Brian Mast
Brian Mast | |
---|---|
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida | |
Assumed office January 3, 2017 | |
Preceded by | Patrick Murphy |
Constituency | 18th district (2017–2023) 21st district (2023–present) |
Personal details | |
Born | Brian Jeffrey Mast July 10, 1980 Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse |
Brianna Watkins (m. 2007) |
Children | 4 |
Education | War in Afghanistan Operation Enduring Freedom |
Awards | Bronze Star Purple Heart Defense Meritorious Service Medal Army Commendation Medal with "V" for valor |
Brian Jeffrey Mast (born July 10, 1980) is an American politician and U.S. military veteran who has served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 21st congressional district since 2017. The district, numbered as the 18th district before the 2020 redistricting cycle, includes portions of the Palm Beaches and Treasure Coast. Mast is a member of the Republican Party.
A veteran of
Early life and education
Mast was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan.[2] He is the son of James Mast and Tixomena Trujillo. His maternal grandparents were immigrants from Mexico.[3] Mast graduated from South Christian High School in 1999.[4] In 2016, he obtained a Bachelor of Liberal Arts from Harvard University Extension School with a concentration in economics and minors in government and environmental studies.[5][6]
Military service
After graduating from high school, Mast enlisted in the
Mast and his family were awarded a custom
Civilian career
After his honorable discharge[12] from the Army, Mast was hired as an explosives specialist for the United States Department of Homeland Security.[2] While recovering from his injuries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Mast provided explosive and counter-terrorism expertise to the Office of Emergency Operations at the National Nuclear Security Administration from July 2011 to February 2012,[13] and as an instructor of homemade explosives for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.[14]
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2016
Mast first considered running for office while recovering from his injuries at Walter Reed Medical Center.[2] It was reported in May 2015 that he was considering a run for Congress.[15]
On June 8, 2015, Mast announced his candidacy for the
During the 2015–16 election campaign, Mast's largest donors were Duty Free Americas, NextGen Management, and Superior Foods.[18]
Mast won the general election with 53% of the vote.[19]
In 2016, Mast was briefly linked with World Patent Marketing, a company the Federal Trade Commission shut down as an invention promotion scam. World Patent Marketing donated money to Mast's campaign fund and said in a press release that he sat on their advisory board. Mast claimed no knowledge of being given a position on the board and said he had only a couple encounters with members of the company.[20]
In 2018, Anthony Bustamante, a campaign consultant who had worked on Mast's 2016 campaign, told The Wall Street Journal that he had used data hacked from the Democratic National Committee by Guccifer 2.0, a front for Russia's GRU military intelligence service, to adjust Mast's campaign strategy.[21] Guccifer 2.0 had leaked the hacked data to the HelloFLA blog.[22]
2018
On April 25, 2018, physician Mark Freeman announced a primary challenge to Mast, focusing on his promise to "defend the
Mast defeated Freeman in the Republican primary. In the general election, he defeated Democratic nominee Lauren Baer, an attorney and foreign policy expert who served as an official in the
During the 2017–18 election campaign, Mast's largest donors were Duty Free Americas and
2020
Mast ran for reelection in 2020 against Democratic nominee
2022
In the 2020 United States redistricting cycle, Florida's district 18 was renamed district 21. Mast was renominated in the Republican Primary with 78.1% of the vote.[31] In the general election, he beat Democratic candidate Corinna Robinson 63.5% to 36.5%, and since January 2023 has been the US Representative for Florida's 21st district.[32]
Tenure
Mast was sworn in on January 3, 2017. He was a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership[33] and the Climate Solutions Caucus.[34]
After voting in favor of the
In May 2018, the Associated Press reported that the Trump administration was considering Mast for secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.[36]
Committee assignments
For the 118th Congress:[37]
Caucus membership
Political positions
In the first session of the 115th United States Congress, Mast was ranked the 32nd most bipartisan member of the House by the Bipartisan Index, a metric published by The Lugar Center and Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy to assess congressional bipartisanship.[38][39]
During Trump's presidency, Mast voted in line with the president's stated position 90.6% of the time.[40][41] As of September 2021, Mast had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 19.4% of the time.[42]
Abortion
Mast believes abortion should be illegal except in cases where the woman's life is at risk or in cases of rape or incest.[14]
Agricultural subsidies
In April 2018, Mast said he would probably vote for legislation to reduce support for sugar farmers, who, under the contemporaneous Farm Bill, were protected by fixed minimum prices, by limits on imports and on domestic production, and by government loans to sugar growers. "I expect I'll be supporting it when it comes up for a vote next week," Mast said of the Sugar Policy Modernization Act, "because it's important to the community I represent, and our waterways". The proposed act,
Cannabis
In December 2020, Mast was one of only five House Republicans to vote for the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act.[45] The act aimed to "correct the historical injustices of failed drug policies that have disproportionately impacted communities of color"; it included provisions to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, impose a federal tax on cannabis products, and use the proceeds of the tax to fund restorative justice programs.[46][47][48] A month before the vote, Mast invested between $15,000 and $50,000 in the cannabis company Tilray. He disclosed the purchase on December 1.[49][50]
In November 2021, Mast was one of four original cosponsors of the Republican-led
Donald Trump
In June 2016, Mast said he supported President
On December 18, 2019, Mast voted against both articles of impeachment against Trump. Of the 195 Republicans who voted, all voted against both impeachment articles.
On January 6, 2021, following the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Mast and 146 other Republican members of Congress voted against certifying the election of President Joe Biden.[56]
LGBTQ+ rights
Mast believes it was a mistake for the
Gun policy
In 2018, Mast wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times in support of the Second Amendment right to bear arms, but said "it does not guarantee that every civilian can bear any and all arms."[59][60] He supports a ban on assault weapons, citing his military background: "I cannot support the primary weapon I used to defend our people being used to kill the children I swore to defend."[59][60][61][62]
After the
Mast also supports conducting further research on gun violence, which would require a change in federal law.[59]
Mast has partly blamed violent video games and violent movies for school shootings.[63] In March 2017, he voted for the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act.[64] The measure passed the House but stalled in the Senate.[citation needed]
During his 2015–16 election campaign, Mast accepted $4,950 in campaign donations from the
Healthcare
Mast is in favor of repealing the
Immigration
In June 2018, commenting on the Trump administration family separation policy, Mast said: "It is our duty as an American government to deal compassionately with any child from any nation, just as it is the responsibility of foreign families seeking asylum in the U.S. to choose only legal means to enter our nation so they can avoid family disruption. I am confident this process will be improved." Citing his own Mexican grandparents, he said, "The way that they got to work, the way that they assimilated to the American way of life and became a part of our system is not what we're seeing across the board."[68]
In June 2018, a volunteer for the Martin County Democratic Party, angry about the Trump administration's immigration policy, was arrested after threatening to kill Mast's children.[69] The April 2019 trial in the case ended in a hung jury, and a mistrial was declared.[70]
International diplomacy
Mast said he would support a Republican proposal to cut U.S. funding to the United Nations.[5]
Mast was critical of Obama's Middle East policy. "ISIS is as strong as it is because of a lack of US leadership," he said in 2016. "ISIS could have been defeated at the time of the Arab Spring if we had sent in special operations forces. What's being done now is too little too late. It's going to require an all-out military effort. The only way to guarantee peace is to make the enemy surrender."[14]
Iran nuclear deal
Mast views Obama's
Israel
Mast is "a vocal supporter of Israel and Israelis", reported The Times of Israel during his 2016 campaign. "If anyone was lobbing rockets into the US, guys like me would be sent to kill them, and Americans would applaud us," he said.[14] In January 2015, Mast volunteered with the Israel Defense Forces through Sar-El, working at a base outside Tel Aviv packing medical kits and moving supplies.[14][71] Following the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Mast wore his IDF uniform in Congress.[72][73]
On November 1, 2023, in arguing for a bill to reduce humanitarian funding to Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war, Mast compared Palestinian civilians to the civilians of Nazi Germany during World War II, saying:
I would encourage the other side to not so lightly throw around the idea of innocent Palestinian civilians, as is frequently said, I don’t think we would so lightly throw around the term ‘innocent Nazi civilians’ during World War II. It is not a far stretch to say there are very few innocent Palestinian civilians.[74][75]
Military and veterans affairs
Mast, who sits on the
Taxes and budget
In October 2017, Mast voted against the original version of the
Mast was among the 71 Republicans who voted against final passage of the
Honors
During his 12 years of U.S. Army service, Mast received the
Personal life
Mast lives in
See also
References
- ^ Michelle Tan (October 26, 2015). "EOD tech, double amputee runs for Congress". Army Times.
- ^ MLive. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
- better source needed]
- ^ "Meet Brian". MastforCongress.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2016. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
- ^ TCPalm. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
- ^ Huetteman, Emmarie (May 18, 2016). "A Combat Veteran Runs for Congress, and the Scrutiny Intensifies". The New York Times. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
- ^ 🖉"Wounded U.S. Army Veteran Receives Keys to New Home • Coral Springs Talk". coralspringstalk.com. October 14, 2014.
- ^ "UXO News Wire Service (UXO Blog): Retired EOD Seeks to Continue Service as Congressman". Uxoinfo.com. November 11, 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
- ^ Huetteman, Emmarie (May 18, 2016). "A Combat Veteran Runs for Congress, and the Scrutiny Intensifies". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- Army.mil. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- ^ "Wounded U.S. Army Veteran Receives Keys to New Home". Coralspringstalk.com. October 14, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2016.Vets group says Brian Mast didn't violate contract with new home purchase, Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster, Florida Politics, 15 Oct 2016.
- Washington Times. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
- better source needed]
- ^ a b c d e f g h Ghert-Zand, Renee (March 2, 2016). "Pro-Israel US Army vet runs for Congress — on prosthetic legs". The Times of Israel. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
- ^ Caputo, Marc (May 26, 2015). "Double-amputee vet might enter CD-18; Grayson's Twitter trouble; the Rubio blueprint revealed; more Cuba moves in Miami; FL bear-hunt controversy". Politico. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
- ^ Bennett, George (June 8, 2015). "Two more Republicans announce run for Patrick Murphy seat". Palm Beach Post.
- ^ Palm Beach Post.
- ^ "Brian Mast, Top 20 Contributors". OpenSecrets.
- Treasure Coast Palm. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- ^ Caygle, Heather (March 16, 2017). "Freshman lawmaker linked to company accused of million-dollar marketing scam". Politico. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^ Friedman, Dan (July 13, 2018). "Mueller's Indictment of 12 Russian Spies is Very Bad for Trump". Mother Jones. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
- ^ Berzon, Alexandra; Barry, Rob (May 25, 2017). "How Alleged Russian Hacker Teamed Up With Florida GOP Operative". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Connolly, Griffin (April 26, 2018). "GOP Rep. Brian Mast Gets Pro-Gun Primary Challenger". Roll Call.
- ^ "Florida Election Results: 18th House District". The New York Times. January 28, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
- ^ "Brian Mast". OpenSecrets. 2018.
- ^ Federal Election Commission, Mast campaign donations from "Igor Furman".[original research?]
- ^ Leake, Lindsey (October 11, 2019). "Mast to return campaign donations linked to indicted Giuliani associate". Treasure Coast Newspapers.
- ^ Samples, Eve (October 23, 2019). "GOP Rep. Brian Mast is keeping an 'open mind' on impeachment but frustrated by the process". Treasure Coast Newspapers.
- ^ Swisher, Skyler (August 25, 2020). "Congressman's old social media posts about sex with 15-year-old girls, rape surface in South Florida re-election fight". Sun Sentinel.
- Florida Department of State. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
- ^ "Primary Results". Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
- ^ "November 8, 2022 General Election - Official Results". Florida Department of State.
- ^ "Members". Republican Mains Street Partnership. Archived from the original on August 26, 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
- ^ "90 Current Climate Solutions Caucus Members". Citizen's Climate Lobby. Retrieved October 20, 2018.[failed verification]
- ^ a b Schmitz, Ali. "Treasure Coast voters don't support GOP tax plan, according to new poll". Treasure Coast Newspapers. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
- ^ Miller, Zeke; Yen, Hope (May 10, 2018). "AP Source: Trump considering Army veteran for VA secretary". Associated Press. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
- ^ "Brian J. Mast". Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
- ^ "The Lugar Center – McCourt School Bipartisan Index" (PDF). Washington, D.C.: The Lugar Center. April 24, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
- ^ "Delegation for 5.1.18 — Insights from the Beltway to the Sunshine State". St. Petersburg, Florida: Florida Politics. May 1, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
- ^ Willis, Derek. "Represent". ProPublica. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
- ^ Bycoffe, Aaron (January 30, 2017). "Tracking Brian J. Mast In The Age Of Trump". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
- ^ Bycoffe, Anna Wiederkehr and Aaron (April 22, 2021). "Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden?". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
- ^ Treadway, Tyler (April 30, 2018). "Sugar policy: Brian Mast expected to cast historic vote to reduce sugar farmers' support". Treasure Coast News.
- ^ Rangel, Isadora (April 22, 2016). "Sugar sweetens campaigns of Brian Mast, Rick Roth in race to replace Patrick Murphy". Treasure Coast News.
- ^ Brufke, Juliegrace (December 4, 2020). "Five Republicans vote for bill to decriminalize marijuana". The Hill. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
- ^ "Chairman Nadler Applauds Historic House Passage of H.R. 3884, the MORE Act" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: house.gov. December 4, 2020.
- ^ LaVito, Angelica (July 23, 2019). "Nadler, Harris to introduce bill decriminalizing pot, expunge marijuana convictions". CNBC. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- ^ Sarlin, Benjy. "Kamala Harris teams up with Jerry Nadler on marijuana bill". NBC News. Archived from the original on July 25, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- The Washington Examiner. February 24, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
- ^ Sorkin, Andrew Ross; Karaian, Jason; de la Merced, Michael J.; Hirsch, Lauren; Livni, Ephrat (February 4, 2021). "It's Memes vs. Regulators". The New York Times. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
- ^ Byrd, Caitlin (November 15, 2021). "SC Congresswoman Nancy Mace unveils GOP bill to legalize marijuana at federal level". The State. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
- ^ Jaeger, Kyle (April 8, 2022). "Congressional Cannabis Caucus Names New GOP Co-Chair Who Voted To Federally Legalize Marijuana Last Week". Marijuana Moment. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
- ^ "Joyce Welcomes Rep. Brian Mast as Fellow Republican Co-Chair of Congressional Cannabis Caucus" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: house.gov. April 8, 2022.
- ^ Buzzacco-Foerster, Jenna (October 8, 2016). "Brian Mast calls Donald Trump's comments 'inexcusable and disgusting'". Florida Politics. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
- Indy100. February 28, 2017. Archived from the originalon February 28, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
- ^ Zhou, Li (January 6, 2021). "147 Republican lawmakers still objected to the election results after the Capitol attack". Vox. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the originalon July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2022.(subscription required)
- ^ "Roll Call 513". Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
- ^ a b c d Mast, Brian (February 23, 2018). "I Appreciate Assault Weapons. And I Support a Ban". The New York Times. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
- ^ New York Times.
- ^ a b Chivers, 1C. J.; Buchanan, Larry; Lu, Denise; Yourish, Karen (February 28, 2018). "With AR-15s, Mass Shooters Attack With the Rifle Firepower Typically Used by Infantry Troops". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 28, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
Representative Brian Mast of Florida, a Republican and an Army combat veteran, has called for a ban on the sale of AR-15-style rifles. "The exact definition of assault weapon will need to be determined," Mr. Mast said. "But we should all be able to agree that the civilian version of the very deadly weapon that the Army issued to me should certainly qualify."
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)(subscription required) - ^ a b Stolberg, Sheryl Gay; Martin, Jonathan; Kaplan, Thomas (February 25, 2018). "Is This the Moment for Gun Control? A Gridlocked Congress Is Under Pressure". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 26, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.(subscription required)
- ^ Schmitz, Ali (February 16, 2018). "Florida school shooting: Rep. Brian Mast blames movies, video games for violence". Treasure Coast News. Archived from the original on September 11, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
- ^ "Brian Mast's Voting Records on Issue". Vote Smart. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
- ^ Grinberg, Emanuella (February 21, 2018). "These Florida lawmakers accepted money from the National Rifle Association". CNN. Archived from the original on February 20, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
- ^ "How the House voted to pass the GOP health-care bill". The Washington Post. May 4, 2017. Archived from the original on May 4, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2017.(subscription required)
- ^ "Health care vote puts pressure on dozens of vulnerable GOP reps". USA Today. May 4, 2017. Archived from the original on May 5, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
- ^ Schmitz, Ali (June 19, 2018). "U.S. Rep. Brian Mast's stance unclear on Trump's child-separation immigration policy". TCPalm.
- ^ Schmitz, Ali (June 19, 2018). "Rep. Brian Mast's children threatened over Trump immigration policy; man arrested". USA Today.
- ^ Griffin Connolly (April 5, 2019). "Mistrial for man who allegedly threatened Rep. Brian Mast's kids over immigration policy: Miami jury hung in case of 68-year-old Laurence Key". Roll Call. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- Jerusalem Post. September 5, 2016. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
- ^ Fortinsky, Sarah (October 13, 2023). "GOP lawmaker wears Israeli military uniform to Capitol Hill". The Hill. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
- ^ Jones, Sarah (November 2, 2023). "Brian Mast Uses Eliminationist Rhetoric Against Palestinians". Intelligencer. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
- ^ Lacy, Akela (November 1, 2023). "GOP Representative Denies Existence of "Innocent Palestinian Civilians" and Tries to Hobble Aid to Gaza". The Intercept. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
- ^ Timotija, Filip (November 1, 2023). "GOP lawmaker contends 'there are very few innocent Palestinian citizens'". The Hill. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
- Federal News Network. Federal News Radio. May 3, 2018.
- ^ Nelson, Joshua (September 12, 2019). "Rep. Mast, a retired Army Ranger, to be evicted from office at VA after grilling officials". Fox News. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
- ^ Schmitz, Ali. "U.S. Rep. Brian Mast among 18 GOP representatives to vote against budget bill". TCPalm. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
- ^ "GOP Starts the Tax Reform Process on Budget Vote in the House". Sunshine State News. October 5, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
- ^ Almukhtar, Sarah (December 19, 2017). "How Each House Member Voted on the Tax Bill". The New York Times. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
- ^ Bennett, George (December 22, 2017). "Trump in Palm Beach: President arriving on heels of tax bill victory". Palm Beach Daily News. Palm Beach Daily News. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
- ^ Gans, Jared (May 31, 2023). "Republicans and Democrats who bucked party leaders by voting no". The Hill. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
- MLive. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
- Palm Beach Post. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
- ^ "Another baby 'M' for Rep. Brian Mast". Roll Call. January 10, 2019. Archived from the original on January 10, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
External links
- Congressman Brian Mast official U.S. House website
- Campaign website
- Brian Mast at Curlie
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- 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
- Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act