May 07, 2025 02:06 PM UTC

Rep. Gabe Evans Skips Out On Key Committee Votes

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• by: Colorado Pols

As readers know, freshman GOP Rep. Gabe Evans serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is in the national spotlight today as the committee charged with enacting a targeted $880 billion in budget cuts that experts say will overwhelmingly need to come from Medicaid funds that tens of thousands of constituents in Evans’ district rely on. Evans’ appointment to this important post as a freshman was something of a coup, but now looms as a major political liability for one of the nation’s most vulnerable members of Congress going into the 2026 elections.

Sources tell us that last week, Gabe Evans took the easy way out by skipping votes in the Energy and Commerce Committee on a number of bills being marked up to send to the full House. From the press release last Wednesday on the April 29 all-day markup session:

Yesterday, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, led by Chairman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), reported six pieces of legislation to the full House of Representatives. Chairman Guthrie issued the following statement after the conclusion of the markup.

“This markup was another important opportunity for our committee to advance legislation to support the most vulnerable Americans,” said Chairman Guthrie. “All of these bipartisan bills reflect our commitment to improving Americans’ health and strengthening our health care system. Thank you to all of the sponsors for their hard work to champion this vital legislation.” 

Legislative Vote Summary:

• H.R. 2483, SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025, was reported to the full House by a roll call vote of 36 yeas – 13 nays.

• H.R. 1520, Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act, was reported to the full House by a roll call vote of 46 yeas – 1 nay.

• H.R. 2319, Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act of 2025, was reported to the full House by voice vote.

• H.R. 1669, To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond to Health and Wellness Training Program, was reported to the full House by voice vote.

• H.R. 1082, Shandra Eisenga Human Cell and Tissue Product Safety Act, was reported to the full House by voice vote.

• H.R. 2484, Seniors’ Access to Critical Medications Act, was reported to the full House by a roll call vote of 38 yeas – 7 nays.

As you can see in the video of the committee session and the voting record, Evans skipped votes on amendments to these bills, including amendments to stop RFK Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services from reducing Medicaid eligibility and halting mass layoffs at the Centers for Disease Control. At the same time, Evans apparently did vote in the full House on a variety of relatively inconsequential bills, proving that the choice to avoid the markup session in the E&C Committee was deliberate.

The best explanation we can come up with is that Evans didn’t want to go on the record voting against some of the Democratic amendments to these bills because they could expose him to attacks down the road. The problem is that if Evans decides which votes on the E&C Committee to take and which to avoid based on their political risk, he’ll need to avoid many more votes this committee is about to take on Medicaid cuts.

If you’re fortunate enough to win a post to one of the most powerful House committees as a freshman, you’d better be politically prepared to take hard votes.

Gabe Evans has apparently decided that he can’t.