The record, issue by issue

Manufacturing employs 81,776 MI-4 residents, 20.9% of those with jobs, compared with 17.7% statewide (ACS 2024). Canada is Michigan's largest export market.

The votes that decided it

Nine days after the Canada vote, the Supreme Court held that the emergency-powers law doesn't authorize tariffs. Other tariffs remain in effect, including 50% tariffs on Canadian dairy, beverages and motor vehicles since Aug. 22, 2026, and Canada's retaliation since Sept. 8.

What he has said

On the 2025–26 tariff-emergency votes: none found. An April 2025 newsletter describes the tariffs' goal as reshoring manufacturing but doesn't address Congress's role or these votes.

What he has built

• Lead sponsor of a bipartisan manufacturing-workforce exchange bill (H.R. 9097, June 2026). It's in committee and hasn't had a markup or floor vote.

Still open

• What role he thinks Congress should have in tariffs after the Supreme Court's ruling.
• What the tariffs have cost or saved MI-4. No public district-level estimate exists.

Full research: Tariffs, trade policy, and MI-4's manufacturing base · Congressional Responsibility

About 60,000 MI-4 residents under 65 buy their own insurance, and 18.8% have Medicaid or other means-tested coverage (ACS 2024). The enhanced Marketplace premium credits expired at the end of 2025. Medicaid work requirements begin in Michigan in January 2027.

The votes that decided it

What he has said

On H.R. 6703: none found.

What he has built

• A pilot for hospital-led coverage of low-income workers, modeled on Access Health in Muskegon. He was lead sponsor in 2019 and 2022 and is the only cosponsor of the 2026 version; none has had a markup or floor vote.
• Voted for the 2026 funding law that enacted pharmacy-benefit-manager (PBM) reforms and the pediatric-cancer Give Kids a Chance Act, which he cosponsored.
• Bills on inpatient mental-health care and veterans' suicide prevention (in committee).

Still open

• A comprehensive alternative to the ACA's coverage mechanisms since 2017: researched, none found.
• What he proposes for people whose premiums rose after the credits expired.
• How many MI-4 residents keep or lose Medicaid under the work requirements. This can't be measured until they begin.

Full research: Healthcare & Coverage · What H.R. 1 actually does in MI-4

19.4% of MI-4 residents have Medicare (ACS 2024). The 2026 Trustees project Social Security's retirement trust fund runs out in late 2032, triggering an automatic cut of about 22% in benefits unless Congress acts. Medicare's hospital fund follows in 2033.

The vote that decided it

What he has said

The explanation doesn't address the cost or the effect on the trust funds.

What he has built

• Lead sponsor, with Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), of the Fiscal Commission Act: a bipartisan commission to write a long-term fiscal plan and force an up-or-down vote on it. It has about 40 cosponsors and hasn't had a markup or floor vote. It's a process for reaching a plan, not a plan.

Still open

• Which specific changes he supports to keep Social Security and Medicare solvent: researched, none found.

Full research: Entitlement Durability

Federal debt passed $40 trillion on Aug. 18, 2026. A stopgap he voted for funds the government through Dec. 11, 2026.

The votes that decided it

He has voted yes on every regular appropriations bill and stopgap that reached a House roll call on passage since January 2023, including the ones that failed.

What he has said

His H.R. 1 explanation is detailed on the tax provisions. It doesn't address CBO's deficit estimate.

What he has built

• The Fiscal Commission Act (above), plus a bipartisan resolution to hold deficits to 3% of GDP and a No Budget, No Pay bill he joined Rep. Peters in introducing. None has had committee action.

Still open

• The net deficit effect of every deficit-relevant vote in his MI-4 tenure: not yet researched.

Full research: Fiscal Responsibility · Voting Record

Allegan and Van Buren, both entirely in MI-4, are major blueberry, cherry, and apple counties. In the first half of 2025, Michigan's fresh cherry exports fell 62% and apple exports 58% from a year earlier; state officials attributed the drop to tariffs and trade uncertainty. Those are statewide figures, and the source doesn't separate tariffs from other factors.

The votes

What he has said

On these three votes: none found. He has publicized Army Corps dredging funding for Holland, Saugatuck, St. Joseph, and South Haven in earlier statements. The 2024 farm bill never reached a House floor vote, so there is no roll call on it.

What he has built

• With Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), repeated sponsor of a bill strengthening USDA's Tree Assistance Program, which helps orchard growers replant after disasters (most recently H.R. 8251, April 2026). He isn't on the Agriculture Committee.
• An initial scan found a substantial Great Lakes record, including Great Lakes Restoration Initiative bills and a Great Lakes fishery research law. It hasn't been written up yet (recommended for a dedicated article).

Full research: The district's specialty-crop economy

Michigan's average residential electricity price was 20.0¢ per kilowatt-hour in 2025, compared with 17.3¢ nationally (EIA; statewide, not published by district). Two contested power plants sit inside MI-4: Palisades nuclear plant in Covert Township and the J.H. Campbell coal plant in Port Sheldon Township.

The votes

What he has said and done

• Palisades: led a bipartisan December 2023 letter urging DOE to consider Holtec's restart loan, and has backed the restart under both administrations. The federal loan and a $400 million reactor award came through. The plant hasn't restarted; fuel loading was paused after an Aug. 30, 2026 incident.
• Campbell: supports keeping the coal plant running under DOE's emergency orders. He said on Oct. 7, 2026 that "10% of Michigan's electrical production comes out of that one plant"; EIA data put its share at 5.5% to 7.2% a year from 2019 through 2025. Consumers Energy reports a net cost of $259 million through June 30, 2026, which it seeks to recover from customers across the regional grid. A federal appeals court vacated the first order on Sept. 11, 2026, holding DOE exceeded its emergency authority.

Still open

• His position on the court ruling and on DOE's use of emergency power to override a state-approved retirement: researched, none found.
• How much of the Campbell costs MI-4 customers will pay. That depends on pending federal regulatory decisions.

Full research: Two power plants and the energy record

These votes have no Southwest Michigan angle. They're here because they decide whether Congress uses powers only it has, including when a president of the member's own party holds the White House.

The votes

He voted no on all six 2026 resolutions directing the removal of U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran. Three were adopted by the House: Roll 199 (June 3), Roll 282 (July 23), and Roll 307 (Sept. 15). The Senate adopted the June resolution 50–48. He has voted no on every war-powers resolution since 2023, under presidents of both parties.

What he has said

Still open

• His position on the executive withholding funds Congress appropriated: researched; no vote, statement, letter, or hearing found.
• Oversight of the current administration beyond hearings with its own witnesses: partly researched.

Full research: Congressional Responsibility

This site checked 37 consequential decisions from 2023 to 2026, chosen by a fixed rule, against his releases, newsletters, floor statements, and interviews.

When he explains a decision, the explanation usually gives real reasons, and sometimes names the compromise or the alternative he preferred. The 2025–26 decisions without a located explanation include the Canada tariff emergency, the FY2026 funding law, and three health care votes. His House website's newsletter archive lists no issue after Sept. 24, 2025.

Full research: Public Accountability