Justin Amash

 ( 1980 Births ) 

He voted against the 2011 reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act, the 2012 reauthorization of the FISA Amendments Act, and the USA Freedom Act.

In 2013, Amash and 15 other members of Congress filed an amicus brief in Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court supporting the release of the Court's unpublished opinions regarding the "meaning, scope, and constitutionality" of Section 215 of the Patriot Act. On June 12, 2013, he called for Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to resign for stating at a Senate committee hearing in March that the NSA did not collect data.

In 2013, Amash was one of two Republicans to vote in favor of closing Guantanamo Bay and transferring its detainees. The amendment by Adam Smith would have eliminated all funding for the detention facility by December 31, 2014, removed all limitations on the transfer of detainees, removed a ban on the transfer of detainees to the United States and removed statutes that had banned the use of taxpayer funds for the construction of facilities in the United States for those detainees. It failed on a 174–249 vote.

In 2015, Amash joined John Lewis in signing a letter to the Senate urging them to oppose the USA Freedom Act, which extended surveillance. He recalls: “Here I was, one of the new wave Republicans leading the charge at the time, and I go to John Lewis, an iconic Democrat, asking for help. He says that of course he can help me. His signature was so important in getting other Democrats to look beyond party affiliation and look at the policy—and realize that the policy needed pushback.”

In 2016, Amash was one of three Republicans to vote in favor of an amendment to close Guantánamo Bay and potentially allow federal officials to transfer detainees to facilities in the United States. It failed on a 163–259 vote.

Amash opposed President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to ban citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States. Amash said: "Like President Obama's executive actions on immigration, President Trump's executive order overreaches and undermines our constitutional system."

Amash proposed an amendment to the reauthorization bill of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The Amash amendment would have required the government in criminal cases to seek a warrant based on probable cause before searching surveillance data for information about Americans. While the Amash amendment received bipartisan support as well as support from civil liberties groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, the amendment ultimately failed by a vote of 183 to 233.

In 2015, Amash was among 60 Republicans voting to uphold President Barack Obama's 2014 executive order banning federal contractors from making hiring decisions that discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity.upholding President Barack Obama’s 2014 executive order banning federal contractors from making hiring decisions that discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

In 2016, Amash was among 43 Republicans to vote for the Maloney Amendment to H.R. 5055 which would prohibit the use of funds for government contractors who discriminate against LGBT employees.

In 2017, Amash was one of two dozen Republicans to vote against an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have prohibited taxpayer funds from being used by the Department of Defense to provide gender transition support to military members. He said, "Those who serve in our Armed Forces deserve the best medical care...With respect to transgender persons, we should focus on the best science, not the political or philosophical opinions of partisans."

In 2019, Amash voted "present" on a resolution objecting to Trump's restrictions on transgender individuals in the military.

In May 2020, Amash stated that if elected president, he would support and protect transgender Americans, saying, "I think that people can take the term 'sex' that's in federal law and interpret it to mean things beyond what it traditionally meant...I would protect transgender Americans under the protections that exist for sex."

In July 2017, Amash was the only Republican to vote against Kate's law, a bill that increased maximum penalties for criminals who entered the U.S. illegally more than once. He later said he was concerned the bill did not have adequate 5th amendment due process protections for undocumented immigrants to challenge their removal orders.

In July 2018, House Republicans introduced a resolution supporting the officers and personnel of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Amash was the only Republican in the chamber to vote against the resolution. He tweeted, "The House voted today on an inane resolution regarding ICE. The resolution makes several dubious claims and denounces calls to abolish ICE. I wouldn't abolish ICE without an alternative, but there's no reason to treat a federal agency as though it's beyond reproach and reform."

In December 2018, Amash was one of eight House Republicans to vote against a stopgap government funding bill that included $5.7 billion in border wall funding. He tweeted, "This massive, wasteful spending bill—stuffed with unrelated items—passed 217–185. It's amazing how some wall funding causes my fellow Republicans to embrace big government."

In February 2019, Amash was the only House Republican to co-sponsor a resolution to block Trump's declaration of a national emergency to redirect funds to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border without a congressional appropriation for such a project. He wrote, "A national emergency declaration for a non-emergency is void", and "Trump is attempting to circumvent our constitutional system." On February 25, Amash was one of 13 House Republicans to vote to block Trump's declaration.

He believes only Congress has the power to declare war, and has criticized multiple military actions taken by Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. In July 2011, he sponsored an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act that would have prevented funding for operations against Muammar Gaddafi government and Amash later stated that President Obama's actions during the Libyan Civil War were unconstitutional without authorization from Congress. He criticized President Obama's intervention in Syria against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant for proceeding without a Congressional declaration of war.

In 2011, Amash was one of six members of Congress who voted against House Resolution 268 reaffirming U.S. commitment to a negotiated settlement of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through direct Israeli–Palestinian negotiation, which passed with 407 members in support. In 2014 he was one of eight members of Congress who voted against a $225 million package to restock Israel's Iron Dome , which passed with 398 members in support. He supports a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Amash joined 104 Democrats and 16 Republicans in voting against the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which specified the budget and expenditures of the Department of Defense, calling it "one of the most anti-liberty pieces of legislation of our lifetime". Amash co-sponsored an amendment to the NDAA that would ban indefinite military detention and military trials so that all terror suspects arrested in the United States would be tried in civilian courts. He expressed concern that individuals charged with terrorism could be jailed for prolonged periods of time without ever being formally charged or brought to trial.

On March 14, 2016, Amash joined the unanimous vote in the House to approve a resolution declaring the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to be committing genocide against religious minorities in the Middle East (it passed 383–0), but joined Representatives Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) in voting against a separate measure creating an international tribunal to try those accused of participating in the alleged atrocities (it passed 392–3).

In 2017, Amash criticized U.S. involvement in Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, arguing that "Al Qaeda in Yemen has emerged as a de facto ally of the Saudi-led militaries with whom Trump administration aims to partner more closely."

In July 2017, Amash was one of only three House members to vote against the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, a bill that imposed new economic sanctions against Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The bill passed the House on a 419–3 vote, with Representatives Thomas Massie (R-KY) and John Duncan Jr. (R-TN) also voting no. Trump initially opposed the bill, saying that relations with Russia were already "at an all-time and dangerous low", but ultimately signed it.

In January 2019, Amash voted against legislation that would prevent the President from unilaterally withdrawing from or altering NATO, although he subsequently said that he supports U.S. NATO membership, pointing to his 2017 vote to affirm NATO's Article 5.

In 2019, Amash signed a letter led by Representative Ro Khanna and Senator Rand Paul to Trump arguing that it is "long past time to rein in the use of force that goes beyond congressional authorization" and that they hoped this would "serve as a model for ending hostilities in the future – in particular, as you and your administration seek a political solution to our involvement in Afghanistan."

In October 2019, Amash criticized Trump's proposed withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria for having "green-lighted" the 2019 Turkish offensive into northeastern Syria against Kurdish forces.

In January 2020, Amash voted in favor of the "No War Against Iran Act", which sought to block funding for the use of US military force in or against Iran unless Congress preemptively signed off. This proposed act is more restrictive than the 1973 War Powers Act, which requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action and forbids armed forces from remaining for more than 60 days without congressional authorization. It passed the U.S. House of Representatives on a 228–175 vote. Amash also voted to repeal the 2002 authorization for use of military force (AUMF), which passed the U.S. House on a 236–166 vote.

After Representative John Lewis (D-GA) said that Trump was not a "legitimate president," Trump sent out a series of tweets on January 14, 2017, criticizing Lewis. Amash responded to Trump's tweets with one of his own: "Dude, just stop." Amash later explained, "The reason I did it is he wouldn't stop... The way he feels so slighted about everything I think is not healthy for our country." Amash felt that Lewis' comments were "inappropriate" but said that Trump's response should have been "dignified and conciliatory to the extent possible" instead of "personal jabs, attacking his district".

In April 2017, Dan Scavino, a senior Trump White House aide, called for Amash to be defeated in a Republican primary challenge. Amash later called Trump a "childish bully."

In May 2017, Trump was accused of pressuring fired FBI director James Comey to end an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Amash and Carlos Curbelo were the first Republican members of Congress to publicly state that the allegations, if proven true, merited impeachment.

In June 2018, the HuffPost asked House Republicans, "If the president pardoned himself, would they support impeachment?" Amash was the only Republican who said "definitively he would support impeachment". In July 2018, Amash strongly criticized Trump's conduct at a meeting in Helsinki with Russian president Vladimir Putin, writing: "The impression it left on me, a strong supporter of the meeting, is that 'something is not right here.' The president went out of his way to appear subordinate. He spoke more like the head of a vassal state."

When Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen testified before the House Oversight Committee on February 27, 2019, Amash asked him, "What is the truth President Trump is most afraid of people knowing?" The Hill columnist Krystal Ball wrote, "Amash showed how someone actually can exercise oversight responsibility and try to get to the truth, even if the truth might not be in his party's short-term best interest." CNN editor Chris Cillizza wrote, "The Michigan Republican did something on Wednesday that almost none of his GOP colleagues seemed willing to even try: Ask Cohen questions about his relationship with Trump that might actually shed some new light on not only their relationship but on the President of the United States."