Dan Newhouse dossier →

Expected position: As the representative for 770,000 central Washingtonians across a vast rural district, Newhouse would be expected to hold open, in-person town halls accessible to all constituents. Evidence of activity on adjacent topics: Newhouse held no in-person town halls in 2025 after House Speaker Mike Johnson advised all Republicans on March 4 to skip them. His office cited a death threat from a Skagit County man on March 20 as an additional reason. He instead held a telephone town hall on July 28 with pre-screened questions — which some constituents criticized for 'downplaying' the impact of the Big Beautiful Bill. Constituents continually commented on his Facebook posts demanding in-person town halls: 'When is your next public meeting????' and 'Your time would be better spent holding a town hall meeting.' The Yakima Herald editorial board noted he 'hasn't exactly been a social butterfly' and that 'constituents routinely complain that he's hard to reach and rarely holds public town hall gatherings.' Newhouse's spokesman said staff were 'working to schedule a telephone town hall very soon with public safety as the top priority,' signaling no plans to resume in-person events. Primary URL: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/no-town-halls-for-wa-congressman-after-man-arrested-for-death-threats/

Expected position: As a congressman who wrote a March 26, 2025 op-ed explicitly stating he would 'not support denying any eligible American access to services like Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP,' Newhouse would be expected to explain his May 22 vote for the Big Beautiful Bill that was projected to cause 194,000 Washingtonians to lose Medicaid coverage. Evidence of activity on adjacent topics: After his BBB vote, Newhouse did not publicly acknowledge the direct contradiction between his March 26 op-ed and his May 22 vote. When confronted by KHQ in August, he dismissed predictions of coverage losses saying 'I would not agree with that prediction.' The Bellingham Herald editorial board wrote that constituents have 'every right to feel: duped.' On his July 28 telephone town hall, he defended the cuts as necessary to 'save' the program. He was active on social media and in press releases throughout this period but never addressed the specific contradiction that he had explicitly promised not to support cuts he subsequently voted for. Primary URL: https://www.bellinghamherald.com/opinion/us-viewpoints/article308113610.html

Alticor Political Action Committee (Altipac), Avista Employees For Effective Government, J.R. Simplot Company Political Action Committee, Ati Inc. Political Action Committee (Ati-PAC), Calportland Company Political Action Committee (Cpcc-PAC), Framatome Inc. PAC, Saltchuk Resources Inc. PAC, Amentum Inc. PAC (amounts: $5,000 (2026), $10,000 (2024), $5,000 (2026), $6,000 (2024), $7,500 (2024), $5,000 (2024), $5,000 (2024), $6,500 (2024)) — interest area: corporate pacs, industry unlisted

Congressional Leadership Fund, International Fresh Produce Association, Cap-PAC Separate Segregated Fund Of The National Community Action Foundation Inc, Republican Mainstreet Partnership PAC, Western Growers Political Action Committee, Kelley Drye & Warren PAC, People For Enterprise Trade And Economic Growth, National Ocean Industries Association (Noia) Political Actio, Fraternity & Sorority PAC, American Unity PAC, American Revival PAC, Ranger PAC, Country First (amounts: $5,000 (2024), $7,000 (2024), $7,000 (2024), $5,000 (2024), $10,000 (2024), $5,500 (2024), $5,000 (2024), $10,000 (2024), $5,000 (2024), $5,000 (2024), $10,000 (2024), $5,000 (2024), $5,000 (2024)) — interest area: other / unclassified

Raptor PAC, Pioneer PAC, Common Sense Common Solutions PAC, Creating A Majority Party Action Committee (C.A.M.P.A.C.), Eureka PAC, Conservative Opportunity Leadership & Enterprise PAC - Colepac, Continuing America'S Strength And Security PAC, Bringing Republican Excellence To Town PAC (Brettpac), First In Freedom PAC, Innovation PAC, Maintaining All Republicans In Office PAC, New Energy In Washington House PAC (N.E.W. House PAC), Let'S All Keep Electing Republicans PAC, Freedom Force PAC, Six PAC, Defending The American Dream PAC, Majority Committee PAC-Mc PAC, American Security PAC, Eye Of The Tiger PAC, Electing Majority Making Effective Republicans (Emmer PAC), Land Of Opportunity PAC, Salt City PAC (amounts: $8,500 (2026), $5,000 (2024), $5,000 (2024), $5,000 (2024), $10,000 (2024), $7,500 (2024), $10,000 (2024), $7,000 (2024), $10,000 (2024), $5,000 (2024), $7,000 (2024), $5,000 (2026), $5,500 (2024), $6,600 (2024), $5,000 (2026), $5,000 (2026), $10,000 (2024), $5,000 (2024), $10,000 (2024), $10,000 (2024), $5,000 (2024), $7,500 (2024)) — interest area: colleagues' leadership pacs

Vitoria PAC, Gt Farm Team, Huck PAC (amounts: $5,000 (2024), $10,169 (2024), $5,000 (2024)) — interest area: other candidates' committees

One Big Beautiful Bill Act — $4.5 trillion reconciliation package with $700+ billion in Medicaid cuts, SNAP work requirements, permanent extension of 2017 tax cuts, and energy provisions

House Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Resolution — Framework directing $880 billion in spending cuts from Energy and Commerce Committee jurisdiction, largely from Medicaid

First Impeachment of Donald Trump — Abuse of power and obstruction of Congress regarding Ukraine

On July 3, 2025, Newhouse voted Yea on H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Roll Call 190, passed 218-214), which the Congressional Budget Office projected would cut roughly $1 trillion from Medicaid over a decade. Health analysts flagged 14 rural Washington hospitals as at risk of closure from the cuts. Only two House Republicans voted no.

Newhouse voted against Trump's first impeachment in 2019 but voted for the second impeachment in 2021 following the January 6 Capitol attack, calling it a defense of the Constitution. This reversal became the defining political liability of his career — Trump targeted him for defeat, and he was one of only two House Republicans who voted to impeach to survive re-election.

Newhouse publicly claimed the budget resolution he voted for on February 25 did not mention Medicaid, but the resolution directed the Energy and Commerce Committee to find $880 billion in savings — cuts that independent analysts at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities as well as the state governor confirmed could largely only come from Medicaid and SNAP.

Newhouse explicitly promised in a March 26 commentary that he 'will not support denying any eligible American access to services like Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP,' then voted for the Big Beautiful Bill on May 22 — legislation projected to cause 194,000 Washingtonians to lose Medicaid coverage and risk 14 rural hospital closures. The Bellingham Herald editorial board wrote that constituents 'have every right to feel: duped.'