As Missouri attorney general, Hawley initiated several high-profile lawsuits and investigations, including a lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act, an investigation into Missouri governor Eric Greitens, and a lawsuit and investigation into companies associated with the opioid epidemic. In the Senate, Hawley became widely known for his criticism of Big Tech, as well as for his criticism of the Chinese government and his support for an independent Hong Kong.
In December 2020, Hawley provoked an intense political backlash after he became the first senator to announce he would object to the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election; he was criticized for promoting the baseless conspiracy theory that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. On the day when the electoral votes were being tallied, Hawley raised a clenched fist in solidarity with pro-Trump protesters demonstrating outside the U.S. Capitol. As Hawley filed his objections, many of those protesters then stormed the Capitol. Because Hawley helped popularize and legitimize the conspiracy theory that motivated the mob, figures from across the political spectrum argued that he was morally responsible for the riot and the five deaths it caused, and called for Hawley to resign his office or be expelled from the Senate.
Hawley attended Lexington Middle School and then Rockhurst High School, a privateJesuit boys' prep school in Kansas City, Missouri, from which he graduated in 1998 as a valedictorian.[6] According to his middle school principal, Barbara Weibling, several of Hawley's teachers thought "that he was probably going to be president one day."[6] While in high school, Hawley regularly wrote columns for his hometown newspaper The Lexington News, writing about such topics as the American militia movement following the Oklahoma City bombing, media coverage of LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman, and affirmative action, which he opposed.[6] He then studied history at Stanford University, where his mother was an alumna. Hawley graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with highest honors and Phi Beta Kappa membership.[5][7] Hawley studied under Stanford professor David M. Kennedy, who later contributed the foreword to a book Hawley wrote, Theodore Roosevelt: Preacher of Righteousness.[8] Kennedy said Hawley stood out in a school "which is overstuffed with overachieving and very talented young people,"[6] and has described Hawley as “arguably the most gifted student I taught in 50 years.”[5]
In 2016, Hawley ran for Attorney General of Missouri. Of the $9.2million raised for the campaign, $4.4million was bankrolled by David Humphreys, CEO of Tamko Building Products.[17] On August 2, he defeated Kurt Schaefer in the Republican primary with 64% of the vote.[18] He defeated Democrat Teresa Hensley in the general election on November 8 with 58.5% of the vote.[18]
Affordable Care Act
In February 2018, Hawley joined 20 other Republican-led states in a lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) as unconstitutional.[19] The lawsuit would have eliminated insurance protections for people with preexisting conditions.[20] In September 2018, amid criticism from Hawley's U.S. Senate opponent Claire McCaskill about the lawsuit's impact on preexisting conditions, Hawley's office said that he supported protections for individuals with preexisting conditions.[20] Hawley later published an op-ed in the Springfield News-Leader explaining that he supported protecting those with preexisting conditions by creating a taxpayer subsidy to reimburse insurance companies for covering these high-cost patients.[21] In December 2018, Judge Reed O'Connor ruled the entirety of the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional, but on appeal, the Fifth Circuit did not agree that the entire law should be voided.[22][23][24]
The investigation, which was inherited by Hawley's successor, Eric Schmitt, charged 12 former priests with sexual abuse of minors in September 2019.[28]
Greitens scandals
In December 2017, Missouri's Republican Governor Eric Greitens and senior members of his staff were accused by Democrats and government transparency advocates of subverting Missouri's open records laws after The Kansas City Star reported that they used Confide, a messaging app that erases texts after they have been read, on their personal phones.[29] Hawley initially declined to prosecute, citing a Missouri Supreme Court ruling that the attorney general cannot simultaneously represent a state officer and take legal action against that officer. But on December 20, 2017, he announced his office would investigate, saying that his clients are "first and foremost the citizens of the state".[30][31][32] Hawley said text messages between government employees, whether made on private or government-issued phones, should be treated the same as emails: a determination must be made as to whether the text is a record, and if so, whether it is subject to disclosure.[30] Hawley's investigation found that no laws had been broken.[33] In March 2018, six attorneys formerly employed by the State of Missouri under Democrats released a letter describing the investigation as "half-hearted"; Hawley's spokesperson called the letter a partisan attack.[33]
When allegations emerged in January 2018 that Greitens had blackmailed a woman with whom he was having an affair, Hawley's office said it did not have jurisdiction to look into the matter, and Kimberly Gardner, the circuit attorney for the City of St. Louis opened an investigation into the allegations.[34][35] In April, after a special investigative committee of the Missouri House of Representatives released a report on the allegations, Hawley called on Greitens to resign immediately.[36] The next week, Gardner filed a second felony charge against Greitens, alleging that his campaign had taken donor and email lists from The Mission Continues, a veterans' charity Greitens founded in 2007, and used the information to raise funds for his 2016 campaign for governor.[37]
Hawley announced an investigation based on the new felony charges.[38][39] On April 30, he announced that his office had launched an investigation into possible violations of the state's Sunshine laws following allegations that a state employee had managed a social media account on Greitens's behalf.[40] The same month, Greitens asked a judge to issue a restraining order blocking Hawley from investigating him.[41]
On May 29, 2018, Greitens announced that he would resign effective June 1, 2018; Hawley issued a statement approving of the decision.[42]
Investigations into tech companies
In November 2017, Hawley opened an investigation into whether Google's business practices violated state consumer protection and anti-trust laws. The investigation was focused on what data Google collects from users of its services, how it uses content providers' content, and whether its search engine results are biased.[43][44]
In April 2018, after the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal, Hawley announced that his office had issued a subpoena to Facebook related to how the company shares its users' data. The investigation sought to find whether Facebook properly handles its users' sensitive data or collects more data than it publicly admits.[45]
Opioid manufacturer lawsuit and investigation
Hawley in 2018
In June 2017, Hawley announced that Missouri had filed suit in state court against three major drug companies, Purdue Pharma, Endo Health Solutions, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, for hiding the danger of prescription painkillers and contributing to the opioid epidemic. The state alleged that the companies violated Missouri consumer protection and Medicaid laws.[46][47] The damages sought were among the largest in state history, on the order of hundreds of millions of dollars.[46]
On October 29, 2017, the Columbia Missourian published an exposé describing a huge backlog of untested rape kits in Missouri and the long-ignored efforts of rape survivors and law enforcement agencies to have the state address the backlog.[50] On November 29, Hawley announced a statewide audit of the number of untested rape kits.[51] The results were made public in May 2018; there were 5,000 such kits.[51] In August 2018, One Nation, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit connected to Republican campaign strategist Karl Rove, ran commercials giving Hawley credit for identifying the problem.[50] In September 2020, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that of the 16 rape kit tests that were consequently uploaded to the national DNA database, 11 revealed the names of known criminals, and were referred for possible prosecution.[52]
Hawley on election night after securing the Republican primary win
In August 2017, Hawley formed an exploratory campaign committee for the U.S. Senate.[53][54] In October 2017, he declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination in Missouri's 2018 U.S. Senate election for the seat held by Democrat Claire McCaskill.[55][56] Before the official announcement, four former Republican U.S. Senators from Missouri (John Ashcroft, Kit Bond, John Danforth, and McCaskill's predecessor, Jim Talent) asked Hawley to run for the Senate seat.[57]
The tightly contested Republican primary had 11 candidates hoping to unseat McCaskill. Hawley received substantial support from prominent Republicans, such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, President Donald Trump, and the Senate Conservatives Fund.[58] He won a large majority of the vote in the primary election.
Trump endorsed Hawley in November 2017.[59] During the general election campaign, Obamacare was a key issue, with both candidates pledging to ensure protections for preexisting conditions.[60][61][62] McCaskill criticized Hawley's participation in a lawsuit that could end insurance protections for people with preexisting conditions by overturning the Affordable Care Act.[20] Hawley made McCaskill's upcoming vote on the confirmation of CIA Director Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State a campaign issue.[63] His campaign spokesperson asked, "Will Senator McCaskill ignore her liberal donors and support Mike Pompeo for Secretary of State, or will she stick with Chuck Schumer and continue to obstruct the president?", adding, "It is deeply troubling how focused Senator McCaskill is on doing what’s politically convenient instead of doing what’s right."[63]
Hawley met criticism from both Republicans and Democrats for initiating his Senate campaign less than a year after being sworn in as attorney general, as during his attorney general campaign, Hawley had put out advertisements criticizing "ladder-climbing politicians." Hawley dismissed this, saying that the Senate was not on his mind during the attorney general campaign.[8]
During the campaign, Hawley released his and his wife's tax returns and called on McCaskill to release her and her husband's returns. McCaskill released her returns, which she files separately from her husband. When asked if he thought Trump should release his returns, Hawley did not say.[64]
In the November 2018 general election, Hawley defeated McCaskill, 51% to 46%.[65]
On December 6, 2018, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft launched an inquiry into whether Hawley misappropriated public funds for his Senate campaign. Hawley's office denied any wrongdoing.[66] On February 28, 2019, Ashcroft closed the investigation because there was insufficient evidence that "an offense has been committed."[67]
Tenure
Hawley in 2019
Hawley was sworn in as a U.S. Senator on January 3, 2019.[68]
On November 18, 2019, Hawley announced the National Security and Personal Data Protection Act,[70] which would make it illegal for American companies to store user data or encryption keys in China. Engadget noted the bill might cause "serious problems" for companies that are legally obligated to store data in China, such as Apple and TikTok, and "might force them to leave China altogether." It was not Hawley's first technology-related bill; he had also introduced proposals to ban loot boxes in gaming and to restrict social network features "deemed addictive", among others.[71] Hawley focused on TikTok, saying the bill would cover Russia as well as China, and "any other country the State Department deems a security risk."[72] He said the bill was "targeted at social media platforms and data-intensive businesses", and "would block such mergers by default without pre-approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States."[73] The bill also prevents the collection of "more user data than is necessary to conduct business."[74]
Hawley joined President Donald Trump in his calls for an increase of the initial $600 coronavirus relief checks provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 to $2,000, which put him on the same side as "unlikely ally" Bernie Sanders.[75] Alongside Sanders and Chuck Schumer, Hawley attempted to force a vote to increase the checks, but it was rejected.[76]
On December 30, 2020, after Hawley tweeted he would join the effort to object to Biden's victory, Walmart's official Twitter account responded, "Go ahead. Get your 2 hour debate. #soreloser."[82] Hawley responded, accusing Walmart of using "slave labor" and "driv[ing] mom and pop stores out of business".[82] Walmart deleted the tweet, apologizing to Hawley and saying it was "mistakenly posted by a member of our social media team."[82] The event led the hashtag #BoycottWalmart to trend on Twitter.[82]
On January 4, 2021, Hawley tweeted that his Washington, D.C. home had been vandalized, and his family had been threatened by "Antifa scumbags" in an act of "leftwing violence" due to his claims of fraud.[83] He said he was in Missouri at the time.[83] ShutDownDC, the group that staged the event, said it was a peaceful candlelight vigil and claimed they did not vandalize Hawley's house or knock on the door.[83] A video of the event shared by the group showed that some protesters wrote on the sidewalk in chalk, chanted through a megaphone, and left a copy of the U.S. Constitution at Hawley's door.[83]Vienna, Virginia police said the protesters were peaceful with "no issues, no arrests" necessary; police spokesman Juan Vazquez said the police "didn't think it was that big of a deal."[84]
Hawley gives a fist salute to pro-Trump protesters outside of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Some of these protesters stormed the Capitol building about an hour later.
On January 6, 2021, when Congress met to count the electoral votes for the 2020 presidential election, they were interrupted by pro-Trump rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol building, forcing members of Congress to evacuate. The events led to five deaths. Before the counting of the votes, to which Hawley had publicly announced he would object, he was photographed saluting the protestors with a fist pump outside the Capitol.[86][87] The photograph immediately became a subject of controversy; The Kansas City Star called it "the image that will haunt Josh Hawley" and "one of the iconic images to emerge from the day the Capitol was breached by rioters"[85] and Pulitzer Prize-winning St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Tony Messenger said "the staging was perfect" and recommended the photograph be known as Hawley: The Face of Sedition.[88]Tom Coleman, a former U.S. representative from Missouri and a fellow Republican, said Hawley's "clenched fist in front of the Capitol will seal his fate."[85] The photographer, Francis Chung, declined to weigh in on the photograph's political impact, saying it "is what it is" and "kind of speaks for itself."[85]
That same day, The Kansas City Star's editorial board published an editorial arguing that Hawley "has blood on his hands" due to the event, which they called a "coup attempt",[89][90][91] saying that "no one other than President Donald Trump himself is more responsible" than Hawley, "who put out a fundraising appeal while the siege was underway".[89] The next day, it published an editorial calling for Hawley to resign or be removed from office.[92] Similarly, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Missouri's other major newspaper, published an editorial on January 7 calling for Hawley to resign and Republican "silent enablers" to denounce Trumpism, writing that "Hawley’s tardy, cover-his-ass condemnation of the violence ranks at the top of his substantial list of phony, smarmy and politically expedient declarations" and "Trumpism must die before it morphs into Hitlerism. Defenders like Hawley deserve to be cast into political purgatory for having promoted it".[93] The newspaper's editor, Gilbert Bailon, explained the editorial board's decision in an interview with Boston-based radio station WBUR:
He has been in the forefront of people who have been claiming the Electoral College vote was based on fraudulent votes, and we believe, as I think many Americans do, that that has been tried and tested in courts, and that is not true, and he continues to say that, as well as President Trump, and so both of them, we feel, were participants in this narrative that helped lead to the attack on the Capitol. Now, whether that was their intent, I don't think that necessarily has to be the case, but they were proponents of that, and in the case of Josh Hawley, he represents our state, and even after the riot, he continued to oppose the certification of the vote in the Senate, and we believe that he's not going to change his mind, and we feel that it would be better if he were to resign.[94]
Political scientists Henry Farrell and Elizabeth N. Saunders called Hawley's ploy a "cynical theatrical gesture" with Hawley "pursuing short-term political gain at the risk of long-term chaos."[95]John Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri and Hawley's political mentor,[96] said that supporting Hawley was the "worst mistake I ever made in my life".[97] Danforth said Hawley was directly responsible for the riot.[98]David M. Kennedy, who served as Hawley's academic adviser at Stanford, said he "absolutely could not have predicted that the bright, idealistic, clear-thinking young student that I knew would follow this path"[5] and was "more than a little bamboozled by it, certainly distressed by it," though he said he did not believe Hawley directly incited the mob.[6] Prominent conservative columnist George Will wrote on the day of the riot that Hawley, Trump and Senator Ted Cruz "will each wear the scarlet S of a seditionist."[99] On January 9, NBC News reported that several Republican Party insiders anonymously condemned Hawley's actions, with one strategist saying of the fist salute that Hawley "looked phony and out of place and like a doofus" in a manner reminiscent of Michael Dukakis's tank photograph.[100] Following the riot, Hawley's approval rating dropped six percent among all Missouri voters, and nine percent among Missouri Republicans.[101]
In the wake of the riot, other Republican lawmakers tried to persuade Hawley to abandon his objections to Biden's win,[102] but he voted in support of the objections to the electoral votes for Arizona and Pennsylvania, making baseless claims that Pennsylvania election officials violated state election laws.[103] Both senators from Pennsylvania, including Republican Pat Toomey, rejected his objections, and the Senate rejected his objections by votes of 93–6 and 92–7, respectively.[104] Some political commentators and Democratic lawmakers dubbed Hawley and other senators who sought to overturn the election the Sedition Caucus.[105] Hawley has since faced bipartisan calls for his resignation,[89][99][106][107] to which he has responded that he "will never apologize for giving voice to the millions of Missourians and Americans who have concerns about the integrity of our elections."[108] Thousands of law school students and alumni, including at Hawley's alma mater Yale Law School, also called for Hawley and Cruz to be disbarred.[109] On January 9, hundreds of protesters assembled in Downtown St. Louis in front of the Old Courthouse to demand Hawley's resignation.[110][111]
Several political donors and companies associated with Hawley have cut off financial ties. David Humphreys, who with his mother and sister donated more than $6 million to Hawley's campaigns, called for him to be censured, having "revealed himself as a political opportunist willing to subvert the Constitution and the ideals of the nation he swore to uphold."[17] On January 7, Simon & Schuster canceled its planned publication of Hawley's book The Tyranny of Big Tech, saying it "cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat";[112] the book was later picked up by Regnery Publishing, which frequently publishes books by conservative authors.[113] On January 11, several companies, including Airbnb, American Express, AT&T, Best Buy, Dow Inc., and Mastercard, announced they would end fundraising for all Republicans who objected to Biden's victory, including Hawley; Hallmark Cards, based in Kansas City, said it had asked Hawley and Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas to return all contributions.[114]
On January 21, seven Democratic senators filed a complaint against Hawley and Cruz to the Senate Ethics Committee, arguing that they "lent legitimacy to the mob’s cause and made future violence more likely."[115] Hawley called the complaint "a flagrant abuse of the Senate ethics process and a flagrant attempt to exact partisan revenge".[115] In response, Hawley filed an ethics complaint of his own against the seven senators, alleging their complaint was unethical due to potential coordination with Democratic Party leadership and claiming that he was a victim of cancel culture.[116]
Hawley opposes abortion and has called for the appointment of "constitutionalist, pro-life judges" to the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts.[120] He has called Roe v. Wade "one of the most unjust decisions" in American judicial history. Missouri's Right to Life PAC endorsed Hawley for Senate.[120] In July 2020, Hawley said he would not support any Supreme Court nominee who did not explicitly say that they would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.[121]
COVID-19 relief
In April 2020, Hawley proposed that the U.S. government pay businesses to keep their workers on payroll for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and rehire any workers who had already been laid off. His proposal was similar to programs that various European countries, including Denmark, the Netherlands, and the UK, had implemented.[122]
In December 2020, Hawley teamed up with Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats, to demand that any new stimulus deal include direct payments of at least $1,200 to American workers. As leverage, Hawley and Sanders used the upcoming Christmas recess and the deadline to pass a new continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown.[123][124]
In October 2019, Hawley sponsored the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. Before the bill went to the House of Representatives, he visited Hong Kong to see the protests. He commented on Twitter that Beijing was trying to turn Hong Kong into a "police state". Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam called the comment "irresponsible".[125] On November 19, 2019, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the act.[126]
On July 10, 2020, Hawley sent a letter to NBA commissioner Adam Silver criticizing the league for allowing players to put messages on their jerseys supporting the Black Lives Matter movement but not the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests or law enforcement officers.[127] To promote the letter, Hawley's press office emailed it along with an announcement to several NBA reporters, including ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski.[128] Wojnarowski responded to the email "Fuck You."[128] Hawley then tweeted a screenshot of Wojnarowski's response; Wojnarowski subsequently apologized to Hawley directly and posted an apology on Twitter.[128] On July 12, ESPN temporarily suspended Wojnarowski over the incident.[129] On September 23, 2020, Hawley once again criticized Silver for the NBA's business in China, tweeting that "Adam Silver just comes right out and says it: NBA's relationship with China involves 'trade offs' but overall is a 'net positive.' And by 'net positive,' he means billions of dollars for the NBA and by 'trade offs,' he means slave labor."[127]
Israel
During his 2018 Senate campaign, Hawley's press office sent out an email criticizing Claire McCaskill for supporting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, writing. "We should be standing with President Trump and Israel today. If you aren't, you are standing with the mullahs and John Kerry. Sen. McCaskill needs to make it clear that she stands with President Trump and Israel, and not the mullahs."[130]
On July 16, 2019, at the National Conservatism Conference, organized by Israeli professor Yoram Hazony, Hawley said:
For years the politics of both Left and Right have been informed by a political consensus that reflects the interests not of the American middle, but of a powerful upper class and their cosmopolitan priorities. This class lives in the United States, but they identify as "citizens of the world." They run businesses or oversee universities here, but their primary loyalty is to the global community.[132]
In his address, Hawley also denounced the "cosmopolitan agenda", the "cosmopolitan class", the "cosmopolitan consensus", the "cosmopolitan economy", and the "cosmopolitan elite".[131] His statement was called antisemitic by several political commentators and Jewish leaders, as well as by the Anti-Defamation League, which called for Hawley to apologize.[131][132][133]The Jewish Telegraphic Agency specifically compared Hawley's reference to "cosmopolitan elites" to the term "rootless cosmopolitan", an antisemitic smear popularized by Joseph Stalin and also used by Nazis.[132]Andrew Silow-Carroll wrote for J. The Jewish News of Northern California that Hawley was using his connections with Jewish people as a way to dodge allegations of antisemitism.[134] In response to the allegations, Hawley tweeted, "The liberal language police have lost their minds."[131][132][133] Hazony and the Republican Jewish Coalition defended Hawley's remarks.[131]
On October 21, 2019, Hawley attacked Jewish Washington Post reporter Greg Sargent as a "smug, rich liberal elitist"; Sargent responded in a column that he was in fact raised in poverty.[135][136]Mehdi Hasan argued Hawley's attack was antisemitic, though Sargent did not make this same claim.[135][136]
Mexico
In July 2019, Hawley traveled to McAllen, Texas, located along the Mexico–United States border, saying "the nonstop flow of drugs and human trafficking coming into this country is a crisis, plain and simple. I want to learn more about the challenges our agents face, the problems these local communities are dealing with, and how we can figure out a path forward. We are facing a surge at the southern border like we have never seen before, and Congress needs to get off its backside and act."[137]
On November 6, 2019, Hawley recommend that the U.S. impose sanctions and freeze assets of Mexican officials he did not feel were doing enough to address drug cartels in the country.[138]
In January 2019, Hawley was one of 11 Republican senators to vote for legislation aimed at blocking Trump's intended lifting of sanctions on three Russian companies.[141]
In July 2020, Hawley said he did not believe news reports about a Russian bounty program funding the Taliban, but still said that "if they so much as think about putting bounties on the heads of American soldiers, there will be punishment."[142]
Saudi Arabia
During a 2018 debate with Claire McCaskill in his Senate campaign, both he and McCaskill agreed that if it was confirmed that the Saudi government was behind the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, the U.S. should respond severely.[143]
Following the 2019 Abqaiq–Khurais attack, Hawley said "we shouldn’t attack anybody on behalf of Saudi Arabia for Saudi Arabia’s national interests," and instead should "preserve the security of the American people and the prosperity of our middle class."[144]
On April 3, 2019, Hawley was part of a group of eight Republicans and seven Democrats to sponsor the Venezuelan Emergency Relief, Democracy Assistance and Development (VERDAD) Act, which was aimed at recognizing Juan Guaidó as the President of Venezuela over Nicolás Maduro.[147] The bill would provide $200 million in aid for Venezuela, $200 million in aid for neighboring countries accepting Venezuelan refugees, revoke U.S. visas from sanctioned Venezuelan officials, and remove sanctions on officials not accused of human rights abuses who recognized Guaidó.[147]
Gun policy
Hawley received a 93% rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA) for 2018 and an 86% rating for 2016.[148] He does not support an assault weapons ban, but does support some gun-control measures, including strengthening background checks, banning bump stocks, and banning mentally ill people from having guns.[149] Like Matt Rosendale in Montana's 2018 Senate race and Richard Burr, Hawley used National Media as a media consultant, the same firm the NRA employs.[150]
Health care
Hawley has criticized the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). As attorney general of Missouri, he joined a lawsuit with 20 other states seeking to have it declared unconstitutional.[151][152] Hawley said the act "was never constitutional",[151] and spoke proudly of his involvement in the lawsuit.[20] Hawley's 2018 Senate campaign said that he supported protections for individuals with preexisting conditions.[20] He later published an op-ed in the Springfield News-Leader saying that he supports protecting those with preexisting conditions by creating a taxpayer subsidy to reimburse insurance companies for covering these high cost patients.[21]
Human trafficking
Hawley has said that human trafficking is the result of the American sexual revolution in the 1960s due to the social encouragement of premarital sex and the use of contraception. After being criticized for these statements, he said that Hollywood culture was a major cause of human trafficking.[153][154] Hawley has said that the appropriate place for sex is "within marriage".[155]
Hawley supported the Trump administration's family separation policy. He said it was a matter of upholding law and order.[8]
Labor
In his 2018 Senate campaign, Hawley did not take a firm position on right-to-work legislation that was subject to a referendum by Missouri voters at the time.[157] His spokesperson said of right-to-work, which would hamper labor unionizing, that "nobody should be forced to pay union dues."[158]
Also in 2018, Hawley expressed opposition to a raise in the Missouri minimum wage from $7.85/hour to $8.60 in 2019 and $12 by 2023.[159]
LGBT rights
In December 2015, Hawley supported exemptions for Missouri "businesses and religious groups from participating in same-sex ... marriage ceremonies".[160]
In June 2020, after the Supreme Court ruled that federal law prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, Hawley criticized the decision, saying it "represents the end of the conservative legal movement".[161][162]
Social media and Big Tech
Hawley is known for his criticism of Big Tech and social media companies and has often broken with other Republicans in his support for regulation of internet companies. He cosponsored Do Not Track legislation with Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Mark Warner.[163]
Hawley supported Trump's imposition of trade tariffs,[8] saying he hoped the tariffs would be temporary, eventually resulting in lower tariffs on U.S. agriculture than before the trade battles.[8] In September 2018, he fully supported Trump's trade actions, saying, "It's a trade war that China started. If we're in a war, I want to be winning it."[165]
On May 5, 2020, Hawley wrote an op-ed in The New York Times calling for the abolition of the World Trade Organization, arguing it did not serve American interests and "enabled the rise of China."[166][167] Shortly afterward, he introduced a resolution to withdraw the U.S. from the WTO.[168]
Donald Trump
Hawley has been characterized as a Trump loyalist.[102] He voted to acquit Trump during his Senate impeachment trial[169] and accused Democrats of having abused the Constitution by starting the impeachment inquiry, declaring that it was "the first purely partisan impeachment in our history".[169] The day after the Republican-held Senate acquitted Trump, Trump praised Hawley as having played a key role in his acquittal.[169]
Hawley's first commercial in the 2018 Senate campaign focused on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, which he supported.[170] After Kavanaugh was accused of sexual assault, Hawley staunchly defended him and said that Democrats had staged an "ambush".[170]
Supreme Court shortlist
On September 9, 2020, Trump announced that Hawley, Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton were on his shortlist for nominations to the Supreme Court should a vacancy occur. Hawley expressed his appreciation but declined the offer, saying, "Missourians elected me to fight for them in the Senate".[171] After Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on September 17, Trump instead nominated Amy Coney Barrett on September 29.[172]
Personal life
In 2010, Hawley married Erin Morrow, an associate professor of law at the University of Missouri.[173] The couple have three children.[174] Following complaints that, after becoming attorney general, he was not abiding by a statutory requirement that the attorney general must reside within the city limits of the state capital (Jefferson City), Hawley began renting an apartment there, while his family continued to live in Columbia, Missouri.[175] The Hawleys own a house in Northern Virginia, which they bought in 2019 after Hawley was elected to the U.S. Senate, after selling their Columbia home.[176] Hawley's voter registration has his sister's address in Ozark.[177]
Hawley was raised Methodist, but he and his family now attend an Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and he identifies as an Evangelical.[10][bettersourceneeded][178] Hawley wrote in a 2012 essay: "Government serves Christ’s kingdom rule; this is its purpose. And Christians' purpose in politics should be to advance the kingdom of God — to make it more real, more tangible, more present."[179]
John Claggett Danforth is an American politician, attorney and diplomat who began his career in 1968 as the Attorney General of Missouri and served three terms as United States Senator from Missouri. In 2004, he served briefly as United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Danforth is an ordained Episcopal priest.
Roy Dean Blunt is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator for Missouri, serving since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a member of the United States House of Representatives and as Missouri Secretary of State.
Claire Conner McCaskill is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Missouri from 2007 to 2019 and as State Auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007.
Eric Robert Greitens is an American politician, author, and former Navy SEAL who was the 56th governor of Missouri from January 2017 until his resignation in June 2018.
Eric S. Schmitt is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 43rd Attorney General of Missouri since 2019. He previously served as the 46th State Treasurer of Missouri from 2017 to 2019. Before that, he was a member of the Missouri Senate, representing Missouri's 15th State Senate District from 2009 to 2017. He had also previously served as an alderman for Glendale, Missouri from 2005 to 2008, where he was one of two aldermen for Ward 3. On November 13, 2018, Schmitt was named Attorney General of Missouri by Governor Mike Parson, after the incumbent, Josh Hawley, was elected to the United States Senate.
The 2012 United States Senate election in Missouri was held on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 presidential election, other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill was unopposed in the Democratic primary and U.S. Representative Todd Akin won the Republican nomination with a plurality in a close three-way race. McCaskill was re-elected to a second term. As of 2021, this is the last Senate election in Missouri won by a Democrat.
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Michael Lynn Parson is an American politician, veteran and former law enforcement officer serving as the 57th and current Governor of Missouri since 2018. He is a member of the Republican Party.
The 2016 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the Governor of Missouri, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Benjamin Eric Sasse is an American politician serving as the junior United States Senator for Nebraska since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party.
The 2016 Missouri Attorney General election was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the Attorney General of Missouri, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Republican Josh Hawley defeated the Democratic nominee Teresa Hensley.
Austin Wade Petersen is an American writer, political activist, commentator, and film and television producer. He was the runner-up for the Libertarian Party's nomination for President of the United States in 2016, finishing second place to Gary Johnson with 21.9% of the vote.
The 2018 United States Senate election in Missouri took place on November 6, 2018, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Missouri, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections, including Missouri's quadrennial State Auditor election.
Roger Wayne Marshall is an American politician serving as the junior United States Senator from Kansas, having been elected to succeed Pat Roberts in 2020. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the U.S. Representative for Kansas's 1st congressional district in 2017-2021, a mostly rural district covering much of the western and northern parts of the state.
John Robert "Jay" Ashcroft is an American attorney, engineer, and politician serving as the 40th Secretary of State of Missouri. As Secretary of State, Ashcroft has pushed for stricter voter ID laws.
The 2022 United States Senate elections will be held on November 8, 2022, with 34 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested in regular elections, the winners of which will serve six-year terms in the United States Congress from January 3, 2023, to January 3, 2029. Senators are divided into three groups, or classes, whose terms are staggered so that a different class is elected every two years. Class 3 senators were last elected in 2016, and will be up for election again in 2022.
The 2020 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the Governor of Missouri, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Governor Mike Parson ran for and was elected to a full term in office. Parson was elected as lieutenant governor in 2016, but became governor on June 1, 2018 after incumbent Eric Greitens resigned under threat of impeachment by the state legislature. Parson declared his bid for a full term on September 8, 2019.State Auditor Nicole Galloway, Missouri's only Democratic statewide officer, was the Democratic nominee and if elected, would have become Missouri's first female governor.
The 2024 United States presidential election will be the 60th quadrennial presidential election, scheduled for Tuesday, November 5, 2024. It will be the first presidential election to be run with population data from the 2020 census.
The 2022 United States Senate election in Missouri will be held in 2022. Incumbent Republican Senator Roy Blunt is seeking reelection to a third term in office.
The first impeachment of Donald Trump occurred when Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, was impeached by the House of Representatives of the 116th United States Congress on December 18, 2019. The House adopted two articles of impeachment against Trump: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate acquitted Trump of these charges on February 5, 2020.
References
↑ Elwood, Jeremy (December 14, 2008). "Five Questions: Ron Hawley". Springfield Business Journal. Archived from the original on October 31, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
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