On July 1, 2025, Pete Ricketts cast one of the 50 votes that passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, after voting against amendments to keep its clean-energy tax credits. Energy Innovation projects the law and related federal energy actions will cost Nebraska's economy 2,400 jobs per year on average over the next decade.
Ricketts cast one of the votes that defeated, 49 to 49, a resolution to end the emergency behind the global tariffs, and voted against ending the Brazil, Canada and global tariff emergencies again in October 2025. He voted to confirm the trade and homeland security officials who imposed new tariffs and carried out a June 2025 immigration raid on an Omaha meatpacking plant.
China's retaliation cost Nebraska an estimated $710 million in farm sales from March 2025 to February 2026. Ricketts has said the tariffs "leveled the playing field."
Pete Ricketts's Votes and Statements on Jobs, Tariffs and the Economy
- Ricketts Cast a Deciding Vote for a Law Projected to Cost 760,000 Jobs by 2030, in July 2025. On July 1, 2025, Pete Ricketts voted yes on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed 50 to 50 with the Vice President's vote, so it would have failed without his. The law ended clean-energy tax credits on a schedule running through 2027. Energy Innovation projects "760,000 lost jobs by 2030" nationally from the law's energy provisions, and the Congressional Budget Office estimates the law raises federal interest costs by $405 billion through 2034 because it pushes interest rates up.
- Ricketts Voted Against Keeping the Clean-Energy Tax Credits in July 2025. On July 1, 2025, Ricketts voted no on an amendment to repeal the termination of clean-energy credits, rejected 49 to 51, on an amendment to modify the end of the residential clean energy credit, rejected 48 to 52, and on an amendment "to maintain parity for wind and solar facilities," which all 53 Republicans opposed. Energy Innovation projects the law and related federal energy actions will cost Nebraska 2,400 jobs per year on average over the next decade.
- Ricketts Cast One of the Votes That Kept the Global Tariffs in April 2025. On April 30, 2025, Ricketts voted no on S.J.Res. 49, which would have ended the national emergency behind the global tariffs; it was defeated 49 to 49, so his vote was one it could not lose. On April 2, 2025 he had voted against ending the Canada tariff emergency, and he voted against ending the Brazil, Canada and global tariff emergencies again on October 28, 29 and 30, 2025. The October measures passed the Senate but never became law. An analysis by North Dakota State University estimated that China's retaliation cut U.S. farm shipments to China by almost $15 billion less than they would have been in the absence of the tariffs from March 2025 to February 2026.
- Ricketts Voted Against Rehiring Fired Federal Workers in Early 2025. On February 20, 2025, Ricketts voted no on a budget amendment for reinstating fired employees of the Forest Service, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management, and on March 14, 2025 he voted no on making veterans dismissed from federal jobs without cause eligible for reinstatement. Federal payroll employment has fallen by 336,000 jobs since January 2025.
- Ricketts Voted to Confirm the Trade Officials Whose Tariffs Remain in Force. Ricketts voted to confirm Howard Lutnick as Commerce Secretary on February 18, 2025 and Jamieson Greer as trade representative on February 26, 2025. Greer's office imposed tariffs on 60 economies in July 2026, and more than four in ten small employers reported tariff costs as a financial challenge in the Federal Reserve's 2026 survey.
- Ricketts Voted to Confirm the Officials Behind the Omaha Meatpacking Raid, the $100,000 H-1B Fee and the New Visa Lottery. Ricketts voted to confirm Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary on January 25, 2025 and Joseph Edlow as director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services on July 15, 2025. On June 10, 2025, federal immigration agents detained more than 70 people during a raid on the Glenn Valley Foods meatpacking plant in Omaha. Noem's and Edlow's agencies enforced a $100,000 payment on new H-1B petitions from September 2025 until a federal judge struck it down on June 8, 2026, and adopted a wage-weighted lottery that the Department of Homeland Security estimates will cut entry-level H-1B petitions by 10,099 a year.
- Ricketts Backed the Tariffs and Refused to Join a Bill Requiring Congress to Approve Them. On April 2, 2025, Ricketts said "Reciprocal tariffs will ensure equal treatment for American businesses." A week later he said "I am not considering getting on Sen. Grassley's bill," which would have required congressional approval of new tariffs. On August 12, 2026, KSNB reported that Ricketts said President Trump's tariffs have leveled the playing field. The tariffs imposed since January 2025 have cost Nebraska an estimated $650 million, and Nebraska manufacturers told KCUR that "Ultimately, the burden of tariffs will fall on consumers and businesses."
What the Policies Pete Ricketts Voted For Cost Nebraska's Economy
- Farm exports. North Dakota State University estimates Nebraska was estimated to have lost $710 million in farm sales to China from March 2025 to February 2026 because of China's retaliatory tariffs, with soybeans the largest single loss nationally.
- Energy jobs. Energy Innovation projects the law and related federal energy actions will cost Nebraska 2,400 jobs a year on average over the next decade, a projection.
- Meatpacking workers. Glenn Valley Foods has about 140 workers at its Omaha plant, and federal agents investigated 107 of them in the June 2025 raid.
Frequently Asked Questions About Pete Ricketts on Economy and jobs
What is Pete Ricketts's record on the economy and jobs under Trump?
Pete Ricketts voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 1, 2025, whose energy provisions and related federal actions Energy Innovation projects will cost Nebraska thousands of jobs a year, and voted against keeping its clean-energy credits. Ricketts cast one of the votes that kept the global tariffs in a 49-49 vote and voted to confirm the officials who carried out the tariffs and the H-1B fee.
Did Pete Ricketts vote to end Trump's tariffs?
No. Pete Ricketts voted against ending the national emergencies behind the tariffs on April 2 and April 30, 2025, and again in October 2025, and in April 2025 he said he was not considering joining a bill to require congressional approval of tariffs. After the Supreme Court struck down the emergency tariffs on February 20, 2026, Ricketts disagreed, saying in a Wednesday press call that tariffs "level the playing field".
Does the Big Beautiful Bill Pete Ricketts voted for raise interest rates?
Yes: the Congressional Budget Office estimates the law Pete Ricketts voted for will push interest rates up, which by its count adds $405 billion to federal interest costs through 2034. Its February 2026 update puts the law's total addition to the debt at $4.7 trillion through 2035.
Last updated: 2026-10-25