Mick Mulvaney

Mick Mulvaney
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 5th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	John Spratt
Member of the South Carolina Senate from the 16th district
In office January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Chauncey Gregory
Succeeded by	Chauncey Gregory
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from the 45th district
In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2009
Preceded by	Eldridge Emory
Succeeded by	Debora Long
Personal details
Born	John Michael Mulvaney (1967-07-21) July 21, 1967 Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Georgetown University (BS) University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (JD)

John Michael "Mick" Mulvaney (born July 21, 1967) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for South Carolina's 5th congressional district since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Mulvaney previously served as a member of the South Carolina Senate, representing the 16th district (Lancaster and York Counties),^[1] from 2009 to 2011. He is the first Republican to represent South Carolina's 5th district since 1883.^[2]

Early life, education, and early career

Mulvaney was born in Alexandria, Virginia and grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina before moving to Indian Land, South Carolina. Mulvaney attended Georgetown University where he majored in International Economics, Commerce and Finance. At Georgetown, he was an Honors Scholar, the highest level of academic achievement awarded to members of the Georgetown School of Foreign Service, and ultimately graduated with honors in 1989. Mulvaney attended law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned a full scholarship to attend law school, where his focus was on anti-trust law. He graduated with his law degree in 1992.^[3]

From 1992 to 1997, Mulvaney practiced law with the firm James, McElroy & Diehl. Mulvaney joined his family's homebuilding and real estate business. He participated in the Owners and Presidents Management Program at Harvard Business School. In addition, he had been a minority shareholder and Owner-Operator in Salsarita's Fresh Cantina, a privately held regional restaurant chain.^[4]

South Carolina legislature

State House

Mulvaney was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2006, becoming the first Republican ever elected to that position in his district.^[5]

State Senate

In 2008 an unexpected retirement created a vacancy in the South Carolina Senate and he campaigned for and won that office in what was widely regarded to be the hardest fought legislative race in South Carolina that year.^[6]

While in the State Senate, Mulvaney served on the Judiciary, Labor/Commerce/Industry, Medical Affairs, Agriculture/Natural Resources, and Corrections Committees. The Palmetto Family Council identified him as the Freshman Legislator of the Year in 2006 for his work on the South Carolina ultrasound bill.^[7] In 2010 he was named Legislator of the Year for his work in support of the State's Emergency Medical Services (EMS). He has received one of the few A+ ratings in the entire legislature from the South Carolina Club for Growth.^[8]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2010

Mulvaney, a GOP Young Gun, ran against Democratic incumbent John Spratt for South Carolina's 5th congressional district. The race was highlighted by Mitt Romney's Free and Strong America PAC's "Take Congress Back: 10 in '10" initiative as one of the top 10 House challenger races. During the campaign, Mulvaney's involvement in the now defunct Edenmoor real estate development in Lancaster County, South Carolina came to public attention.^[9] Mulvaney's opponents alleged that Mulvaney misled the Lancaster County council and taxpayers to provide some $30 million in public funding for the Edenmoor real estate development and that once the public funds had been approved, Mulvaney sold his interest in the development to a third party at a substantial profit.^[10][11] Mulvaney denied the allegations and claimed that the project's failure was due to Democratic economic policies.^[10] Mulvaney defeated Spratt, who had held the seat since 1983; he received 55% of the vote to Spratt's 45%.^[12]

Mulvaney's campaign against Spratt was aided by a 501(c)(4) organization named the Commission on Hope, Growth, and Opportunity. The group, which was established by anonymous donors and run by lobbyist Scott W. Reed, has been accused by the watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington of violating federal campaign finance laws and disclosing false information to the Internal Revenue Service.^[13]

2012

He won re-election to a second term, by defeating Democrat Joyce Knott 56%–44%.^[14][15]

2014

He won re-election to a third term, by defeating Democrat Tom Adams, a Fort Mill Town Council^[16] member, 59%–41%.^[17]

Tenure

On December 10, 2013, Republican Representative Paul Ryan and Democratic Senator Patty Murray announced that they had negotiated the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, a proposed two-year budget deal.^[18][19] The budget deal would cap the federal government's spending for Fiscal Year 2014 at $1.012 trillion and for Fiscal Year 2015 at $1.014.^[20] The proposed deal would eliminate some of the spending cuts required by the sequester by $45 billion of the cuts scheduled to happen in January and $18 billion of the cuts scheduled to happen in 2015.^[20] This does not decrease federal spending; instead, by reducing the amount of spending cuts the government was going to be forced to make by the sequester, it actually increases government spending by $45 billion and $18 billion over what would have been spent had the sequester remained in place. Some Republicans wanted Speaker Boehner to pursue a temporary measure that would cover the rest of Fiscal Year 2014 at the level set by the sequester – $967 billion, rather than pass this budget deal, which would have $45 billion in additional spending.^[21] The deal is supposed to make up for this increase in spending by raising airline fees and changing the pension contribution requirements of new federal workers.^[18] According to The Hill, Mulvaney is "spearheading opposition to the new budget bill."^[21] Mulvaney did not blame Ryan for the budget deal, instead saying that the problem was too few conservatives had been elected to Congress to pass a budget with a greater focus on debt reduction.^[21] Mulvaney said that he expected the budget deal to pass because "it was designed to get the support of defense hawks and appropriators and Democrats," not conservatives.^[18]

On April 9, 2014, Representative Mulvaney offered a proposal based on the Obama proposal as a substitute amendment in order to force a vote on the President's budget request. The President's proposal failed in a vote of 2–413, although Democrats were urged by their leadership to vote against this "political stunt."^[22]

In September 2015, Mulvaney endorsed Rand Paul in the 2016 race for president of the United States.^[23]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Financial Services
• Committee on Small Business
  • Subcommittee on Healthcare and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access
  • Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce (Chairman)

Caucus memberships

• Republican Study Committee
• Freedom Caucus^[24]
• Tea Party Caucus

Personal life

He is the son of Mike and Kathy Mulvaney and has two siblings. Mulvaney married Pamela West in 1998; they have three children, (a set of triplets), Finn, James, and Caroline.^[25]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mick Mulvaney.

• Congressman Mick Mulvaney official U.S. House site
• Mick Mulvaney for Congress
• Mick Mulvaney at DMOZ
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress