Eric Burlison

See also: 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Missouri § District 7

In 2022, Burlison defeated Democratic nominee Kristen Radaker-Sheafer in the race for Missouri's 7th congressional district with 70.9% of the vote to Radaker-Shefer's 26.9%. ^[16] His term of office in the 118th U.S. Congress began on January 3, 2023. ^[17]

Tenure

In a speech on the House floor at the start of his term, Burlison criticized DirecTV for removing Newsmax TV from its listings, despite Newsmax being caught spreading misinformation about alleged election rigging and widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, stories consistently proven false. Newsmax later retracted and apologized for spreading this misinformation. Regardless, Burlison invoked the Holocaust while condemning DirecTV's actions, alluding to, and misquoting, the poem "First they came ..." by Martin Niemoller and suggesting that cable companies were censoring conservatives. ^[18]

Burlison has said that constituent town halls are "where only political nutjobs show up." ^[19]

Abortion

In January 2025, Burlison introduced a bill recognizing personhood as beginning at conception. ^[20]

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023

Burlison was among the 71 Republicans who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House. ^[21]

Take It Down Act

Burlison was one of only two representatives (along with Thomas Massie) who voted against the Take It Down Act, which criminalises the publication of non-consensual intimate images and adds protections for victims of deepfake pornography and revenge porn. Burlison has not elaborated on his opposition to the bill. ^{[22] [23]}

Foreign policy

Russia

On March 19, 2024, Burlison voted NAY to House Resolution 149 Condemning the illegal abduction and forcible transfer of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation. He was one of nine Republicans to do so. ^[24]

Syria

In 2023, Burlison was among 47 Republicans to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days. ^{[25] [26]}

Israel

Burlison voted to provide Israel with support following 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. ^{[27] [28]}

Medicaid

Burlison supports cuts and adding work requirements to Medicaid. ^[19]

UFOs and angels

In 2024, Burlison petitioned House leadership to create a committee to study UFOs. ^[29] Instead, a task force within the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform — with no subpoena power — was created to investigate UFOs, among other topics; as of 2025, Burlison serves on the body. ^{[30] [31]}

He has stated that he believes purported UFOs are either angels or manmade objects, ^[32] and in 2025 introduced UFO-related legislation. ^[33]

In July 2025, Burlison traveled to Mexico to examine the Nazca mummies, ^[34] a popular hoax ^{[35] [36]} alleged to be the corpses of three-fingered space aliens. ^[36]

During a September 2025 hearing on UFOs, Burlison presented a 2024 video recorded by the U.S. armed forces that, according to ABC News, showed a "U.S. military Hellfire missile bouncing off a bright, shiny object that was being tracked off the coast of Yemen". ^{[37] [38] [39]} In an initial assessment published the next day, Avi Loeb concluded the object was most likely a Samad drone, probably launched by Ansar Allah, a conclusion also reached by The War Zone. ^{[40] [41]} Later analysis, according to Interesting Engineering, "determined the object was likely a weather balloon and that the apparent velocity was an optical illusion caused by parallax". ^[42]

Caucus memberships

• Freedom Caucus ^[43]

Committee assignments

For the 118th Congress ^[44]

• Committee on Education and the Workforce
  • Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
  • Subcommittee on Workforce Protections
• Committee on Oversight and Accountability
  • Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation
  • Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

Personal life

Burlison lives outside of Springfield with his wife Angie and two daughters. ^{[3] [5] [45]} He attends Destiny Church in Republic, Missouri, and is active in supporting campus ministries such as The Potter's House and Campus Crusade for Christ. Burlison is involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks and was named the Big Brother of the Year in 2005. He serves on the board of D.R.E.A.M and the Harmony House for battered and abused women. ^{[3] [5] [45]}

Burlison is Protestant. ^{[46] [47]}

Eric Burlison
Official portrait, c. 2023-2024
Member of the U.S.HouseofRepresentatives from Missouri's 7th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2023

2008 Election for Missouri’s 136th District House of Representatives ^[48]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Eric Burlison	11,060	57.9
	Democratic	Nick Beatty	8,047	42.1

2010 Election for Missouri’s 136th District House of Representatives ^[49]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Eric Burlison	8,381	71.3	+13.4
	Democratic	Devon Cheek	3,372	28.7	−13.4

2012 Election for Missouri’s 133rd District House of Representatives ^[50]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Eric Burlison	11,878	70.5	−0.8
	Democratic	Nicholas Ivan Ladendorf	4,972	29.5	+0.8

2014 Election for Missouri's 133rd District House of Representatives ^[51]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Eric Burlison	7,047	100.00%	+29.5

State Senate

2018 Election for Missouri's 20th District Senate ^[52]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Eric Burlison	62,209	73.9%	−26.1
	Democratic	Jim Bellido	22,004	26.1%	+26.1

U.S House of Representatives

2022 Election for Missouri's 7th congressional district

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Eric Burlison	178,592	70.9%	2.9%
	Democratic	Kristen Radaker-Sheafer	67,485	26.8%	0.75%
	Libertarian	Kevin A. Craig	5,869	2.3%	−45.2%

2024 Election for Missouri's 7th congressional district

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Eric Burlison (incumbent)	263,231	71.5
	Democratic	Missi Hesketh	96,655	26.3
	Libertarian	Kevin Craig	7,982	2.2
Total votes			367,868	100.0
	Republican hold

References

1. Riley, Claudette. "U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison wins another term in Congress representing Missouri's 7th District". Springfield News-Leader. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
2. https://gazette.com/news/wex/marjorie-taylor-greene-announces-republicans-picked-for-house-doge-committee/article_49a9fd86-9df2-5d4b-a61e-b2fbe26fa0fb.html
3. Member Biography - Retrieved June 17, 2009
4. "The Voter's Self Defense System".
5. "Eric Burlison". Ozark Insurance Day. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
6. "Transportation bills give, or take, freedom on road". Archived from the original on March 18, 2013.
7. "Springfield News-Leader". Archived from the original on June 10, 2015.
8. Representative Eric Burlison - Retrieved June 17, 2009
9. 2009 House Special Committee on Health Insurance Members - Retrieved June 17, 2009
10. "House endorses health care compact". News Tribune. 2011-03-31. Archived from the original on August 10, 2022. Retrieved 2022-08-10.
11. Lankford, James (2014-02-23). "The Health Care Compact: Fixing American Health Care, One State At A Time". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
12. Shorman, Jonathan (2014-05-16). "Dyslexia legislation approved". Springfield News-Leader. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
13. "Springfield lawmaker will try to override Constitutional Carry veto". 8 September 2016. Archived from the original on September 9, 2016.
14. "Senator Eric Burlison – Missouri Senate" . Retrieved 2021-11-09.
15. "Prosecutor slams Missouri bill as 'Make Murder Legal Act'". AP News. 2022-02-01. Retrieved 2025-03-26.
16. "Republican Eric Burlison wins election for Missouri's U.S. House District 7 open seat". www.ky3.com. 9 November 2022. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
17. "Newest Members of Congress". Representative Burlison. 2023-01-03. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
18. Bacharier, Galen (2023-02-01). "Southwest MO's congressman invokes Holocaust quote during speech about Newsmax". Springfield News-Leader. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
19. Rosenbaum, Jason (March 10, 2025). "Missouri U.S. Rep. Burlison believes colleagues shouldn't cower from paring Medicaid". STLPR. Retrieved 2025-03-10.
20. "Congressman Burlison Introduces the Life at Conception Act". January 24, 2025.
21. Gans, Jared (May 31, 2023). "Republicans and Democrats who bucked party leaders by voting no". The Hill . Retrieved June 6, 2023.
22. Dean, Rochelle (2025-04-29). "U.S. House passes 'Take it Down' act". ABC Columbia. Retrieved 2025-04-29.
23. Shoaib, Alia (2025-04-29). "Republicans who voted against Melania Trump-backed porn bill". Newsweek. Retrieved 2025-04-29.
24. Metzger, Bryan (2024-03-19). "These 9 House Republicans voted against a resolution condemning the Russian abduction of Ukrainian children". businessinsider.com.
25. "H.Con.Res. 21: Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of … -- House Vote #136 -- Mar 8, 2023". March 8, 2023.
26. "House Votes Down Bill Directing Removal of Troops From Syria". Associated Press. March 8, 2023.
27. Demirjian, Karoun (2023-10-25). "House Declares Solidarity With Israel in First Legislation Under New Speaker". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-10-30.
28. "Roll Call 528 Roll Call 528, Bill Number: H. Res. 771, 118th Congress, 1st Session". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. 2023-10-25. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
29. Robertson, Nicki (March 12, 2024). "GOP lawmaker calls for House to form committee on UAPs". The Hill . Retrieved September 11, 2025.
30. "Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets". house.gov. U.S. House of Representatives. Archived from the original on September 11, 2025. Retrieved September 11, 2025.
31. "Congress creates task force to look into UAPs, COVID origins, JFK assassination, Epstein client list". Washington Times . February 11, 2025. Retrieved September 11, 2025.
32. Davis, Ron (March 28, 2024). "Eric Burlison interview transcript: ET is 'the least likely scenario'". Springfield Daily Citizen. Retrieved September 11, 2025.
33. "Rep. Burlison Introduces UAP Disclosure Act of 2025 as Amendment to NDAA" (Press release). August 29, 2025. Retrieved September 11, 2025.
34. Scott, Steve (July 18, 2025). "Burlison trip to Mexico to investigate possible UFO objects". KZRG . Retrieved September 13, 2025.
35. MacGuill, Dan (September 13, 2023). "Did Researchers Find a Mummified, Three-Fingered Alien in Nazca, Peru?". Snopes . Retrieved September 13, 2025.
36. Jarus, Owen (September 13, 2018). "These 'Alien' Mummies Appear to Be a Mix of Looted Body Parts". Live Science . Retrieved March 16, 2018.
37. Martinez, Luis (September 9, 2025). "Congressman shows never-before-seen video at military UFO hearing". ABC News . Retrieved September 11, 2025.
38. D'Agata, Charlie (September 11, 2025). "Newly released video at House UFO hearing appears to show U.S. missile striking and bouncing off orb". CBS News . Retrieved September 11, 2025.
39. Bryant, Chris (September 11, 2025). "Southwest Missouri congressman wants transparency when it comes to funding in UAP or UFO investigations". KYTV-TV . Retrieved September 11, 2025.
40. Loeb, Avi. "Did a Hellfire Missile Hit a Samad Drone Launched by the Houthis on October 30, 2024?". Archived from the original on September 11, 2025. Retrieved September 11, 2025.
41. "Revelation That MQ-9 Reapers Are Now Engaging Aerial Targets Comes From UAP Hearing". The War Zone. September 9, 2025. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
42. Kajal, Kapil (September 10, 2025). "Never-before-seen video shows UFO-like object absorb US Hellfire missile and vanish". Interesting Engineering. Retrieved September 14, 2025.
43. "Crane, Fellow Freedom Caucus Freshmen Launch New Podcast". Representative Crane. 2023-03-14. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
44. "Committees and Caucuses | Representative Burlison". burlison.house.gov. January 3, 2023.
45. "2011 40 Under 40 Honoree: Eric Burlison". Springfield Business Journal. May 16, 2011. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
46. "Religious affiliation of members of 118th Congress" (PDF). PEW Research Center. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
47. "Faith on the Hill: The religious composition of the 118th Congress". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
48. Missouri Secretary of State Election Archives - Retrieved June 17, 2009
49. Missouri Secretary of State Election Archives - Retrieved May 23, 2014 Archived February 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
50. Missouri Secretary of State Election Archives - Retrieved May 23, 2014
51. "All Results; Official Results". Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
52. "All Results; Official Results". Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved April 30, 2020.

External links

• Congressman Eric Burlison official U.S. House website
• Eric Burlison for Congress
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Appearances on C-SPAN

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Billy Long	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 7th congressional district 2023–present	Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Nikki Budzinski	United States representatives by seniority 303rd	Succeeded by Greg Casar