Roy Blunt, who is the dean of Missouri's congressional delegation, was elected to serve as Policy Committee chairman in November 2018.
66 Facts About Roy Blunt
2.
Roy Blunt was a high school history teacher at Marshfield High School from 1970 to 1972; he later taught at Southwest Baptist University and as a member of the adjunct faculty at Drury University.
3.
Roy Blunt went on to serve as president of Southwest Baptist University, his alma mater, from 1993 to 1996.
4.
Roy Blunt entered politics in 1973, when he was appointed county clerk and chief election official of Greene County, Missouri.
5.
Roy Blunt was elected to the position three times and served a total of 12 years.
6.
Roy Blunt became the first Republican to hold the post in 50 years.
7.
Since incumbent Republican Governor John Ashcroft was term-limited, Roy Blunt ran for the governorship in 1992.
8.
In 1996 Roy Blunt decided to run for the United States House of Representatives after incumbent US Representative Mel Hancock honored his pledge to serve only four terms.
9.
Roy Blunt ran in Missouri's 7th congressional district, the state's most conservative district, in the Ozark Mountains in the southwest.
10.
Roy Blunt voted in favor of school prayer and supported the No Child Left Behind Act.
11.
Roy Blunt voted in favor of school vouchers within the District of Columbia but against broader legislation allowing states to use federal money to issue vouchers for private or religious schools.
12.
Roy Blunt supported efforts to overhaul US bankruptcy laws, requiring consumers who seek bankruptcy protection to repay more of their debts.
13.
Roy Blunt opposes federal cap and trade legislation and supports drilling for oil on the US coastline.
14.
Roy Blunt voted to prohibit lawsuits against gun manufacturers and dealers if the guns they manufacture or sell are later used in a crime.
15.
Roy Blunt has voted to require anyone who purchases a gun at a gun show to go through a background check that must be completed within 24 hours.
16.
Roy Blunt has received an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association.
17.
In 2006, Roy Blunt successfully advocated for legislation that placed restrictions on over-the-counter cold medicines that could be used in the production of methamphetamines.
18.
Roy Blunt has voted to ban partial-birth abortions and to restrict or criminalize transporting minors across state lines for the purpose of getting an abortion.
19.
Roy Blunt opposes federal funding for elective abortions in accordance with the Hyde Amendment.
20.
Roy Blunt voted in favor of the unsuccessful Federal Marriage Amendment which sought to place a national ban on same-sex marriage, and has voted against gay adoption.
21.
In 2005, Blunt supported President George W Bush's proposal to partially privatize Social Security for those under the age of 55.
22.
Roy Blunt served as Majority Leader on an acting basis starting in September 2005, after DeLay was indicted on felony charges involving campaign finance.
23.
On January 8,2006, one day after DeLay announced that he would not seek to regain his position, Roy Blunt announced he would run to permanently replace DeLay.
24.
On January 14,2006, Roy Blunt issued a release claiming that the majority of the Republican caucus had endorsed him as DeLay's successor.
25.
Roy Blunt handily defeated US Representative John Shadegg of Arizona for the position.
26.
Roy Blunt announced he would step down from the position in late 2008, following two successive election cycles where House Republicans had lost seats, avoiding a difficult battle with his deputy, Eric Cantor, who was urged by some to challenge Blunt for the position.
27.
On February 19,2009, Roy Blunt announced he would seek the Republican nomination for the US Senate election for the seat being vacated by incumbent Republican US Senator Kit Bond.
28.
Roy Blunt successfully ran against Democratic nominee Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, Constitution Party nominee Jerry Beck, Libertarian nominee Jonathan Dine, and write-in candidates Mark S Memoly, Frazier Miller, Jeff Wirick and Richie L Wolfe.
29.
Roy Blunt was at the US Capitol when Trump supporters attacked it on January 6,2021, serving as a teller for the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count certification, alongside Senator Amy Klobuchar, Representative Rodney Davis, and Representative Zoe Lofgren.
30.
Roy Blunt called it a "disappointment" that Democrats were considering impeachment.
31.
Roy Blunt remarked that the endeavor to create a "more perfect Union" is a continuing project and said, "we are more than we have been and we are less than we hope to be".
32.
In 2013, Roy Blunt worked with Monsanto to author a rider called the Farmer Assurance Provision, which was added into the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013.
33.
Since 2014, Roy Blunt has been the largest recipient of campaign contributions from Monsanto, which is headquartered in Missouri.
34.
Roy Blunt later led Senate Republicans in defeating an amendment by Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley to repeal the provision.
35.
In 2020, Roy Blunt voted to acquit Trump in his first impeachment trial.
36.
In 2021, Roy Blunt was one of 43 senators who voted to acquit Trump in his second impeachment trial.
37.
In 2022, after the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, Roy Blunt said that Trump "should have turned over all the documents" to the National Archives when he left office.
38.
Roy Blunt expressed concern over the timing of the search, citing the upcoming midterm elections.
39.
Roy Blunt has been opposed to raising the federal minimum wage.
40.
On June 20,2013, Roy Blunt co-sponsored the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2013.
41.
On January 17,2014, Roy Blunt introduced a bill called the Partnership to Build America Act.
42.
Roy Blunt has worked to protect the coal industry and co-sponsored an amendment to urge President Obama to consult with the Senate before ratifying the Paris climate agreements.
43.
In 2016, Roy Blunt worked to block a carbon tax on emissions.
44.
In 2011, Roy Blunt called for a no fly zone over Libya.
45.
In 2018, Roy Blunt rejected the CIA's "high confidence" assessment that Saudi prince Mohammed bin-Salman ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the Saudi regime.
46.
In January 2020, Roy Blunt supported the Trump administration ordering the killing of Qasem Soleimani.
47.
In 2021, Roy Blunt criticized the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, arguing that there was a failure to evacuate US citizens and their family members.
48.
Roy Blunt has an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association.
49.
Roy Blunt voted with 40 Republicans and 5 Democrats to stop the bill, which failed to pass.
50.
One month after the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, Roy Blunt voted for two Republican-sponsored bills.
51.
Roy Blunt voted against two Democrat-sponsored bills, both which did not pass, including one that would have made background checks required for online gun sales and gun sales at gun shows and another that would have not allowed anyone on the terrorist watchlist to purchase a gun.
52.
In 2022, Roy Blunt later became one of ten Republican Senators to support a bipartisan agreement on gun control, which involved a red flag provision, a support for state crisis intervention orders, funding for school safety resources, stronger background checks for buyers under the age of 21, and penalties for straw purchases.
53.
In 2012, Roy Blunt attempted to add an amendment to a highway funding bill that would allow employers to refuse to provide health insurance for birth control and contraceptives.
54.
In July 2013, Roy Blunt indicated that he would not support efforts to tie raising the federal debt ceiling to defunding Obamacare.
55.
Roy Blunt supported Trump's Supreme Court nominees, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett.
56.
In September 2020, less than two months before the next presidential election, Roy Blunt supported an immediate Senate vote on Trump's nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy caused by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death.
57.
Roy Blunt supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail Muslim immigration until better screening methods are devised.
58.
On May 28,2021, Roy Blunt abstained from voting on the creation of an independent commission to investigate the Capitol riot.
59.
Roy Blunt has argued for the need to reduce fraud and waste in Medicare and Social Security.
60.
Roy Blunt has spoken out for the need to reform entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security.
61.
In February 2017, along with Democrat Joe Manchin, Roy Blunt introduced the HIRE Veterans Act, legislation that would recognize qualified employers in the event that they met particular criteria designed to encourage businesses that are friendly toward veterans.
62.
Roy Blunt ran for re-election to the US Senate in 2016.
63.
Roy Blunt married Roseann Ray in May 1967; he had three children with her: Matt, the former governor of Missouri, Amy Blunt Mosby and Andrew Blunt.
64.
Roy Blunt married Abigail Perlman, a lobbyist for Kraft Foods and Philip Morris, in 2003.
65.
On February 14,2023, Roy Blunt was elected as president of The State Historical Society of Missouri where he has been a trustee of since 2005.
66.
For 2020, Roy Blunt received a score of 74 from the American Conservative Union.