Nikki Budzinski

73% of Americans say the cost of health care is a very big problem. Pew Research Center, April 2026.

• Market-Based Premium ReliefVoted no

  The House Republicans' health package. It expands association health plans, lets employers fund workers' own coverage, funds ACA cost-sharing payments, and adds PBM transparency rules. It does not extend the enhanced subsidies.

  D0%

  R96%

  What the terms mean

  Association health plans let small businesses and self-employed people band together to buy insurance as one large group. Cost-sharing payments are federal reimbursements to insurers for lowering the deductibles and copays of lower-income marketplace enrollees.

• Make ACA Subsidies PermanentCosponsored

  Makes the enhanced ACA premium tax credits permanent. More people qualify for marketplace subsidies, and the subsidies stay larger, for good.

  D74%

  R0%
• Rein In Drug MiddlemenCosponsored

  Reins in the pharmacy benefit managers who sit between drugmakers and pharmacies. It curbs tactics like “spread pricing,” requires PBMs to pass manufacturer rebates through to health plans, and unlinks their pay from a drug's list price.

  D14%

  R18%

  What the terms mean

  A pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) is the middleman an insurer or employer hires to decide which drugs a plan covers and to negotiate their prices with drugmakers and pharmacies. “Spread pricing” is when a PBM bills the health plan more for a drug than it pays the pharmacy and keeps the difference; a rebate is a payment a drugmaker sends back after the fact to win favorable coverage.

• Health Care Price TransparencyNo action on record

  Writes hospital and insurer price-transparency rules into law. Hospitals, insurers, labs, imaging providers, and surgery centers would have to post the actual prices they charge, so patients can compare.

  D0%

  R0%
• Benchmark Drug Prices to Other CountriesNo action on record

  Compares brand-name drug prices against what five peer countries pay. If a U.S. price is judged “excessive,” the government strips the drug's market exclusivity and licenses generic competitors to force the price down.

  D2%

  R0%

  What the terms mean

  “Market exclusivity” is the window when only the brand-name maker may sell a drug; ending it early lets generic competitors enter and compete on price. Judging a U.S. price against what other wealthy countries pay is known as international reference pricing.

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64% of Americans say the federal budget deficit is a very big problem. Pew Research Center, April 2026.

• Rescind Enacted SpendingVoted no

  Cancels money Congress has already approved. The 2025 version clawed back about $9 billion, mostly from foreign aid and public broadcasting, and was signed into law.

  D0%

  R95%

  What the terms mean

  A rescission is a law that cancels funding Congress previously appropriated before it is spent. Because it undoes spending that is already enacted, it needs only a simple majority under special budget rules.

• Restore Impoundment PowerNo action on record

  Repeals the 1974 law that bars a president from refusing to spend money Congress has appropriated. It would let the president “impound” funds, that is, decline to spend them, to hold down federal outlays.

  D0%

  R11%

  What the terms mean

  “Impoundment” is a president declining to spend money Congress has appropriated. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 largely ended the practice; repealing it would restore that presidential power.

• Constitutional Spending CapVoted no

  A constitutional amendment capping total federal spending in a year at the average revenue collected over the prior three years, forcing the budget toward balance over time. It would also require a two-thirds vote of both chambers to raise any tax. The House voted on it in 2026 and it fell short of the two-thirds required.

  D0%

  R95%

  What the terms mean

  A constitutional amendment must pass both the House and Senate by two-thirds and then be ratified by three-quarters of the states. This one would cap yearly spending at the three-year average of federal receipts.

• Bipartisan Fiscal CommissionNo action on record

  Creates a bipartisan commission of lawmakers and outside experts to write a plan to stabilize the debt, with a guaranteed up-or-down vote in Congress. It doesn't choose the spending cuts or tax increases itself; it forces a process to decide.

  D10%

  R10%
• Surtax on Top IncomesNo action on record

  Adds an extra tax on income above roughly $1 million a year, on top of the existing rates.

  D5%

  R0%
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55% of Americans say drug addiction is a very big problem. Pew Research Center, April 2026.

• Permanently Schedule Fentanyl-Related DrugsVoted no

  Permanently places all fentanyl-related substances into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the most tightly controlled category, so making or selling any chemical cousin of fentanyl carries the same penalties as fentanyl itself. Before this, the class was scheduled only under temporary orders that had to be renewed.

  D47%

  R96%

  What the terms mean

  “Scheduling” is how federal law sorts controlled drugs by how dangerous and how medically useful they are deemed to be. Schedule I is the most restricted tier. A “fentanyl-related substance” is a chemical variant, or analogue, of fentanyl, altered slightly to skirt existing bans.

• Sanction Chinese Fentanyl SuppliersVoted yes

  Widens the definition of a “foreign opioid trafficker” to cover Chinese people and entities that make or sell the chemicals used to produce fentanyl, so the government can impose financial sanctions on that supply chain.

  D91%

  R93%

  What the terms mean

  A “precursor” is a raw chemical used to manufacture a finished drug; most fentanyl precursors are produced abroad. Sanctions freeze a target's U.S. assets and bar Americans from doing business with them.

• Reauthorize the Addiction Grant ProgramsVoted yes

  Reauthorizes the federal government's main set of grant programs for preventing and treating substance use disorders through 2030: money for youth prevention, recovery housing, peer-support and recovery services, overdose-reversal drugs, and loan repayment for addiction-treatment providers.

  D81%

  R83%

  What the terms mean

  A “substance use disorder” is the clinical term for addiction. These grants flow through the Department of Health and Human Services to states, tribes, and community organizations that run treatment and prevention programs.

• Prescribe Addiction Medications by TelehealthNo action on record

  Permanently lets clinicians prescribe medications for opioid use disorder, such as buprenorphine, over telehealth, without requiring an in-person visit first. It makes permanent a flexibility that began during the pandemic.

  D11%

  R4%

  What the terms mean

  Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), such as buprenorphine and methadone, are the standard clinical treatment for opioid addiction; they reduce cravings and overdose deaths. Telehealth is care delivered remotely by phone or video.

• Let Pharmacies Dispense MethadoneNo action on record

  Lets addiction specialists prescribe methadone for opioid use disorder and lets ordinary pharmacies fill it, breaking the current rule that methadone for addiction can be dispensed only at federally licensed opioid-treatment clinics.

  D1%

  R0%

  What the terms mean

  Methadone is one of the medications for opioid use disorder. In the U.S. it can currently be dispensed for addiction only at a limited number of specially licensed clinics, which many patients live far from; this would let a pharmacy fill a prescription for it as with other drugs.

49% of Americans say gun violence is a very big problem. Pew Research Center, April 2026.

• Universal Background ChecksCosponsored

  Requires a background check for nearly all firearm sales, including private transfers between individuals. Today only licensed dealers must run the check; sales between private parties are generally exempt.

  D97%

  R1%

  What the terms mean

  A background check runs a buyer's name against the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to flag people barred from owning a gun. Federal law requires it only for sales by licensed dealers, so private and online sales between individuals can happen without one.

• Safe Firearm StorageCosponsored

  Sets a federal safe-storage standard: firearms in a home where a minor could reach them must be locked or otherwise secured, with penalties when an unsecured gun is accessed. It is named for a teenager killed by an unsecured firearm.

  D90%

  R0%
• Raise the Purchase Age to 21No action on record

  Raises the minimum age to buy certain semiautomatic rifles and shotguns from a licensed dealer from 18 to 21. Handgun sales from dealers already carry a 21-and-older minimum.

  D78%

  R0%
• Assault Weapons BanCosponsored

  Bans the manufacture, sale, and import of many semiautomatic rifles and pistols the bill defines as “assault weapons,” along with the large-capacity magazines it defines. Firearms already owned are grandfathered in.

  D88%

  R0%

  What the terms mean

  “Assault weapon” is a legal category defined by features, such as a detachable magazine combined with a pistol grip or a folding stock. It is not a description of how fast a gun fires. A “large-capacity magazine” is one the bill defines by round capacity: more than fifteen rounds in the House version, more than ten in the Senate companion.

• Red-Flag Protection OrdersNo action on record

  Funds and creates a federal extreme-risk protection order: a court process letting police or family members ask a judge to temporarily remove firearms from a person found to be a danger to themselves or others.

  D52%

  R0%

  What the terms mean

  An extreme risk protection order, often called a “red-flag” law, is a temporary civil court order that requires a judge's finding and expires after a set period. Roughly twenty states already have one; these bills would fund and standardize the process nationally.

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39% of Americans say climate change is a very big problem. Pew Research Center, April 2026.

• Bring Back the Clean Energy Tax CreditsCosponsored

  Undoes the 2025 tax law's repeal of the clean-energy tax credits. It would restore the discounts for solar, wind, batteries, home efficiency upgrades, and electric vehicles that Congress cancelled.

  D74%

  R0%
• Give Clean Energy Projects Their Deadlines BackNo action on record

  Removes the accelerated construction deadlines the 2025 tax law placed on the wind, solar, and hydrogen tax credits, so projects already underway do not lose their financing by missing a cutoff.

  D0%

  R3%

  What the terms mean

  A construction deadline (a “placed in service” date) is the cutoff by which a project must be finished to claim a credit. Moving it earlier can strand projects that were financed on the assumption of the old date.

• Charge Polluting Imports a Carbon PriceNo action on record

  Sets a fee on imported steel, cement, and other heavy industrial goods based on how much carbon pollution it took to make them, and holds American producers to the same standard.

  D3%

  R0%

  What the terms mean

  A carbon border fee charges imported goods for the emissions released making them, so that domestic producers held to a standard are not undercut by foreign producers who are not.

• Clear Out Wildfire Fuel FasterVoted yes

  Speeds up environmental reviews for forest-thinning and controlled-burn projects on federal land, and sets up a joint federal center to coordinate wildfire work. The House passed it in 2025.

  D31%

  R95%

  What the terms mean

  Thinning and controlled burns remove the dense undergrowth that turns a fire into a severe one. This is adaptation, that is, limiting the damage from a warming climate, rather than an effort to cut emissions.

• Overhaul Disaster ResponseCosponsored

  Rewrites how the federal disaster agency works. It would make FEMA an independent cabinet-level agency, shift money toward reducing damage before a disaster rather than paying for it after, and simplify aid for survivors.

  D20%

  R24%
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38% of Americans say illegal immigration is a very big problem. Pew Research Center, April 2026.

• Detain and Deport for Theft CrimesVoted yes

  Requires the federal government to detain immigrants without legal status who are arrested for or charged with theft-related crimes, assaulting a police officer, or a crime causing death or serious injury. It also lets states sue the federal government over immigration-enforcement decisions.

  D21%

  R96%

  What the terms mean

  The bill is named for Laken Riley, a nursing student killed in 2024. It became law in January 2025, so its two chambers' roll-call votes place nearly every member on the record by name.

• Fund Border and Interior EnforcementVoted no

  Provides about $70 billion through 2029 to the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for border security and immigration enforcement.

  D0%

  R97%

  What the terms mean

  A reconciliation bill is a budget measure that can pass the Senate by simple majority, without the 60 votes most legislation needs. That is why this one became law on a near party-line vote, unlike the bipartisan Laken Riley Act above.

• Raise Penalties for Illegal ReentryVoted no

  Increases the criminal penalties for entering the country illegally after a prior removal, and for assaulting a Border Patrol agent.

  D5%

  R95%
• Require E-Verify for All EmployersNo action on record

  Requires every employer in the country to check whether a new hire is authorized to work, using a federal electronic verification system, and phases the requirement in over time.

  D0%

  R19%

  What the terms mean

  E-Verify is the federal online system an employer uses to confirm a new hire's work eligibility against Social Security and Homeland Security records. Today its use is voluntary for most private employers.

• Make Asylum Seekers Wait in MexicoNo action on record

  Directs the federal government to reinstate the Migrant Protection Protocols, under which certain people who arrive by land and seek asylum are returned to Mexico to wait while their case is decided.

  D1%

  R48%

  What the terms mean

  The Migrant Protection Protocols, often called “Remain in Mexico,” were a 2019 policy later ended and then contested in court. This bill would write the policy into law so it cannot be undone administratively.

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• Overturn Citizens UnitedCosponsored

  A constitutional amendment authorizing Congress and the states to limit the raising and spending of money in elections.

• Disclose Dark MoneyCosponsored

  Require any organization spending over $10,000 in an election to publicly identify donors above $10,000.

• Open PrimariesNo action on record

  Permit unaffiliated voters to participate in federal primary elections in every state.

• End GerrymanderingCosponsored

  Require every state to draw congressional districts through an independent redistricting commission.

• Ban Stock TradingCosponsored

  Prohibit members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from owning or trading individual stocks.

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