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Senate Homeland Security committee advances a batch of bills, confirms several nominees
Summary
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted on a slate of bills and four nominations on March 12, approving most measures by unanimous or near‑unanimous roll calls and reporting four nominees out of committee.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on March 12 advanced a broad package of bills and reported four executive and judicial nominees after a series of roll‑call votes.
The committee approved numerous bipartisan measures on issues ranging from research oversight to border security and whistleblower protections. Most bills were adopted by voice or unanimous roll call with little or no debate. The committee also voted to report four nominees to the full Senate.
The package included: S.854, the Risky Research Review Act; S.855, the Royalty Transparency Act; S.269, the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act; the Guidance Clarity Act (Sen. Lankford's bill); the Disaster Assistance Simplification Act (S.861); a bill described in the transcript as a large account labeled a "$766,000,000,000" proposal; the Stop Secret Spending Act (S.872); the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Retirement Technical Corrections Act (S.727); the Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act (S.874); the HELP Response and Recovery Act (S.594); the Lobbying Disclosure Improvement Act (S.865); the Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act (S.856); the Northern Border Security Enhancement Review Act (S.850); the Reporting Efficiently to Proper Officials in Response to Terrorism Act of 2025 (S.848); and the Shadow Wolves Improvement Act (S.572).
Votes at a glance (committee roll‑call results recorded in the transcript): - S.854, Risky Research Review Act: motion agreed to; yeas 11, nays 2 (proxy yeas 1, proxy nays 1). The bill would create a presidentially appointed "high risk life sciences" panel, according to the transcript. - S.855, Royalty Transparency Act: yeas 13, nays 0 (proxy yeas 2); motion agreed to. The bill requires additional reporting of royalty payments received by government scientists; transcript comments cited a FOIA finding that roughly 2,400 NIH scientists received more than $300 million in royalties over a decade. - S.269, Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act: yeas 13, nays 0 (proxy yeas 2); motion agreed to. - Guidance Clarity Act (Sen. Lankford's bill): yeas 13, nays 0 (proxy yeas 2); motion agreed to. - S.861, Disaster Assistance Simplification Act: yeas 13, nays 0 (proxy yeas 2); motion agreed to. - A bill referenced in the transcript as a large funding measure ("$766,000,000,000 boondoggle from Senator Ernst"): yeas 14, nays 0; motion agreed to. - S.872, Stop Secret Spending Act: yeas 14, nays 0; motion agreed to. - S.727, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Retirement Technical Corrections Act (Peters substitute adopted as underlying): yeas 13, nays 0 (proxy yeas 2); motion agreed to. - S.874, Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act (Peters substitute as modified adopted): yeas 13, nays 0 (proxy yeas 2); motion agreed to. - S.594, HELP Response and Recovery Act (Kennedy sponsors; Peters substitute adopted): yeas 13, nays 0 (proxy yeas 2); motion agreed to. - S.865, Lobbying Disclosure Improvement Act (Peters/Grassley): yeas 13, nays 0 (proxy yeas 2); motion agreed to. - S.856, Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act (Grassley/Peters): yeas 13, nays 0 (proxy yeas 2); motion agreed to. - S.850, Northern Border Security Enhancement Review Act (Hassan/Kramer): yeas 13, nays 0 (proxy yeas 2); motion agreed to. - S.848, Reporting Efficiently to Proper Officials in Response to Terrorism Act of 2025 (Hassan/Lee): yeas 13, nays 0 (proxy yeas 2); motion agreed to. - S.572, Shadow Wolves Improvement Act (Gallego substitute adopted as underlying): yeas 13, nays 0 (proxy yeas 2); motion agreed to.
Nominations reported by the committee (roll calls recorded in transcript): - Pedro Allende: reported (yeas 8, nays 7). - Sean Planky (Director, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency): reported (yeas 9, nays 6). - Christopher Fox (Inspector General, Office of the Director of National Intelligence): reported (yeas 8, nays 7). - Edward O'Connell (associate judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia): reported (yeas 15, nays 0).
Why it matters: the package moves a slate of bipartisan, technical, and policy bills out of committee for possible floor consideration. Some measures are procedural or clarification changes; others aim at transparency and accountability in federal programs and agency operations. The roll calls show strong bipartisan support for most items considered with little debate.
The committee record shows relatively brief on‑the‑record statements introducing each bill and extensive unanimous or near‑unanimous approval for this batch. Several bills were taken up under compromises or substitutes agreed to in committee. The transcript contains additional details on individual bills' purposes (for example, S.855 was introduced to expose potential conflicts of interest created by royalty payments to government scientists, citing a FOIA‑obtained report).
