Rubber Stamps: The 10 Florida Members of Congress Who Have Voted
100% of the Time for President Trump’s Anti-Environmental Agenda
In the four weeks since President Donald J. Trump was confirmed as the 45th President of the United States, the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives have held a combined 26 roll call votes on nominees or issues that pertain to energy or environmental policy.
Of Florida’s 29 senators and representatives in the U.S. Congress, 10 have voted 100% of the time for President Trump’s anti-environmental agenda, putting each of them squarely out of synch with public opinion in a state where a majority of residents say they are worried about global warming.
“The question is, what will it take for our elected representatives to stand up to President Trump and to vote independently, on behalf of all Floridians?” said Progress Florida Executive Director Mark Ferrulo.
This disconnect between their early voting records in the 115th Congress and their constituents’ views may be one reason why only three of them are currently scheduled to hold in-person town halls or public meetings in this first week back home since President Trump was sworn in.
In 2017, Sen. Marco Rubio has voted four out of four times for President Trump’s anti-environmental agenda. Specifically, he voted to:
- Overturn the Stream Protection Rule, which protected U.S. drinking water from toxic mine waste;
- Enable oil companies to engage in bribery and corruption overseas;
- Confirm Exxon Mobil’s CEO Rex Tillerson to serve as Secretary of State; and
- Confirm Oklahoma’s Attorney General, Scott Pruitt, to serve as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Meanwhile, Rubio has no in-person town halls scheduled and his overall “Trump Score” across all policy areas is 100%, according to Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight.com.
Of 22 environment-related roll call votes in the House of Representatives in 2017, Florida Congressmen Matt Gaetz, Neal Dunn, Ted Yoho, Bill Posey, Gus Bilirakis, Dennis Ross, Vern Buchanan, Thomas Rooney, and Francis Rooney have not cast a single vote against President Trump’s anti-environmental agenda. They have voted to:
- Overturn the Stream Protection Rule, which protects U.S. drinking water from toxic mine waste;
- Enable oil companies to engage in bribery and corruption overseas;
- Eliminate methane pollution limits for oil and gas companies operating on public lands;
- Restrict public input on public land management decisions; and
- Legalize the killing of hibernating bear clubs in Alaska’s national wildlife refuges.
“Like Sen. Rubio, these nine Florida congressional Republicans have turned their back on their constituents – not just through their extreme anti-environmental voting record, but in most cases ducking voters in their home districts by avoiding town hall meetings,” added Ferrulo.
According TownHallProject.com, only Reps. Yoho, Gaetz and Bilirakis have in-person town hall meetings scheduled during the congressional recess. Reps. Gaetz, Dunn, Yoho, Posey, Bilirakis, Ross, Buchanan, T. Rooney, and F. Rooney all have an overall “Trump Score” of 100% according to Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight.com.
