In their first week in power, House Republicans were busy. They voted to gut the Internal Revenue Service — again — to help millionaires cheat on their taxes. They passed a pair of efforts to further restrict women’s freedom and bodily autonomy. They rewarded right-wing extremists with seats on important committees.

The country already owes a great debt to Pascrell. He is the Oversight subcommittee chairman who has pursued government integrity with the persistence of a Paterson Rottweiler for 13 terms, and he has led the three-year battle for Trump’s tax records.

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) says he has some “Bad Blood” with Ticketmaster, saying he tried and failed to get Taylor Swift concert tickets as part of an oversight mission.

A former teacher and mayor of Paterson, Pascrell was first elected to Congress in 1996, defeating Rep. Bill Martini (R-Clifton). He hasn’t faced a truly competitive general election in his Passaic County-based district since, although in 2012, he had to beat fellow Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn) in the Democratic primary after their districts were merged.

This spring, as gas station prices drastically ticked up amid Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, something felt amiss. It seemed convenient for energy companies that gas prices were rising solely because of the war in Ukraine — and at the exorbitant rates they were climbing.

Rep. Bill Pascrell also sent a letter to HCA CEO Sam Hazen requesting information related to physician incentives, physician performance, staffing levels and a description of the company’s internal audit process for Medicare billing.

High gas prices have been a political boon to Republicans, who are linking them to Joe Biden and for that matter, all Democratic incumbents. But now Bill Pascrell Jr. is fighting back.

The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act that could lower prescription drug costs and health insurance premiums was called one of the “most significant acts” ever passed by Congress by a supporter, Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-Paterson).