This past week the Senate passed the $768 billion National Defense Authorization Act for 2022.

The President talked about vaccinations, the pandemic, and inflation. But he was also asked about the bipartisan infrastructure deal that is sitting in front of the U.S. Senate waiting to be voted on. The bill included funding for five years to repair roads, and bridges, like the Brent Spence in Cincinnati, that allows I-75 to get over the Ohio River, and improve broadband access across the country. Ohio senators are ready to get that bill passed.

Senator Rob Portman says that is glad the bipartisan infrastructure deal that he has been working on will not be tied to another spending bill.

Washington lawmakers get back to work next week, and one Ohio Senator says the number one priority is getting the country’s economy going.  Senator Rob Portman says first they will be reviewing the impact the 2 trillion-dollar CARES Act to see which areas were more effective than others.   As unemployment numbers are equaling same percentage as great depression, Portman says the second round of federal funding must address getting people back to work. 

As Washington lawmakers are in their home states right now,  one Ohio Senator is bringing up the idea that maybe they find a way to do their work from home during this COVID-19 outbreak.

Ohio's Republican Senator Rob Portman and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin introduced a bill that would allow senators to vote remotely during a national crisis, like this outbreak or an act of war against the United States.  Right now, the CDC is recommending against a full senate meeting in person, which would bringing hundreds of people from all over the country to Washington D.C.  Portman thinks that he and his fellow lawmakers should be able to vote on bills, amendments and have debates remotely.

An Ohio Senator says immigration efforts on the U.S. and Mexico border has started to see results, but something else is finding its way to the United States.

During a committee hearing this week, Senator Rob Portman was able to question officials from Customs and Border Protection and Homeland security about the current situation along the southern border.  They told him that Mexico has helped stem the flow of migrants from Central America significantly by putting more troops on their Northern and Southern border.

On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representative voted mostly along party lines to set the rules for the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.

The vote has set the rules for the committees that will be looking into President Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president, where he asked the foreign leader to look into democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. The democrats claim that the President uses political leverage of withholding aid until they do an investigation.  House Republicans like Congressman Jim Jordan say there was “No Quid Pro Quo” in the phone conversation.  But Ohio’s democratic Senator Sherrod Brown disagrees. 

As Washington DC is surrounded by impeachment talk, Ohio senators sound off on the issue.

The U.S. State Department has approved a potential deal that could benefit the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center. According to Senator Rob Portman, Taiwan has proposed a $2 billion deal that would modernize 108 Abrams tanks for them. This would be on top of the over $2 billion dollars of work, for Abrams and Stryker vehicles as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, which has been approved by Congress. Foreign work was critical to help keep the plant open when the U.S. cut back on product at the JSMC a few years ago. The Lima plant in the past had deals with Morocco, Saudi Arabia and other countries for different versions of Abrams Tank.

As President Trump and Democrats continue to dig in deeper over 5.7 billion dollars in funding for more sections of a border wall, one Ohio senator is working with others to find a solution. Senator Rob Portman has joined a bipartisan group of U.S. senators to examine a solution to end the deadlock between President Trump and Democratic party leaders.