FINDING
The claims are mostly false. Sununu’s 68-vote figure relies on procedural votes and concurrent resolutions that had nothing to do with tax policy, and Pappas has rejected his congressional paycheck on multiple occasions during government shutdowns.
THE CLAIMS
Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Sununu claimed at his Sept. 8 primary election victory party and during a debate with his Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, that “on 68 votes … Chris Pappas voted to raise taxes 68 times.” The Sununu campaign and National Republican Senatorial Committee have also claimed that Pappas voted to shut down the government 12 times but still collected a full paycheck each time.
WHAT WE FOUND
The claim that Pappas voted to raise taxes 68 times is essentially false. Many of the bills Sununu cites in the claim passed Congress with bipartisan support. Some also included tax-cutting measures and others were simply procedural votes that did not affect tax policy at all. In fact, of the 68 votes cited by the Sununu campaign, only 16 were actually on the final passage of a bill, making the vast majority of Pappas’s votes purely procedural in nature.
For example, Sununu cites three Pappas votes on the Inflation Reduction Act, a Biden-era bill that raised taxes on large corporations but also created tax credits meant to encourage green energy consumption. Pappas voted once to pass the final bill. The other two votes cited were procedural decisions — one vote on the rules of debate and another to make the Congressional bill match the Senate bill.
“Some procedural votes are very routine, others are significant,” John Lappie, a political science professor at Plymouth State University who studies elections, wrote in an email. “In some cases, yes, a procedural vote to (say) apply certain rules for debate on the bill (a special rule) can help the bill pass, even if the member ultimately votes against the final bill. Conversely, you can make a House member look like they voted to raise taxes a lot more times than they did if you count all the procedural votes on the bill and the final vote as votes for raising taxes.”
Some of the votes Sununu cites did not change tax policy at all. Fourteen of the votes were on four distinct concurrent resolutions — non-binding measures that are meant to express the opinion of Congress but do not have any legal authority. For example, Pappas voted against a resolution stating that a carbon tax would be detrimental to the American economy, but he did not vote for a carbon tax.
In addition, some of the bills Sununu calls tax hikes passed with overwhelmingly bipartisan support, including the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, a bill that passed the House 357-70. Sununu also includes votes for the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2022, which passed the House, 414-5, and the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, which passed on a 417-3 vote and President Trump signed into law in his first administration.
The Sununu campaign also has accused Pappas of voting to shut down the government 12 times, and collected a full paycheck each time:
The Sununu campaign did not respond to a request for a list of the 12 votes. Pappas did vote against a plan to reopen the government in November 2025, along with all but six of his fellow Democrats, because they said the plan did not guarantee long-term funding for Affordable Care Act health insurance tax credits. In addition, Pappas has frequently supported measures to keep the government open or reopen it. Most recently, Pappas voted for a bill in September to fund the government through Dec. 11. He also supported bills preventing government shutdowns in 2019, 2020, 2023 and 2024.
He also publicly refused to take a paycheck during the 2019 shutdown as well as in the fall of 2025. However, in the partial government shutdown that ran from Feb. 14 to April 30 this year and affected only the Department of Homeland Security and no other government functions, Pappas was paid.
FINDING
These claims are mostly false. Sununu’s 68-vote figure relies on procedural votes and concurrent resolutions that had nothing to do with tax policy, and Pappas has rejected his congressional paycheck on multiple occasions during government shutdowns.
CREDITS
Reporter: James Kelly
Outlet: Plymouth State University’s The Clock
QUESTIONS OR CORRECTIONS
Contact: Jeff Feingold, jfeingoldnhbr@gmail.com