undersea fiber optic cables in a national marine sanctuary (Sec. 2).
Authorizes Commerce to direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to engage in interagency cooperation regarding federal agency actions that are likely to destroy, cause the loss of, or injure a resource in a national marine sanctuary and involve covered activities (Sec. 2).
H J Res 72 - Relating to a national emergency by the President on February 1, 2025. Rescinding Trump’s illegal tariffs on Canada.
MB Voted NO. PASSED 219 Yes/211 No/2 not voting
Vote to adopt a joint resolution that terminates the national emergency declared by the President on February 1, 2025, in Executive Order 14193.
NOTE: In the House Record, the title of Executive Order 14193 is never posted, so we will: Imposing Duties to Address the Flow of Illicit Drugs Across Our Northern Border. That would be Canada.
MB voted to continue economically damaging tariffs on Canadian goods coming into the US.
Luckily for the entire nation, six of the nine Supreme Court Justices found their spines and announced on Feb 20, 2026, that Trump’s tariffs were illegal. We will see how this plays out since Trump declared yesterday that this ruling does not apply to him.
HR 2189 - Law-Enforcement Innovate to De-Escalate Act
MB Voted Yes. 233 Yes/185 No/13 not voting
Repeals less-than-lethal projectile devices (e.g., certain TASERs) from regulation under the Gun Control Act (Sec. 2).
Defines “less-than-lethal projectile device” as a device that (Sec. 2):
Is not designed or intended to expel (and may not be readily converted to discharge) commonly used ammunition or projectiles exceeding a velocity of 500 feet per second.
Is designed and intended to be used in a manner not likely to cause death or serious bodily injury; and
Does not accept (and cannot be readily modified to accept) an ammunition feeding device.
Requires the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to determine whether a device satisfies the definition of a less-than-lethal projectile device within 90 days of a request (Sec. 2).
Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act
Tracking the SAVE Act through both the House and Senate has been challenging. The following is a timeline from when it initially passed the House April 10, 2025. Interesting it wasn’t on the radar at that time.
SAVE Act HR 22 – Passed House on April 10, 2025 and was sent to the Senate. HR 22 focused on requiring documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) – known as the Motor Voter Act.
In the Senate, this bill was changed to S.1383 as the legislative vehicle. The Senate amended S.1383 via an “amendment in the nature of a substitute” — meaning they removed the original text of S.1383 (H.R.22) and replaced it entirely with new language. However, both H.R. 22 and the Senate’s substitute in S.1383 emphasize that:
Individuals must provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship at the time of voter registration.
States cannot accept voter registration applications for federal elections unless such proof is provided.
The Senate language also similarly structures NVRA amendments to enforce citizenship verification.
House Amendment to S.1383. On February 11, 2026, the House passed S.1383 with new text inserted as an amendment in the nature of a substitute (H.Amdt.163), effectively replacing the Senate language with the House’s version (calling it the SAVE America Act).
This is now the version the Senate is debating and will vote on in the near future.
Robert Reich provided an overview of the SAVE Act:
The SAVE America Act was thrown together so haphazardly and contains so many attacks on voting rights that it’s difficult to summarize even the main points in a single email. But allow me to try.
This awful bill:
Effectively eliminates voter registration by mail.
Implements nationwide photo ID requirements at the polls.
Bans universal mail-in ballots for federal elections, which is currently the standard in eight states and Washington, D.C.
Allows massive voter roll purges.
Threatens nonpartisan election officials with imprisonment if they fail to uphold the bill’s strict voter documentation requirements.
Requires anyone registering to vote in federal elections to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in person, such as a passport, military service papers, or a birth certificate combined with an exactly matching current photo ID.
In other words, this bill is designed to prevent as many people as possible from voting, in particular married women, transgender people, immigrant citizens, and students.
Note: Do NOT piss off women, because when Mama ain’t happy, nobody’s happy. If you do, it will end badly for you.
Until next week,
Sami and Sylvia - Spokane Indivisible Team
Who ever will be our BLUE candidate will have an unlimited number of incidents, starting with MB kissing the KINGS hand and getting worse.
It will be a blast, lets get the candidate and start blasting….we have no choice if we want democracy and freedom in our country.