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In February 2017, he voted against a resolution that would have directed the House to request 10 years of Trump's tax returns, which would then have been reviewed by the [[United States House Committee on Ways and Means|House Ways and Means Committee]] in a closed session.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://indy100.com/article/republican-vote-donald-trump-tax-president-united-states-229-185-congress-7603851|title=These are all the Republicans who don’t want you to see Donald Trump’s tax returns|date=2017-02-28|work=indy100|access-date=2017-03-01|language=en-GB}}</ref>
In February 2017, he voted against a resolution that would have directed the House to request 10 years of Trump's tax returns, which would then have been reviewed by the [[United States House Committee on Ways and Means|House Ways and Means Committee]] in a closed session.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://indy100.com/article/republican-vote-donald-trump-tax-president-united-states-229-185-congress-7603851|title=These are all the Republicans who don’t want you to see Donald Trump’s tax returns|date=2017-02-28|work=indy100|access-date=2017-03-01|language=en-GB}}</ref>


Blum  supported Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, saying "it's probably time for Comey to go."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/10/politics/rod-blum-town-hall/index.html|title=Father of child with disabilities confronts Blum at town hall|last=CNN|first=Eugene Scott|website=CNN|access-date=2017-05-10}}</ref>
Blum  supported Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, saying "it's probably time for Comey to go."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/10/politics/rod-blum-town-hall/index.html|title=Father of child with disabilities confronts Blum at town hall|last=CNN|first=Eugene Scott|website=CNN|access-date=2017-05-10}}</ref> The FBI was at the time conducting a criminal probe into possible ties between Trump associates and Russia.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/10/us/politics/congress-statements-comey.html|title=How Every Lawmaker Has Reacted to Comey’s Firing So Far|last=Fessenden|first=Audrey Carlsen, Kenan Davis, Jasmine C. Lee, K. k Rebecca Lai, Ford|date=2017-05-10|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-05-10|last2=Pearce|first2=Adam|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>


===Environment===
===Environment===

Revision as of 20:36, 10 May 2017

Rod Blum
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Iowa's 1st district
Assumed office
January 3, 2015
Preceded byBruce Braley
Personal details
Born
Rodney Leland Blum

(1955-04-26) April 26, 1955 (age 69)
Dubuque, Iowa, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationLoras College (BA)
University of Dubuque (MBA)

Rodney Leland "Rod" Blum /ˈblʌm/ (born April 26, 1955) is an American politician who was elected to represent Iowa's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014. A member of the Republican Party and Tea Party movement, he took office on January 3, 2015.

Career

Blum attended Loras College where he earned a degree in finance, and the University of Dubuque where he earned a master’s degree in business administration. A businessman, Blum is a former CEO of Eagle Point Software (1990–2000) and owner of Digital Canal, a software company, since 2000.[1][2]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

After winning the Republican primary in June 2014, Blum defeated Democrat Pat Murphy with 51% of the vote in the November 4, 2014, general election. This was considered a surprise Republican victory, as the seat had a D+5 Cook PVI Score.[3] Blum succeeded Democrat Bruce Braley, who vacated his U.S. House seat to run unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate.[4]

Blum ran for re-election in 2016.[5] He was unopposed in the Republican primary. He faced Democrat Monica Vernon in the general election.[6] Blum defeated Vernon with 54% of the vote.[7]

Electoral history

Iowa's 1st Congressional District Election (2016)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Rod Blum 206,903 53.7%
Democratic Monica Vernon 177,403 46.1%
No party Others 671 0.2
Total votes 384,977 100.00%
Iowa's 1st Congressional District Election (2014)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Rod Blum 145,383 51.18%
Democratic Pat Murphy 138,335 48.70%
No party Others 348 0.12
Total votes 284,066 100.00%
Republican gain from Democratic

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Political stances

Blum describes himself as a "Tea Party Republican," and has said that "the Tea Party is what the Republican Party should have always been."[11][12] As of 26 February 2017, Blum has voted with his party in 93.9% of votes in the 115th United States Congress and voted in line with President Trump's position in 100% of the votes.[13][14]

Abortion and family planning

Blum opposes abortion.[15]

He has voted to defund Planned Parenthood.[16] He supported creating a select committee to investigate Planned Parenthood for allegedly selling fetal tissue.[16] Of the multiple investigations into this controversy, none found Planned Parenthood clinics to have sold tissue for profit.

Budget

Blum favors a "a constitutional amendment to balance the budget and limit spending."[17]

Congress

Blum cast his first vote in Congress against John Boehner's speakership.[5] Blum justified his vote by saying, "I was elected by Iowans to stand up to the status quo in Washington, D.C., and I refuse to turn my back on them with my first vote... With congressional approval ratings at historic lows, it's time for our elected officials to listen to the people and rethink business as usual so we can move our country forward together."[18]

According to USA Today, Blum has "made it his central focus to change the way Congress treats itself by supporting efforts to strip away the trappings of elective office." Blum and Democrat Beto O'Rourke started the Congressional Term Limits Caucus. He co-sponsored legislation to end lawmakers' access to first class travel and luxury car leases, he supports ending the congressional pension system, and he has introduced a bill to institute a lifetime ban on lawmakers ever becoming lobbyists.[19]

District of Columbia

In March 2016, in light of a $2 billion redevelopment of D.C.’s Southwest waterfront, Blum said that Washington D.C. "needs a recession."[20][21]

Donald Trump

In July 2015, Blum said that then-candidate Donald Trump's rhetoric "gives people that sense of pride again".[22]

In February 2017, he voted against a resolution that would have directed the House to request 10 years of Trump's tax returns, which would then have been reviewed by the House Ways and Means Committee in a closed session.[23]

Blum  supported Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, saying "it's probably time for Comey to go."[24] The FBI was at the time conducting a criminal probe into possible ties between Trump associates and Russia.[25]

Environment

Blum rejects the scientific consensus on climate change.[17] In explaining his rejection of the consensus, Blum asserted that the scientific community used to support the conjecture of global cooling.[17] He has said, "most scientists’ paychecks come from the federal government, and so right away that makes me a bit skeptical."[17] Blum opposes federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.[15]

He has a 3% score by the League of Conservation Voters.[26]

Government shutdown

In 2015, Blum voted against legislation that would have averted a government shutdown.[27] Discussing the government shutdown, Blum said, "I think the Founding Fathers are smiling right now for the first time in a long time".[28] A two-week government shutdown is estimated to damage private-sector job creation by 120,000 jobs.[29]

Healthcare

Blum favors "fully repealing" the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).[15][17] In 2017, Blum did not support the initial version of the American Health Care Act of 2017, the GOP's bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, saying that it "doesn't do enough to lower premiums for hardworking Americans".[30] On May 4, 2017, Blum voted to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and pass the revised version of the American Health Care Act.[31][32] Blum stated that the bill had been improved to his liking.[33] He described the bill as "Trumpcare" but also as "Obamacare 2.0" because "We’ve probably changed 10, 20 percent of the bill is all".[33] Blum asserted that "AHCA will stabilize the market, lower premiums for Iowans, increase choices, reduce taxes, and protect people who have pre-existing conditions."[34] Asked why he voted for the legislation before the impact of the bill had been assessed by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, Blum stated that that there was an urgent need for a fix to Obamacare.[35] Asked about protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions, Blum stated that the bill would retain those protections when in fact the legislation would allow insurers to charge higher premiums to individuals with pre-existing conditions.[36][35]

LGBT rights

In 2004, Blum favored a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.[15] In 2013, he said that same-sex marriage should be determined by states.[37] He has voted in favor of provisions which would allow federal contractors to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation.[38]

Minimum wage

Blum opposes an increase in the federal minimum wage.[17]

Immigration

Blum supported President Donald Trump's first 2017 executive order, which was struck down by the courts. The order temporarily curtailed immigration from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen until better screening methods are devised. Blum stated that ” … The bottom line is they can’t properly vet people coming from war-torn areas like Syria and Iraq. If we can’t vet people properly, then we shouldn’t be allowing them into our country. I’m supportive of that.”[39] Blum supported the version of the executive order[40] that was struck down by the courts for violating the establishment clause and favoring one religion over another by offering special immigration status to those of minority religions.[41]

Term limits for congressmen

Blum supports a constitutional amendment to enforce term limits for congressmen. When asked how many terms he was going to seek in an April 2015 interview, Blum responded, "I'm not going to term limit myself. I definitely believe in term limits, but I don't believe in unilaterally disarming...Do I see myself being in the House of Representatives 10 years from now? No, I don't." [42]

Controversy

Then-candidate Blum pledged to give half of his taxpayer-funded salary to charity unless the federal budget was balanced: "I will lead by example and voluntarily cut my pay by returning half to charities and volunteer organizations in the First District of Iowa".[43] After having been elected, Blum refused to say whether he followed through on his promise.[43] Blum also questioned whether he campaigned on the issue at all: “I don’t think I campaigned on it... I have no idea why it’s on the website.”[43] Blum later said that people did not care about his pledge, "You know how many people have asked me about that in the last 600 days? ... Zero. Zero people care about that."[43]

Personal life

Blum was born and raised in Dubuque, the son of Celeste M. (Van Der Meulen) and Wallace Lee Blum, a World War II veteran.[44][45] He resides in Dubuque with his wife, Karen, and their five children.[46]

References

  1. ^ DES (9 May 2014). "Iowa Election 2014". Des Moines Register.
  2. ^ "Rod Blum Announces Campaign for Congress in 1st CD | The Iowa Republican". theiowarepublican.com.
  3. ^ "Cook PVI website" (PDF).
  4. ^ "Rod Blum wins 1st Congressional District race". Des Moines Register. November 5, 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  5. ^ a b Cahn, Emily (June 12, 2015). "Blum Says Others Will Support Him If Republicans Don't". Roll Call. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  6. ^ Barton, Thomas (June 8, 2016). "After conceding, Murphy endorses Vernon in effort to unseat Blum". Telegraph Herald. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Iowa U.S. House 1st District Results: Rod Blum Wins". The New York Times. November 16, 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  8. ^ Lynch, James (June 1, 2015). "Blum joins Congressional Slovak Caucus". The Gazette. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  9. ^ Marcos, Cristina (April 2, 2015). "Lawmakers form Term Limits Caucus". The Hill. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  10. ^ Bialik, Carl; Bycoffe, Aaron (25 September 2015). "The Hard-Line Republicans Who Pushed John Boehner Out". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  11. ^ jonathan.ericson@wcfcourier.com, JON ERICSON,. "Rod Blum thinks economy is key". Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. Retrieved 2017-02-26.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ EMURPHY@WCINET.COM, ERIN MURPHY TH STAFF WRITER. "Blum, Lange expound on telling topics". THonline.com. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  13. ^ Bycoffe, Aaron (2017-01-30). "Tracking Rod Blum In The Age Of Trump". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  14. ^ Willis, Derek. "Represent". ProPublica. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  15. ^ a b c d "The Voter's Self Defense System". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  16. ^ a b Crippes, Christinia. "Blum supports defunding Planned Parenthood". Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  17. ^ a b c d e f Perkins, Lindsey Moon, Katherine. "Candidate Profile: Rod Blum". Retrieved 2017-02-26.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ "In first vote, Blum rejects Boehner as speaker". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  19. ^ Davis, Susan (May 7, 2015). "Freshman Rod Blum flies solo on his mission to change Congress". USA Today. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  20. ^ Stein, Perry (March 23, 2016). "Iowa congressman says D.C. needs a recession because it has 'cranes everywhere'". Washington Post. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  21. ^ Freed, Benjamin (March 23, 2016). "This Iowa Congressman Really Hates the Wharf in Southwest DC'". Washingtonian. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  22. ^ "VIDEO". Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  23. ^ "These are all the Republicans who don't want you to see Donald Trump's tax returns". indy100. 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  24. ^ CNN, Eugene Scott. "Father of child with disabilities confronts Blum at town hall". CNN. Retrieved 2017-05-10. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  25. ^ Fessenden, Audrey Carlsen, Kenan Davis, Jasmine C. Lee, K. k Rebecca Lai, Ford; Pearce, Adam (2017-05-10). "How Every Lawmaker Has Reacted to Comey's Firing So Far". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-05-10.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ "Check out Representative Rod Blum's Environmental Voting Record". League of Conservation Voters Scorecard. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  27. ^ Crippes, Christinia. "Blum, King vote against resolution to keep open government". Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  28. ^ Courier, CHRISTINIA CRIPPES Waterloo. "Rod Blum discusses House Freedom Caucus". Mason City Globe Gazette. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  29. ^ "ECONOMIC ACTIVITY DURING THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AND DEBT LIMIT BRINKSMANSHIP" (PDF). Council of Economic Advisors. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  30. ^ Noble, Jason. "King lone 'yes' vote on health care bill among Iowa's House members". Des Moines Register. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  31. ^ "How the House voted to pass the GOP health-care bill". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  32. ^ Staff, C. N. N. "How every member voted on health care bill". CNN. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  33. ^ a b "Iowa congressman walks out of a TV interview and into an angry town hall meeting". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
  34. ^ "Iowa Reps. Young, Blum and King vote 'yes' on Obamacare replacement". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
  35. ^ a b thomas.barton@thmedia.com, THOMAS J. BARTON. "Blum faces hostile crowd during town hall in hometown". THonline.com. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
  36. ^ Bobic, Igor (2017-05-09). "Iowa Republican Congressman Feels Heat Over Health Care Vote". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
  37. ^ Caffeinated Thoughts (2013-10-10), Rod Blum Interview, retrieved 2017-02-26
  38. ^ "David Young among those who switched vote on LGBT measure". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  39. ^ Blake, Aaron. "Coffman, Gardner join Republicans against President Trump's travel ban; here's where the rest stand". Denver Post. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  40. ^ de Vogue, Ariane. "Trump furious after court upholds block on travel ban". CNN. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  41. ^ Silk, Mark. "Trump's order violates Establishment Clause, say 18 states". Religion News Services. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  42. ^ WILLIAM.GARBE@THMEDIA.COM, WILLIAM GARBE. "Rod Blum still above water with Republican Party, despite votes". THonline.com. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  43. ^ a b c d william.garbe@thmedia.com, WILLIAM GARBE. "Blum returns office money, mum on salary promises". THonline.com. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  44. ^ http://www.telegraphherald.com/obituaries/article_29521a57-69d7-5ba5-83ff-3250372d6f29.html
  45. ^ https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=126210027
  46. ^ "Project Vote Smart – The Voter's Self Defense System". Project Vote Smart.

External links

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Iowa's 1st congressional district
2015–present 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by United States Representatives by seniority
329th 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rod_Blum&oldid=779761725"