Michael George Glen Waltz was born on January 31,1974 and is an American politician and United States Army officer serving as the US representative for Florida's 6th congressional district.
25 Facts About Michael Waltz
2.
Michael Waltz earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in international studies from the Virginia Military Institute and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Army.
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Michael Waltz represents Florida's 6th congressional district, which is on the eastern Florida coast and stretches from Jacksonville's southern suburbs to New Smyrna Beach.
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Michael Waltz is a combat-decorated Green Beret still serving as a colonel in the US Army National Guard, and a former White House and Pentagon policy advisor.
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Michael Waltz is the first Green Beret to be elected to Congress.
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Michael Waltz graduated with honors as a Distinguished Military Graduate from the Virginia Military Institute, and has served over 26 years in the Army.
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Michael Waltz worked in the Pentagon as a defense policy director for Secretaries of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates.
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Michael Waltz went on to serve in the White House as the vice president's counterterrorism advisor.
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In 2010, Michael Waltz helped found the analytics and training company Metis Solutions.
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Michael Waltz serves on the House China Task Force with 15 Republican lawmakers representing 14 committees of jurisdiction to coordinate policy on China.
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Michael Waltz has pioneered legislation to secure American universities and academies from Chinese espionage.
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Further, Michael Waltz directed the Department of Defense to track foreign talent recruitment programs that pose a threat to the United States, particularly as a response to China Communist Party efforts to infiltrate American universities.
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Michael Waltz sponsored legislation to ensure the federal Thrift Savings Plan does not invest in Chinese or Russian markets.
14.
In December 2022, Michael Waltz warned that the US could lose its strategic advantage over China in the Indian Ocean.
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Michael Waltz ran for Florida's 6th congressional district in 2018 to succeed incumbent Republican Ron DeSantis, who retired before being elected governor of Florida.
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Michael Waltz defeated John Ward and Fred Costello in the Republican primary before facing Democratic nominee Nancy Soderberg, a former representative at the United Nations and the former Deputy National Security Advisor, in the general election.
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Michael Waltz received 265,393 votes to Curtis's 172,305.
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Michael Waltz was sworn in to the 116th United States Congress on January 3,2019.
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In December 2020, Waltz was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump.
20.
On May 19,2021, Michael Waltz voted against legislation to establish the formation of a January 6 commission meant to investigate the storming of the US Capitol.
21.
In 2020, Michael Waltz voted for the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021, which would prevent the president from withdrawing soldiers from Afghanistan without congressional approval.
22.
In 2010, Michael Waltz helped found Metis Solutions, a defense contractor that "provides strategic analysis, intelligence support, and training", with offices in Arlington, Virginia; Tampa, Florida; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; and Kabul, Afghanistan.
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Michael Waltz voted to include provisions for drafting women in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2022.
24.
Michael Waltz endorsed Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries.
25.
Michael Waltz has a teenage daughter and is married to Julia Nesheiwat, a combat veteran who served in the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations, most recently as Trump's Homeland Security Advisor.