Wisconsin members of Congress split on Supreme Court rulings

By Benjamin Yount
The Center Square

Wisconsin’s Congressional reacted predictably to Tuesday’s rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court.

The high court ruled on cases involving birthright citizenship, boys playing in girls’ sports and campaign finances. None of Wisconsin’s members of Congress commented on the campaign finance ruling, and the state’s two Democrats were also silent about the girls’ sports case.

Instead, Madison Democrat Mark Pocan and Milwaukee Democrat Gwen Moore focused on the birthright citizenship ruling.

“The Supreme Court just rejected Trump’s limits to birthright citizenship. This right is clearly written in the 14th Amendment, and I’m glad the Supreme Court agreed,” Pocan wrote on X.

“The Trump administration tried to destroy the 14th Amendment and failed. While this is welcome news, it should have been an easy 9-0 decision,” Moore added on X. “It is a damning indictment of this Court that 3 MAGA justices believe Trump can overturn the Constitution by executive order.”

Wisconsin’s Republicans, as expected, decried the birthright ruling.

“Our Founders certainly never intended for the children of illegal aliens to automatically become citizens,” Green Bay-area Republican Tony Wied wrote. “This is the wrong decision and only incentivizes illegal immigration.”

Western Wisconsin Republican Derrick Van Orden echoed Wied’s comments.

“The 14th Amendment was enacted in the aftermath of Dread Scott to guarantee citizenship for freed slaves, not to establish automatic citizenship for individuals who are unlawfully present in the United States or temporarily here,” Van Orden said in a statement. “This ruling departs from that historical context and the original understanding.”

Van Orden also spoke about the Supreme Court’s ruling that said states can set their own rules for boys who want to play in girls’ sports.

“[This] Supreme Court ruling is a landmark victory for women and female athletes,” Van Orden added. “The court rightly recognized that states have authority to set clear standards that preserve women’s sports for female athletes. That framework protects competitive integrity and ensures that opportunities created by Title IX remain grounded in the original intent.”

Southeast Wisconsin Republican Scott Fitzgerald also weighed-in on the girls’ sports decision.

“Common sense won today,” Fitzgerald wrote on X. “The Supreme Court’s decision is a victory for women and girls across America. Women’s sports were created to ensure female athletes have a fair chance to compete, and that means keeping men out of women’s sports.”

The transgender sports ruling means little for Wisconsin after the Wisconsin Interscholastic Association updated its policy more than a year ago to ban boys from playing in girls sports.