Richard Burr

In July 2004, Burr won the Republican primary to seek the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democrat John Edwards, who had retired from the Senate to run for Vice President under presidential nominee John Kerry in the 2004 election, in which they lost to incumbent president George W. Bush. He faced Democratic Party nominee Erskine Bowles and Libertarian Tom Bailey. Burr won the election by five percentage points.[11]

Burr defeated North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall (D) on November 2, 2010, with 55% of the vote. He is the first Republican since Jesse Helms to be re-elected to the United States Senate from North Carolina. He also broke the "curse" that his seat held, being the first Senator re-elected to the seat since 1968 (when Sam Ervin won his final term).

Burr defeated Democratic nominee Deborah K. Ross in the November 2016 general election by a margin of 51–45.[12] Burr was a campaign advisor for the presidential election bid of Donald Trump.[13]

Burr received campaign donations from Saudi Arabian lobbyists.[14]

On July 20, 2016, during his re-election campaign, Burr announced that, should he win that year's election, which he eventually did, he would not seek re-election to a fourth term in 2022.[15]

Burr with President George W. Bush, July 2004

In 2007, Burr ran for the leadership post of chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, but lost to Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee by a vote of 31 to 16.[16][17] In 2009, Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Senate Republican Whip, appointed Burr to the post of Chief Deputy Whip in the 111th Congress.[18] In 2007, Burr was named a deputy whip.[8] In 2011, he announced his intention to seek the post of minority whip, the number two Republican position in the Senate,[19] but he dropped out of that race in 2012.[20]

As of March 2020, Burr has voted with Trump about 92.2% of the time.[21] He votes against the majority of his party rarely (in about 1.5% of votes).[22]

Burr opposes the DISCLOSE Act, which would require political ads include information about who funded the ad. Burr supports the decision on Citizens United by the U.S. Supreme Court, which allowed political action committees to spend an unlimited amount of money during elections so long as they were not in direct coordination with candidates.[23]

Burr has been critical of financial regulations; he was strongly opposed to, and voted against, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.[24] In 2018, Burr voted in favor of legislation that partly repealed the Dodd–Frank reforms.[21]

In fall 2008, during the global financial crisis, Burr said he was going to an ATM every day and taking out cash because he thought the financial system was going to soon collapse.[25][26] In 2009, in response to press about his experience, Burr said that he would do the same thing again next time.[27]

Burr is a signatory of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a pledge vowing to oppose to tax increases for any reason.[28] He is opposed to raising taxes on businesses or high-income people to fund public services.[23]

In 2013, Burr criticized Senator Ted Cruz and other Republicans colleagues for filibustering the passage of the fiscal year 2014 federal budget (thereby precipitating a federal government shutdown) in an effort to defund the Affordable Care Act.[29][30] Burr called the approach of Cruz and allies "the height of hypocrisy" and the "dumbest idea I've ever heard."[29]

Burr opposed ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP),[31] and supported the adoption of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.[21]

In March 2015, Burr voted for an amendment to establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund to allow employees to earn paid sick time.[32] Burr opposes raising the federal minimum wage.[31]

In 2016, he said he supports the privatization of Social Security.[23]

U.S. Senators Bob Corker, Richard Burr, Lamar Alexander, Kay Hagan, and Congressman John Duncan among others at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2009

Burr was one of 20 senators who voted against the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, and public land management and conservation bill.[33] Burr supported renewal of the 1965 Land and Water Conservation Fund.[34][35]

Burr does not accept the scientific consensus on climate change; he acknowledges that climate change is occurring, but has expressed doubt that it is caused by human activity.[23][36][37] He opposes regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions, and opposed federal grants or subsidies to encourage the productions of renewable energy.[23] In 2015, he voted against a measure to declare that climate change is real, human-caused, creating problems, and that the U.S .must shift from fossil fuels to sustainable energy.[38][39] In 2013, Burr voted for a measure expressing opposition to a federal tax or fee on carbon emissions.[40] Burr voted in favor of the Keystone XL pipeline.[41]

In 2017, Burr voted to repeal the Stream Protection Rule as well as rules requiring energy companies to reduce waste, reduce emissions, and disclose payments from foreign governments.[21] In 2019, he voted to repeal an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule regarding emissions.[21] He has supported the lowering of federal taxes on alternative fuels and the initiation of a hydropower project on the Yadkin River in Wilkes County, North Carolina.[34] In 2011, Burr voted to abolish the EPA and merge it with the U.S. Department of Energy.[42]

In 2019, Burr was one of nine Republican lawmakers to found the Roosevelt Conservation Caucus, a conservation-focused group of Republican members of Congress.[43]

In 2017, Burr voted to confirm Betsy DeVos as U.S. education secretary; DeVos was confirmed by 51–50, with Vice President Mike Pence casting a tie-breaking vote after the Senate deadlocked.[44] DeVos's family donated $43,200 to Burr's re-election campaign against Democrat Deborah Ross.[45] Burr typically votes against any increased funding for federal education projects,[46] and in 2016 stated he is against increasing Pell Grants and other forms of student financial aid, and opposes any new subsidies that would help students refinance their loans.[23] He supports the goals of charter schools and has voted yes to allowing school prayer.[46] He voted in favor of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.[47]

Burr's foreign policy views have been described as hawkish at times.[48] In 2002, Burr voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002, which authorized the U.S. invasion of Iraq.[49] Burr supported President Bush's troop surge in Iraq in January 2007, saying that the effort to counter the insurgency would increase "security and stability" in Iraq.[8] In February 2019, Burr voted in favor of a measure disapproving of the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan and Syria.[21] In February 2020, Burr voted against a measure restricting President Trump from initiating military action against Iran without the approval of Congress.[21]

In 2017, Burr co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (s. 720), which would make it a federal crime for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the West Bank if protesting actions by the Israeli government.[50][51]

In 2018 and 2019, Burr opposed legislation to prohibit U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and to end U.S. military assistance to the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.[21][52]

Burr has a perfect score from the National Rifle Association for NRA-supported legislation, and the NRA has extensively supported Burr's campaigns.[53] In the 2016 election, the NRA spent nearly $7 million to support Burr against his Democratic rival Deborah K. Ross; over his career, Burr received most help from the NRA than all but one other member of Congress.[53] Burr used the same media consultant as the NRA for ads.[54]

In 2013, Burr voted against gun control measures, including extended background checks to internet and gun show weapons purchases[55][56] and an assault weapons ban.[57] He sponsored legislation to stop the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs from adding the names of veterans to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) if the department has assigned a financial fiduciary to take care of their finances due to mental incompetence, unless a judge or magistrate deems them to be a danger. Persons added to the NICS system are barred from purchasing or owning a firearm in the United States.[58] Burr voted against Senator Dianne Feinstein's "no fly no buy" bill,[55][59][60] but supported a Republican alternative measure by Senator John Cornyn that "proposed a 72-hour delay on gun sales to people whose names have been on a federal terror watch list within the past five years."[55]

Speaking privately on the topic of guns to a group of Republican volunteers in Mooresville, North Carolina, Burr joked that a magazine cover of Hillary Clinton ought to have had a bullseye on it.[61] Burr quickly apologized for the comment.[62]

Burr voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in December 2009,[63] and he voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.[64] In 2014, Burr (along with fellow Republican Senator Orrin Hatch) sponsored the Patient Choice, Affordability, Responsibility and Empowerment Act, a bill that would repeal and replace the ACA.[65] In 2017, Burr voted in favor of the Republican legislation to replace major parts of the ACA; the legislation failed in the Senate on a 50–49 vote.[21]

In 2012, Burr co-sponsored a plan to overhaul Medicare; his bill would have raised the eligibility age from 65 to 67 over time and shifted more seniors to private insurance.[66][67] The proposal would have begun "a transition to a system dominated by private insurance plans."[68]

Burr opposed legislation to allow the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the tobacco industry, which is economically important in North Carolina,[69] and unsuccessfully tried to filibuster the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009.[48] In 2010, Burr introduced the National Uniformity for Food Act, unsuccessful legislation that would have banned states from forcing manufacturers to include labels other than those that are required by the FDA on consumables and health and beauty products.[70]

In 2018, Burr voted in favor of legislation to ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.[21] He supports parental notification laws and efforts to restrict federal funding of Planned Parenthood.[71] He voted yes to define a pregnancy as carrying an "unborn child" from the moment of conception.[72] He voted to prevent minors who have crossed state lines from getting an abortion, as well as ensure parents are notified if their child does get an abortion.[73][74] He voted to extend the federal prohibition on tax dollars being used for abortions by preventing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from giving grants to any organization that performs abortions at any of their locations.[75]

Burr opposes both medical marijuana and any recreational use of cannabis. He stated that there should be greater enforcement of current anti-cannabis federal laws in all states, even when cannabis is legal as a matter of state law.[23][76]

Burr voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, the only Southern Republican senator to do so.[77][78][79][80][81][82] The bill repealed the Defense Department's don't ask, don't tell policy of employment discrimination against openly gay individuals. Burr and John Ensign were the only senators who voted against cloture but voted in support of the final passage;[83] Barr said he opposed taking up the issue of DADT repeal amid wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but voted in favor of the bill anyway, becoming one of eight Republicans who backed the final repeal bill.[84]

Burr supported a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage,[85] but in 2013 said that he believed the law on same-sex marriage should be left to the states.[86] In 2013, he voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill to extend federal employment discrimination protections to LGBT persons.[85][87] In 2015, Burr was one of 11 Senate Republicans to vote in favor of allowing same-sex spouses to have access to federal Social Security and veterans' benefits.[88][89]

Burr thinks that bathroom access should be regulated by sex listed on birth certificates, but has also sought to distance himself from H.B. 2, North Carolina's controversial "bathroom legislation."[31][90][91]

Burr voted for re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2013.[92]

Burr voted against earmarking money to reduce teen pregnancy (via a requirement that health insurers have equitable birth control coverage, increased funding for family planning services, and funding for education programs that teaches vulnerable teens about contraceptives).[93] He has stated he supports giving employers the right to restrict access to birth control coverage of employees if it is for moral reasons.[23]

In December 2018, Burr was one of 12 Republican senators to vote against the cloture motion on the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform measure altering federal sentencing laws,[94][95] but ultimately voted in favor of final passage of the law.[21]

In 2016, Burr and other Republican Senators opposed holding hearings on President Obama's nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to a vacancy on the Supreme Court of the United States, and refused to have a customary meeting with Judge Garland.[96] Burr said that if Hillary Clinton were elected president, he would try to block her from ever filling the Supreme Court vacancy, saying that if Clinton won, "I am going to do everything I can do to make sure four years from now, we still got an opening on the Supreme Court."[61][97] Burr voted to confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominees Neil Gorsuch (in 2017) and Brett Kavanaugh (in 2019),[21] issuing a statement in favor of Kavanaugh's support two days before the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her while in high school,[98][99] and indicating he would support Kavanaugh's confirmation regardless of the hearing.[98]

In 2016, Burr blocked consideration of Patricia Timmons-Goodson's nomination to fill a vacancy on U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina; President Obama nominated Timmons-Goodson to fill the seat, which had been vacant for more than eleven years.[100][101] He has expressed pride at creating the longest federal court bench vacancy in US history by blocking the appointment of a judge nominated by Obama.[61]

Some provisions of the Patriot Act, including those enabling the bulk collection of metadata for private telephone records by the National Security Agency, were scheduled to expire at the end of May 2015. As Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Burr proposed extending the provisions for two years, but his amendments were defeated. After the provisions expired, the Senate passed the USA Freedom Act which instead allowed the NSA to subpoena the data from telephone companies.[102][103]

In 2016, following the FBI–Apple encryption dispute, Burr and Senator Dianne Feinstein circulated a draft bill (subsequently leaked) that would create a "backdoor" mandate, requiring technology companies to design encryption so as to provide law enforcement with user data in an "intelligible format" when required to do so by court order.[104][105][106][107]

Burr was a national security adviser to the Donald Trump campaign.[48] Burr stated that Trump "aligns perfectly" with the Republican Party. When asked on the campaign trail about Trump's offensive remarks regarding women, Burr said Trump should be forgiven for a few mistakes and given time to change.[61]

In 2017, Burr reacted to Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey by saying, "I have found Director Comey to be a public servant of the highest order."[108]

As chairman of the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Burr led that chamber's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.[48] In March 2017, then-FBI Director James Comey briefed congressional leaders and intelligence committee heads on the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. That briefing included "an identification of the principal U.S. subjects of the investigation." The Mueller Report found that Burr had then corresponded with the Trump White House a week later about the Russia probes, with the White House Counsel's office, led by Don McGahn, apparently receiving "information about the status of the FBI investigation."[109]

In December 2019, amid an impeachment inquiry into President Trump over the Trump-Ukraine scandal (Trump's request that Ukraine announce an investigation into his political rival Joe Biden), Burr pushed the debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election. Burr said, "There's no difference in the way Russia put their feet, early on, on the scale — being for one candidate and everybody called it meddling — and how the Ukrainian officials did it."[110] During the impeachment trial of Trump, Burr said he would oppose removing Trump from office if a quid pro quo was confirmed.[111] He opposed calling Trump's former National Security Adviser John Bolton, as a witness at the Senate trial; Bolton had written that Trump had tied U.S. security aid to Ukraine to the country's taking action against Biden.[111] Burr voted to acquit Trump on the two charges of obstruction of Congress and abuse of power.[21]

In early February 2020, Burr sold between $628,000 and $1.72 million of stock in 33 transactions during a period when, as head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he was being briefed daily regarding potential health threats from COVID-19.[112][113] The stocks sold included several that are considered vulnerable to economic downturns, such as hotel chains.[112] Burr was one of only three senators to oppose the STOCK Act of 2012, which prohibits members of Congress and congressional staff from using nonpublic information in securities trading.[112]

Two weeks later, Burr warned a private organization in North Carolina about the dangers of the virus, likely containment steps and their extreme economic impacts on stocks and businesses; the story contradicted his comments in a Fox News op-ed with Lamar Alexander on February 7, and he remained silent while conservative media and the White House were downplaying the virus's potential for societal disruption in the U.S.[114][115] The organization he spoke to was Tar Heel Circle, a nonpartisan club of businesses and organizations in North Carolina, that costs between $500 and $10,000 to join and assures members "enjoy interaction with top leaders and staff from Congress, the administration, and the private sector."[116]

When asked in March for a comment about Burr's stock sale, a spokesperson first responded "lol" and then said that "As the situation continues to evolve daily, he has been deeply concerned by the steep and sudden toll this pandemic is taking on our economy."[116] Burr's conduct was criticized by the editorial board of the Raleigh News & Observer: "Burr had a clear grasp of the danger ahead. Why did he only share it with a group whose member companies… contributed more than $100,000… to Burr’s last re-election campaign? Why didn’t Burr provide his assessment to all the constituents he is supposed to serve, as well as the national media?"[117] Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson called for Burr's resignation in the face of the allegations.[118]

The Department of Justice, in coordination with the Securities and Exchange Commission, launched a formal probe into the stock sales made by several legislators, including Burr, during the early days of the coronavirus epidemic.[119] Burr was also sued by a shareholder for alleged STOCK Act violations.[120][121]

• Committee on Finance
  • Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Health Care
  • Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight
• Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
  • Subcommittee on Children and Families
  • Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety
  • Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging
• Select Committee on Intelligence (Chairman)
• Special Committee on Aging

• Congressional Boating Caucus (Co-Chair)
• International Conservation Caucus
• Sportsmen's Caucus
• Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism Caucus
• Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus[122]