Joaquin Castro

Votes on military aid, weapons transfers, and ceasefire resolutions, and whether representatives have recognized the genocide in Gaza as documented by the ICJ, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch.

• ✓ Cosponsored the Block the Bombs Act to stop the transfer of U.S. weapons used in Gaza (H.R.3565)
• × Failed to cosponsor recognizing genocide in Gaza, blocking weapons transfers, and imposing sanctions (H.Res.876)
• ✓ Opposed imposing sanctions on International Criminal Court (ICC) judges investigating Israeli officials for war crimes (H.R.23)
• ✓ Cosponsored demanding unimpeded humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza, where famine conditions exist (H.Res.473)
• × Failed to cosponsor recognizing the Nakba (1948 mass displacement of Palestinians) and affirming refugee rights (H.Res.409)
• × Did not sign letter opposing Israel's use of food as a weapon and starvation tactics in Gaza (Food Weaponization Letter)
• × Failed to cosponsor blocking $12B in U.S. weapons transfers to Israel, in violation of U.S. and international law (H.J.Res.68)
• ✓ Opposed barring colleges from federal student aid over boycotts of Israeli businesses, and requiring equal access to Israel study programs (H.R.4795)
• ✓ Opposed NDAA FY2027 final passage — bill retains Section 219, a permanent US-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative (H.R.8800)
• ✓ Voted YES on the Massie amendment barring Israel from FY2027 State Department appropriations and eliminating its $3.3 billion Foreign Military Financing (H.Amdt.235 to H.R.8595)
• ✓ Cosponsored restoring U.S. funding for UNRWA, the UN agency serving Palestinian refugees (H.R.2411)
• ✓ Signed letters demanding the release of detained Palestinian students including Khalil, Ozturk, and Mahdawi (Student Letter)

Border and asylum policy, DACA, deportation practices, ICE enforcement, and the treatment of immigrants and refugees.

• ✓ Opposed the SAVE Act requiring citizenship proof to vote — a voter suppression measure (H.R.22)
• ✓ Opposed the Laken Riley Act expanding mandatory ICE detention for immigrants (H.R.29)
• ✓ Opposed $10B in ICE funding expansion in the DHS Appropriations bill (H.R.7147)
• ✓ Opposed a resolution thanking ICE for enforcement operations (H.Res.488)
• ✓ Opposed Kayla Hamilton Act — expands detention and enforcement for unaccompanied minors and immigration violations (H.R.4371)
• ✓ Cosponsored a pathway to citizenship for DREAMers and TPS holders (H.R.1589)
• ✓ Voted YES on Requires the Department of Homeland Security to designate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status through three months after January 20, 2029. (H.R.1689)
• ✓ Opposed a bill criminalizing illegal entry as a federal felony (H.R.3486)
• ✓ Opposed Requires Washington, D.C. to comply with federal immigration enforcement, overriding the city's sanctuary policies (H.R.2056)
• ✓ Opposed Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act — creates criminal penalties for fleeing federal officers near the border; signed into law (H.R.35)
• ✓ Opposed Standalone FY26 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act funding ICE detention and CBP enforcement. (H.R.7744)

Military authorizations, arms sales, sanctions, foreign aid, and US engagement in conflicts abroad (excluding Palestine/Israel, which is scored in its own dedicated category).

• ✓ Voted YES on War Powers resolution to remove U.S. forces from unauthorized military operations against Iran (H.Con.Res.38)
• ✓ Cosponsored prohibits export licenses for defense articles to the UAE until the president certifies the UAE is not arming the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan (H.R.2059)
• × Failed to cosponsor repeals the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba by dismantling the statutory pillars of 60+ years of economic sanctions (H.R.7521)
• × Failed to cosponsor urges the U.S. to adopt a no-first-use policy, end sole presidential nuclear launch authority, and halt the nuclear arms race (H.Res.317)
• ✓ Opposed Department of Defense Appropriations FY2026 — funds $831 billion in military spending (H.R.4016)
• × Failed to cosponsor War Powers resolution directing the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in Cuba (H.J.Res.153)
• × Failed to cosponsor prohibits the use of federal funds for military force in or against Venezuela without congressional authorization (H.R.6915)
• × Failed to cosponsor prohibits first-use nuclear strikes unless Congress expressly authorizes them through a declaration of war (H.R.669)
• ✓ Opposed National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027, House passage (H.R.8800)
• ✓ Opposed reaffirms Iran as the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism — whereas clauses invoke AUMF trigger language and Article II authority, designed to legally counter the Iran War Powers Resolution (H.Res.1099)
• ✓ Opposed Rescissions Act — cuts $7.9 billion in foreign aid including USAID, development assistance, and global health programs (H.R.4)
• ✓ Voted YES on War Powers concurrent resolution directing removal of U.S. forces from unauthorized hostilities in Lebanon, with added carve-outs for security cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces and diplomatic-facility protection (H.Con.Res.108)
• ✓ Voted YES on War Powers resolution directing the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in Lebanon (H.Con.Res.84)
• ✓ Voted YES on War Powers concurrent resolution directing removal of U.S. forces from unauthorized hostilities with Iran. Second Iran War Powers Resolution to receive a House floor vote in the 119th Congress. (H.Con.Res.40)
• ✓ Cosponsored prohibits the use of federal funds for military force in or against Cuba (H.R.8103)
• ✓ Voted YES on War Powers resolution to remove U.S. forces from military operations in the Western Hemisphere, including Venezuela (H.Con.Res.61)
• ✓ Voted YES on War Powers resolution to end unauthorized U.S. military involvement in Venezuela (H.Con.Res.64)

Affordable care access, Medicare expansion, drug pricing, insurance regulation, and public health funding.

• ✓ Opposed a budget resolution enabling $880B in Medicaid cuts (H.Con.Res.14)
• ✓ Voted YES on extending Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits, keeping insurance affordable for millions (H.R.1834)
• × Failed to cosponsor Medicare for All — a single government-run health plan covering all Americans (H.R.3069)
• × Failed to cosponsor restoring healthcare services eliminated by DOGE cuts and executive actions (H.R.4796)
• ✓ Cosponsored repeals OBBBA Medicaid cuts and permanently extends enhanced ACA premium tax credits — the core Democratic healthcare counter-bill (H.R.4849)
• × Failed to cosponsor Medicare Advantage reform package — curbs prior authorization abuse and increases insurer accountability for denied claims (H.R.6109)
• × Failed to cosponsor opposes the WISPR model that restricts Medicare Advantage beneficiary access to healthcare providers (H.Res.704)
• × Failed to cosponsor allows states to create their own single-payer universal healthcare systems using federal waivers (H.R.4406)
• × Failed to cosponsor setting minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in hospitals (H.R.3415)
• × Failed to cosponsor protects Social Security and Medicare from privatization and benefit cuts (H.R.1950)
• ✓ Cosponsored expanding Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing services for seniors (H.R.2045)
• ✓ Opposed Medicaid work requirements projected to strip coverage from 10.9 million people (H.R.1)

Rent costs, public housing, homelessness, housing discrimination, and the right to stable shelter.

• × Failed to cosponsor Housing Is a Human Right Act — addresses root causes of homelessness and transitions toward guaranteed housing for all (H.R.4457)
• × Failed to cosponsor $5B in McKinney-Vento grants to build 410K homes and end homelessness (H.R.4872)
• ✓ Voted YES on the bipartisan Housing for the 21st Century Act (H.R.6644)
• × Failed to cosponsor expanding Low-Income Housing Tax Credits to build more affordable rental housing (H.R.2725)
• × Failed to cosponsor reauthorizes and increases HOME program funding for affordable housing construction and rehabilitation (H.R.2031)
• × Failed to cosponsor comprehensive housing: homebuyer credits, LIHTC expansion, and renter credits (H.R.6390)

Workers' rights, union protections, minimum wage, workplace safety, and corporate accountability to employees.

• ✓ Cosponsored raising the federal minimum wage to a living wage (H.R.2743)
• ✓ Cosponsored the Paycheck Fairness Act strengthening equal pay protections (H.R.17)
• ✓ Voted YES on protecting federal workers' collective bargaining rights from Trump's executive order (H.R.2550)
• × Failed to cosponsor removes tax deductions for companies that spend money on union-busting consultants and anti-union campaigns (H.R.2692)
• × Failed to cosponsor a nationwide right to unionize, preventing anti-union state laws (H.R.5159)
• ✓ Cosponsored protects public sector workers from retaliation and ensures fair treatment for government employees (H.R.3139)
• ✓ Cosponsored establishes a national paid sick days standard so workers don't lose pay when they're ill (H.R.7531)
• ✓ Cosponsored national paid family and medical leave for all workers (H.R.5390)
• ✓ Cosponsored extends minimum wage, overtime, and workplace safety protections to domestic workers like nannies and home care aides (H.R.3971)
• ✓ Cosponsored the PRO Act strengthening the right to unionize and bargain collectively (H.R.20)

Abortion access, contraception coverage, maternal healthcare, and reproductive autonomy legislation.

• ✓ Cosponsored the Women's Health Protection Act codifying the right to abortion nationwide (H.R.12)
• ✓ Cosponsored the Right to Contraception Act protecting access to birth control (H.R.999)
• × Failed to cosponsor ensures access to birth control by requiring insurance coverage and preventing pharmacies from refusing to fill prescriptions (H.R.4084)
• ✓ Opposed restrictions on abortion coverage in ACA insurance plans (H.R.6703)
• ✓ Opposed the Born-Alive Act — an anti-abortion messaging bill (H.R.21)
• × Failed to cosponsor protecting IVF and assisted reproductive technology from state bans (H.R.2049)
• ✓ Opposed Requires schools to distribute anti-abortion materials rather than comprehensive reproductive health information to pregnant students (H.R.6359)
• ✓ Opposed directs federal funds to anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers that do not provide comprehensive reproductive healthcare (H.R.6945)
• ✓ Cosponsored repealing the Hyde Amendment to allow federal Medicaid funding for abortion care (H.R.4611)
• ✓ Opposed Planned Parenthood defunding in the One Big Beautiful Bill (H.R.1)

Anti-discrimination protections, trans rights, marriage equality, and legislation that restricts LGBTQ+ rights.

• ✓ Opposed a ban on Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming care (H.R.498)
• ✓ Cosponsored the Equality Act — comprehensive LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections (H.R.15)
• × Failed to cosponsor strengthens hate crime protections specifically for LGBTQ+ individuals (H.R.3708)
• ✓ Cosponsored banning conversion therapy as consumer fraud (H.R.3243)
• ✓ Opposed a bill criminalizing gender-affirming healthcare for minors (H.R.3492)
• × Failed to cosponsor Resolution affirming a Transgender Bill of Rights — legal recognition, healthcare access, and anti-discrimination protections (H.Res.1058)
• × Failed to cosponsor protecting access to gender-affirming healthcare (H.R.2487)
• × Failed to cosponsor Do No Harm Act — prevents the Religious Freedom Restoration Act from being used to discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals (H.R.1954)
• ✓ Opposed Requires public elementary and middle schools, as a condition of receiving funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, to obtain parental consent before changing a minor student's gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name on any school form, or changing the student's sex-based accommodations (locker rooms, bathrooms). (H.R.2616)
• ✓ Opposed a ban on transgender athletes competing in women's sports (H.R.28)
• ✓ Cosponsored Safe Schools Improvement Act — requires schools to adopt anti-bullying policies that specifically protect LGBTQ+ students (H.R.1810)
• ✓ Cosponsored prohibits discrimination in foster care and adoption based on sexual orientation or gender identity (H.R.6181)
• ✓ Cosponsored appoints a special envoy for LGBTQ+ human rights to combat persecution of LGBTQ+ individuals worldwide (H.R.6056)
• ✓ Opposed NDAA amendment banning gender-affirming healthcare for military families in the Exceptional Family Member Program (H.Amdt.85 to H.R.3838)
• ✓ Opposed NDAA amendment banning TRICARE from covering gender-affirming healthcare for service members (H.Amdt.86 to H.R.3838)
• ✓ Opposed NDAA FY2027 amendment prohibiting TRICARE coverage of gender-affirming medical care (H.Amdt.255 to H.R.8800)
• ✓ Opposed NDAA FY2027 amendment restricting transgender students from women's/girls' sports teams at DoD-run (DoDEA) schools (H.Amdt.256 to H.R.8800)
• ✓ Opposed NDAA FY2027 amendment to codify Executive Order 14183, banning transgender individuals from military service (H.Amdt.254 to H.R.8800)

Policing accountability, mass incarceration, surveillance, due process, and civil liberties protections.

• × Failed to cosponsor ends qualified immunity for police officers, allowing victims of misconduct to sue for civil rights violations (H.R.3602)
• × Failed to cosponsor the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act — ending qualified immunity and police accountability (H.R.5361)
• × Failed to cosponsor ending solitary confinement in federal prisons (H.R.4682)
• ✓ Cosponsored FAIR Act — reforms civil asset forfeiture so police can't seize property from people who haven't been convicted of a crime (H.R.5350)
• ✓ Cosponsored descheduling marijuana at the federal level (MORE Act) (H.R.5068)
• × Failed to cosponsor Ban Flock Act (H.R.10691)
• × Failed to cosponsor automatic sealing of criminal records (Clean Slate Act) (H.R.3114)
• ✓ Opposed treats organizations that post bail for defendants — including charitable bail funds — as insurance businesses under federal law, subjecting them to federal insurance-fraud prosecution and state insurance-commission regulation (H.R.6260)
• ✓ Opposed Three-year reauthorization of Section 702 of FISA without a warrant requirement for queries of Americans' communications (S.1318)
• ✓ Opposed permanent fentanyl scheduling imposing mandatory minimum sentences (S.331)
• ✓ Opposed No Rogue Rulings Act — prohibits federal district courts from issuing nationwide injunctive relief beyond named parties, with a narrow exception for multi-state cases via three-judge panels. (H.R.1526)
• ✓ Opposed CLEAN DC Act — repeals D.C. police transparency requirements, use-of-force limits, and civilian oversight protections (H.R.5107)
• ✓ Opposed imposes mandatory pretrial detention and cash bail requirements in Washington, D.C. — overriding local criminal justice reforms (H.R.5214)

Climate legislation, fossil fuel subsidies, environmental regulation, and the transition to clean energy.

• ✓ Opposed repealing the methane emissions charge on oil and gas producers (H.J.Res.35)
• ✓ Opposed streamlines natural gas pipeline permitting and reduces environmental review requirements (H.R.3668)
• ✓ Opposed GRID Power Act — undermines electric grid modernization toward renewable energy sources (H.R.1047)
• ✓ Opposed the SPEED Act weakening environmental review for energy projects (H.R.4776)
• ✓ Opposed delays EPA power plant emission rules under the guise of grid reliability (H.R.3632)
• × Failed to cosponsor End Polluter Welfare Act — eliminates approximately $190 billion in fossil fuel subsidies, tax loopholes, and federal giveaways over 10 years, including provisions for enhanced oil recovery, fossil fuel R&D, and below-market royalty rates on federal lands (H.R.4714)
• × Failed to cosponsor House Concurrent Resolution declaring a health and safety emergency disproportionately affecting the fundamental rights of children due to executive-branch directives that unleash fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions while suppressing climate change science (H.Con.Res.44)
• × Failed to cosponsor Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act — imposes a $1 trillion total assessment ($100 billion per year over 10 years) on the largest fossil-fuel companies, allocated by each company's share of covered historical greenhouse-gas emissions, with proceeds funding climate adaptation and damage mitigation (H.R.1135)
• ✓ Opposed Fire Improvement and Reforming Exceptional Events (FIRE) Act — amends the Clean Air Act to exclude air-quality monitoring data influenced by wildfires from compliance determinations, allowing states to discount real exposure when measured against federal standards (H.R.6387)
• ✓ Opposed Reliable Federal Infrastructure Act — amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act to repeal federal building energy efficiency performance standards (Section 305(a)(3)(D)(i)), removing fossil-fuel-reduction targets for new and majorly-renovated federal buildings (H.R.4690)
• ✓ Opposed Foreign Emissions and Nonattainment Clarification for Economic Stability (FENCES) Act — amends the Clean Air Act to exclude foreign-origin emissions from nonattainment-area determinations, softening EPA enforcement against communities with high cross-border pollution (H.R.6409)
• ✓ Opposed reducing and Eliminating Duplicative Environmental Regulations (RED Tape) Act — amends Section 309 of the Clean Air Act to strike EPA's authority to review and comment on (a) federal construction projects, (b) major federal agency actions affecting the environment, and (c) proposed federal regulations (H.R.6398)
• ✓ Opposed Homeowner Energy Freedom Act — repeals three IRA building-energy provisions: §50122 home electrification and efficiency rebates (heat pumps, electric stoves, weatherization for low- and moderate-income households), §50123 contractor training grants, and §50131 state energy-code adoption assistance, while rescinding unobligated balances (H.R.4758)
• ✓ Opposed Home Appliance Protection and Affordability Act — bars DOE from prescribing new or amended energy conservation standards unless "technologically feasible and economically justified" (H.R.4626)
• ✓ Opposed rolling back DOE water-efficiency standards by redefining what counts as a showerhead (H.R.4593)
• ✓ Opposed PERMIT Act — Clean Water Act amendment package weakening NPDES permitting, fast-tracking pipeline reviews, and limiting judicial review. (H.R.3898)
• ✓ Opposed fast-tracking of LNG export terminal approvals bypassing environmental review (H.R.1949)
• ✓ Opposed FY26 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act cutting Department of Energy clean energy programs and including policy riders against renewable energy deployment. (H.R.4553)
• ✓ Opposed Budget resolution enabling rollback of clean energy tax credits and environmental regulations (H.Con.Res.14)
• ✓ Opposed amends the Congressional Review Act to allow a single joint resolution to disapprove multiple regulations submitted during the final year of a President's term. (H.R.77)
• ✓ Opposed the Fix Our Forests Act reducing NEPA environmental review requirements (H.R.471)
• ✓ Signed bicameral letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin opposing the March 12, 2025 announcement of 31 environmental rule rollbacks (EPA Assault Letter)
• ✓ Opposed overturns protections against oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (H.J.Res.131)
• ✓ Opposed overturns BLM limits on coal leasing on federal lands in Wyoming (H.J.Res.130)
• ✓ Opposed overturns protections against oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Western Arctic (S.J.Res.80)
• ✓ Opposed the One Big Beautiful Bill repealing IRA clean energy credits and expanding drilling (H.R.1)
• ✓ Opposed rolling back California's clean car emission standards (H.J.Res.88)
• ✓ Opposed blocks California's waiver requiring manufacturers to sell increasing percentages of zero-emission trucks (H.J.Res.87)
• ✓ Opposed blocks California's waiver setting stricter nitrogen oxide emission limits for heavy-duty trucks (H.J.Res.89)
• ✓ Opposed rescinds U.S. international climate funding commitments, withdrawing from global climate cooperation (H.Res.590)
• ✓ Opposed overturns EPA rule allowing major hazardous air pollutant sources to reclassify as area sources, reducing the scope of Clean Air Act protections (S.J.Res.31)
• ✓ Opposed Joint resolution of disapproval repealing BOEM's rule requiring oil and gas operators to report potential harms to marine archaeological sites before drilling approval. (S.J.Res.11)
• ✓ Opposed overturns Department of Energy efficiency standards for water heaters, blocking energy savings and emissions reductions (H.J.Res.20)

Voting access, election integrity, gerrymandering, and the defense of democratic institutions.

• ✓ Opposed the SAVE Act requiring citizenship proof to vote — a voter suppression measure (H.R.22)
• ✓ Cosponsored D.C. statehood giving 700,000 residents full voting representation in Congress (H.R.51)
• × Failed to cosponsor independent redistricting commissions to end partisan gerrymandering (H.R.5449)
• × Failed to cosponsor strengthens protections against voter intimidation at polling places and during the registration process (H.R.4894)
• ✓ Opposed overriding D.C.'s local election rules on noncitizen voting (H.R.884)
• ✓ Signed letter accusing DOJ and DHS of using the search of Rep. Ilhan Omar's home 22 days before her election to sway the vote, and demanding no further action that could affect it (Omar Search Letter)
• ✓ Opposed Non-binding resolution denouncing socialism in all forms — a political messaging vote (H.Con.Res.58)
• – Did not vote on Resolution honoring the life and legacy of Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, after his assassination (H.Res.719)
• ✓ Voted YES on tabling a resolution to censure Representative Ilhan Omar and strip her committee assignments over public statements (H.Res.713)
• ✓ Opposed censuring Rep. Al Green for protesting Trump's Medicaid cuts on the House floor (H.Res.189)
• ✓ Cosponsored the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act restoring federal preclearance (H.R.14)

Campaign finance, lobbying, corporate influence over lawmaking, and how Congress regulates banks, Wall Street, crypto, and consumer financial protections.

• × Failed to cosponsor banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks while in office (H.R.1908)
• × Failed to cosponsor requiring disclosure of dark money donors in elections (H.R.2498)
• ✓ Cosponsored Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United by clarifying that constitutional rights apply to people, not corporations (H.J.Res.54)
• × Failed to cosponsor abolishing Super PACs that allow unlimited political spending (H.R.2352)
• × Failed to cosponsor closes the revolving door between Congress and lobbying by extending cooling-off periods and restricting lobbying by former officials (H.R.3554)
• × Failed to cosponsor eliminating corporate PACs from making campaign contributions (H.R.4799)
• ✓ Opposed exempting up to $50 million a year in crypto token sales from SEC registration and moving many tokens to CFTC oversight (H.R.3633)
• ✓ Opposed creating federal licenses for private stablecoin issuers, including big tech firms, with no deposit insurance for holders (S.1582)
• ✓ Opposed repealing an OCC rule that ended automatic approval of bank mergers and added review of large deals' risks (S.J.Res.13)
• ✓ Opposed repealing CFPB consumer protections for digital payment apps (S.J.Res.28)
• ✓ Opposed repealing the CFPB's $5 cap on overdraft fees at banks and credit unions with over $10 billion in assets (S.J.Res.18)