This is Standard Republican Policy. Is This What You Want?
Forget the slogans. Judged by what they voted for, what they did, and what they refused to stop, this is what Republicans in Congress stand for, on 20 issues, with the receipts.
Articles about Tom Cole
Republicans Cut Medicaid by Nearly $1 Trillion. They Scheduled the Pain for After You Vote.
The Big Beautiful Bill cuts Medicaid by close to $1 trillion over 10 years, and the Congressional Budget Office says the law will leave 10 million more people uninsured. Republicans made sure the biggest cut doesn't start until 2027 — after the midterms. 198 Republicans on this site voted for it.
Twice the House Came One Vote From Telling Trump to End the Iran War — the First Resolution Lost 213-214, the Next Deadlocked 212-212, and 181 Republicans We Track Voted No on Both.
On April 16 a war powers resolution failed 213-214. On May 14 the next one deadlocked 212-212, and a tie fails. Either one needed exactly one Republican to switch. Only Thomas Massie, who has no page here, voted yes both times.
185 House Members We Track Voted to Make States Hand Your Medicaid and Food Stamp Records to Trump's Former Defense Lawyer
On September 16 the House passed the PROOF Act, 217-207. It orders states to turn over whatever Medicaid, SNAP and other benefit records Attorney General Todd Blanche asks for in writing, with no judge involved. A federal court had already blocked the Trump administration from cutting food stamp funding to states that refused to hand over recipient data. 185 of the members who voted yes have report cards on this site.
180 House Members We Track Voted a Third Time to Keep Trump's Iran War Going. Congress's Budget Office Says It Has Already Cost $38 Billion.
On September 15 the House voted 220-204 to end the war with Iran — the third time since June. Republicans voted 203 to 7 against it, and 180 of the members who voted no are on our report cards. The same day, the Congressional Budget Office put the war's direct cost at $38.1 billion and said it will push inflation higher into 2027.
Your Health Premiums Jumped 58%. House Republicans Came Back and Voted to Tell Colleges What They're Allowed to Boycott.
The House returned from recess and spent its week on socialism resolutions, mining permits, whales, the Supreme Court, and a bill punishing colleges for boycotting Israel. Nobody voted on the premiums that just went up 58%. Here is every Republican with a report card who voted yes.
Americans Say Groceries Are Their Biggest Money Worry. House Republicans Spent the Evening of September 1 Voting to Condemn Socialism.
H.Res. 1490 passed 220-192. It changes no law and spends no money. Its one concrete demand is the SAVE America Act, a proof-of-citizenship rule of the kind Kansas tried — where 31,089 people could not register, against 39 confirmed noncitizens the state found in the previous 14 years. 189 members with a page on this site voted yes.
These 188 Republicans Voted to Lock the Supreme Court at Nine Seats While Republican Appointees Hold Six of Them
The House voted September 2 on a constitutional amendment freezing the Supreme Court at nine justices. The Constitution never set that number — Congress did, and has changed it five times. Here is every Republican with a report card who voted yes.
208 House Republicans Just Voted to Lock In the Food-Safety Layoffs. Complaints About Contaminated Meat Had Risen 40%.
H.R. 8646 passed 213-210 on June 4. It comes in $380 million below last year and, in the Appropriations Committee's own words, reduces salaries and expenses "to account for staffing reductions" — the nearly 4,300 FDA and roughly 900 meat-inspection jobs already gone. 188 members with a page on this site voted yes. Four voted no.
One Co-Chairs the Hunger Caucus. One Chairs the Subcommittee That Writes SNAP Policy. Both Voted for the Biggest Food-Aid Cut in History.
The 2025 budget law cut SNAP by $187 billion — about 20%, the largest cut the program has ever taken. Six of these eight Republicans voted for it. Between them they co-chaired the hunger caucus, chaired the nutrition subcommittee, told the public a food bank was on their side, and turned down $18 million meant to feed kids.
One in Every 14 Union Members in America Just Lost Their Contract by Executive Order. 195 House Republicans Voted to Keep It That Way.
Two executive orders, plus an earlier move against TSA screeners, stripped collective bargaining from 84.4% of the unionized federal workforce. A bipartisan bill to restore it passed the House 231-195 — every Democrat for it, 195 Republicans against — and the Senate has sat on it for eight months.
Republicans Once Voted for a 12-Year Limit on Congress. Forty-Six on This Site Are Already Past It — by 909 Years.
Republicans put a 12-year cap on congressional service to a House vote in 1995. Four of these men were there for it. Two of them are now in year 45. And five Republicans currently cosponsor a three-term cap while serving their 7th, 10th and 17th terms.
Congress Gave ICE $70 Billion and No Rules on Conduct. Now ICE Is Buying Electric Shock Gloves.
ICE plans to spend up to $20 million on gloves that deliver painful electric shocks — ten times what Susan Collins points to as the de-escalation reform that justified her vote. Here are the 201 Republicans with report cards on this site who voted for the money.
$70 Billion for ICE Passed the House by Two Votes. Not One Republican Voted No.
On June 9, 2026, the House passed S. 2 by 214 to 212. At that margin every single Republican yes vote was the deciding vote. Here are the 187 still in their races who have report cards on this site.
Congress Holds the Purse Strings. Tom Cole's Plan Was to Ask Elon Musk Nicely Over Bourbon.
The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee told constituents DOGE was 'pretty responsive' if you worked it right. His district lost weather service jobs anyway — and when Norman residents asked him to face them in person, his office said he was busy.
Tom Cole Won an Award for Saving Public Broadcasting. Then He Helped Kill It — Including His Own Tribe's Radio Station.
In 2016, public television gave Cole its Champion of Public Broadcasting Award — citing his work protecting service to 'the Native American nations of Oklahoma.' In 2025, as Appropriations chairman, he cosponsored the bill that shut the whole system's funder down.
Tom Cole's Social Security Bill Has Two Words That Should Worry You: 'Amendments Prohibited'
Cole has pushed the same bill for seven Congresses. It hands Social Security to 13 appointees, then forces Congress to vote yes or no on whatever they write — no amendments, four hours of House debate, no filibuster.
ICE Is Reading Your Posts. Congress Paid for It.
A Wall Street Journal investigation found ICE is paying contractors millions to scan social media around the clock, then using subpoenas to unmask Americans who criticize the agency. Nobody has been charged. That may be the point.
She Sells Her Blood Twice a Week and Has $3.78 in the Bank. Under the Republican Law, 4.5 Million Fewer People Get Food Stamps.
A 1,000-mile road trip through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky found people who can't afford toilet paper. The unemployment rate hasn't moved. The only thing that changed is the law nearly every Republican in Congress from those states voted for.
207 House Republicans Just Voted to Keep Us in Trump's Iran War — And Lost
On July 23 the House voted 214-208 to order U.S. forces out of Trump's unauthorized war with Iran. These 185 Republicans we track voted no — the second time the House has told the president to stop, and the second time they tried to stop it from saying so.
These 190 Republicans Voted to Let an Energy Board Block Clean-Air Rules
The House passed the 'Reliable Power Act,' handing federal energy regulators the power to stall EPA rules on power-plant pollution. Here's every Republican with a report card who voted yes.
197 Republicans Voted to Spike Your Health Insurance Premiums
The Senate blocked the fix and the House passed a fake one. Here's every Republican we track who voted to let ACA premiums spike.