Jon Husted on Criminal Justice: The Medicaid Rule for People Leaving Prison, Confirming the Officials Who Dropped Police Abuse Cases, and Votes Against Limiting Justice Department Payouts

On July 1, 2025, Ohio Senator Jon Husted cast one of the 50 votes for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, whose Medicaid work requirement exempts people leaving jail or prison for only three months, and the day before he voted against a motion to remove the bill's new paperwork rules. In June 2026 he voted against two amendments to bar or limit payouts from the Justice Department's planned "anti-weaponization" fund, which Trump would not rule out using to pay people who attacked Capitol police.

In 2025 Husted voted to confirm Attorney General Pam Bondi, civil rights chief Harmeet Dhillon and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Their Justice Department dropped its lawsuits over police abuses in Louisville and Minneapolis, ending federal oversight of the Minneapolis police, decided not to open a criminal civil rights investigation after an ICE agent killed Renee Good in Minnesota, and through the Bureau of Prisons delayed First Step Act transfers to halfway houses in most cases auditors reviewed.

Jon Husted's Votes and Confirmations on Police Accountability, Prisons and Reentry

• Husted Cast One of the 50 Votes for a Medicaid Work Requirement That Exempts People Leaving Prison for Only Three Months. On July 1, 2025, Jon Husted voted yes on H.R. 1, which passed 50 to 50 with the Vice President's vote. The day before, he voted no on a motion to remove provisions that cut benefits through the creation of new administrative burdens and paperwork requirements. Under the law, the work requirement's only exemption tied to incarceration applies if, at any point during the 3-month period ending on the first day of such month, the individual was an inmate of a public institution, so after three months people leaving jail or prison must document 80 hours of work a month. On January 1, 2027, Medicaid work requirements are scheduled to take effect nationwide, and a 2018 study found former inmates were 40 times more likely than members of the general population to suffer a fatal overdose in the first two weeks after release.
• Husted Voted to Confirm the Officials Who Dropped the Police Abuse Cases in Louisville and Minneapolis. Jon Husted voted to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general on February 4, 2025 and Harmeet Dhillon as assistant attorney general for civil rights on April 3, 2025, when Dhillon was confirmed 52 to 45 with no Democratic votes. On May 21, 2025, Dhillon's division announced it was dismissing lawsuits against the Louisville, Kentucky and Minneapolis, Minnesota police departments and moved to retract the Biden administration's findings of constitutional violations at departments including Phoenix and Memphis. In Minneapolis, the court dismissed the case with prejudice, bringing federal oversight to an end despite the City's continued support for the agreement, Red Line for Civil Rights reported.
• Husted Voted to Confirm Todd Blanche, Whose Justice Department Declined a Civil Rights Investigation of the Renee Good Shooting. On March 5, 2025, Husted voted to confirm Todd Blanche as deputy attorney general, and he was confirmed 52 to 46. In August 2026 Husted cast the deciding vote to confirm Blanche as attorney general. In January 2026, after an ICE agent killed Renee Good in Minnesota, the Justice Department decided the Civil Rights Division would not conduct a criminal investigation into the shooting, prompting a wave of resignations from the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office, according to Red Line for Civil Rights. In the Breonna Taylor case, In March 2026, DOJ moved to dismiss the remaining charges without explanation against two former Louisville officers.
• Husted Voted to Confirm the Attorney General Whose Bureau of Prisons Delayed First Step Act Releases. After Husted voted to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general, the Justice Department's Bureau of Prisons, which Bondi oversaw, fell behind on moving eligible people to halfway houses and home confinement. The Government Accountability Office found that the releases were delayed in 70% of cases reviewed, keeping people in prison past the dates the First Step Act made them eligible to leave, NOTUS reported. The bureau saw more than 1,400 corrections officers and other staff leave their positions in 2025, Filter reported, and it paid more than $387 million in overtime to staff in 2025.
• Husted Voted Against Two Amendments to Bar or Limit Payouts From the Justice Department's Planned Settlement Fund. On June 4, 2026, Husted voted no on waiving budget rules for Senator John Hickenlooper's amendment To prohibit the distribution of Federal funds to individuals convicted of certain crimes, which failed 51 to 47 short of the 60 votes needed, and on June 5 he voted no on Senator Adam Schiff's amendment To provide for limitations on judgments, awards, and compromise settlements, which lost 51 to 48. Trump had backed the settlement fund while declining to rule out payouts to his family or people who attacked Capitol police, and At least 97 of the more than 1,500 individuals granted clemency by President Trump for January 6 have since faced other charges, Lawfare found. No payments were made: acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department would not move ahead with the fund, which the Senate never barred.

What the Retreat From Police Oversight and the Reentry Rules Mean in Ohio Under Jon Husted's Votes

• Leaving jail in Ohio. In Ohio, 116,325 Medicaid adults with opioid use disorder, 63 percent of them through Medicaid expansion, were on Medicaid in 2021, KFF data show. Expansion is the group that will face the work requirement starting January 1, 2027 at the latest, including people leaving Ohio's jails and prisons once the three-month exemption runs out.

Frequently Asked Questions About Jon Husted on Criminal justice

Last updated: 2026-10-25

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