Committee advances resolution congratulating President Trump after tense questioning over partisanship

The House Energy, Technology, and Federal Relations Committee advanced House Joint Resolution 7, a resolution congratulating President Donald Trump, after debate about whether such resolutions belong in committee and whether the language was overly partisan.

Representative Braxton Mitchell, sponsor, opened the hearing and asked members to pass the resolution as a signal of support. Austin James appeared on behalf of Secretary of State Christy Jacobson to register the secretary’s support and said the office would transmit the resolution to the White House if the committee approved it.

Several members questioned the appropriateness and precedent of placing a congratulatory resolution in this committee. Representative Joy asked why the resolution was in Energy, and Mitchell pointed to the committee name that includes Federal Relations. Representative Cordum said the measure felt “super partisan” and asked why it was introduced early in the session; opponents said removing the whereas clauses would reduce inflammatory language.

An attempt by Representative Carter to conceptually amend the resolution by stripping the whereas clauses failed on a roll call (6 ayes, 8 noes). The committee then voted on the resolution itself by roll call; the final tally was 8 ayes and 6 noes and the committee passed HJ 7.

What’s next: With committee approval, the resolution will be transmitted per the bill language or carried forward by the sponsor for consideration on the floor. The record shows the committee debated both procedure and tone before forwarding the measure.