Tom Reed (politician)

In 2009, Reed announced that he would run against incumbent Democrat Eric Massa in the November 2010 election.[7][8] Midway through his first term in Congress, Massa announced that he would not seek reelection due to health problems. In March 2010, Massa resigned from Congress after it was revealed that he was under investigation by the United States House Committee on Ethics for allegedly sexually harassing a male staffer.[9]

In the election to replace Massa, Reed was challenged by Democrat and Working Families Party nominee Matthew Zeller.[10] Reed received the endorsement of Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks and every county Republican chairman in New York's 29th congressional district.[11]

Reed won the election with 56.3 perecent of the vote, compared to Zeller's 43.7 percent, and immediately assumed the remainder of Massa's term.[12] In the immediate days following the election, Reed suffered a pulmonary embolism.[13] After a three-day delay, he was sworn in on his thirty-ninth birthday, November 18, 2010, during a special ceremony.

New York lost two seats in the U.S. House due to population change. The 29th Congressional District was eliminated and much of the district became the 23rd Congressional District. The new 23rd Congressional District includes Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chemung, Ontario, Schuyler, and Steuben County from the old 29th Congressional District, and added Chautauqua, Seneca, Tompkins, and Tioga counties.[14] Three candidates, Leslie Danks Burke, Melissa Dobson and Nate Shinagawa, campaigned in a Democratic primary to challenge Reed in New York's 23rd congressional district.[15]

During the 2012 campaign, Reed said that he accidentally paid one of his tax bills using campaign funds. Reed's campaign voluntarily reported the error in a campaign finance report and Reed reimbursed the campaign.[16][17]

Reed won reelection against Shinagawa, a Tompkins County legislator and the nominee of the Democratic and Working Families Party, with 51.9 percent of the vote to Shinagawa's 48.1 percent.[18]

Reed faced Tompkins County Legislative Chair Martha Robertson. Though it was predicted to be a close race,[19] Reed won handily, with 57.7 percent of the vote to Robertson's 35.9 percent.

Reed ran for reelection in 2016. He was unopposed in the Republican primary.

Reed initially endorsed Jeb Bush's 2016 presidential campaign before Bush's departure from the race.[20] He then endorsed Donald Trump for U.S. president on March 16, 2016.[21][22] Reed reaffirmed his support for Trump in August 2016.[23]

In the November 2016 general election, Reed faced John Plumb, the only Democrat to file for the race, i.[24] Reed was re-elected with 58.1% of the vote; Plumb received 41.9 percent.[25]

Reed ran unopposed in the Republican primary before facing Tracy Mitrano in the 2018 general election. Reed was re-elected with 54.2% of the vote to Mitrano's 45.8 percent.[26]

Reed has served on the House Judiciary Committee, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,[27] House Committee on Rules[28] and House Ways and Means Committee.[29][30]

In 2012, Reed focused on ending government spending and supported budget amendments that eliminated government funding, such as a sewer system in Tijuana, Mexico.[31] He voted to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and supported the Budget Control Act of 2011.[32][33]

After his reelection to Congress in November 2012, Reed drafted the Promoting Assistance with Transitional Help Act. The bill would have modify the Temporary Assistance for Needy Family program by setting a five-year limit on welfare payments to individuals.[34]

With a government shutdown looming in September 2013, Reed introduced the Pay Our Veterans and Seniors First Act. The legislation would ensure that armed services members were paid and that seniors continued receiving benefits during a temporary government shutdown. The bill also proposed that members of Congress and the President would forfeit their salaries for the duration of the government shutdown.[35][36]

In February 2014, Reed introduced the Clinical Trial Cancer Mission 2020 Act. The bill would have made it mandatory for researchers to publish all information from cancer clinical trials, with the goal being to get more researchers to work together and bring down the number of duplicative studies. The legislation would have created a national clearinghouse run by the NIH.[37]

In May 2014, Reed introduced a bill that would amend the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend and expand certain expired provisions that provided an enhanced tax deduction for businesses that donated their food inventory to charitable organizations.[38][39] Reed argued that it makes sense to make this a permanent measure because "doing it on a temporary basis ... is part of the problem. We need to make this sound policy permanent in the tax code and I'm optimistic we'll get it to the finish and allow people to take advantage of the tax deduction that would encourage them to use the food rather than put it in a landfill."[40]

On May 4, 2017, Reed voted in favor of repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and passing the American Health Care Act.[41][42]

Reed was ranked as the 32nd most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress, and the seventh most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York, in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy.[43] In the 115th United States Congress, Reed voted in line with President Donald Trump's position 96.7% of the time.[44]

Reed sits on the House Way and Means Committee, which is in charge of tax legislation, and was one of only two House members from New York state (along with Chris Collins) to support the provision in 2017 Republican tax overhaul bill that eliminated the federal tax deduction for state income taxes. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo accused the two lawmakers as "the Benedict Arnolds of their time", claiming that the loss of the deduction would cost New York State taxpayers nearly $15 billion and do grave damage to the state.[45] Reed voted in favor of the overall bill.[46][47]

During early 2019, Reed became the first House Republican in the new Congress to support a House rules change package authored by Democrats. Becoming the first member to "break ranks for a full rules proposal" in 18 years, he argued, according to his spokesman, that "real reforms were necessary that could actually bring legislation to the floor". The change intends to "lessen the sharp partisan divide in the House, in part by making it easier for rank-and-file members to bring their own bills onto the floor for a vote."[48]

On September 19, 2019, Reed suddenly lost consciousness for approximately 30 seconds while waiting to conduct a television interview. He was revived and hospitalized.[49]

Following the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Reed wrote in the New York Times that while Donald Trump could and should be held accountable, impeachment was not appropriate.[50]

• Committee on Ways and Means
  • Subcommittee on Oversight
  • Subcommittee on Human Resources
  • Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures

• Problem Solvers Caucus (Co-Chair)[51]
• Republican Study Committee[52]
• Republican Main Street Partnership[53]
• Natural Gas Caucus (Co-Chair)
• House Manufacturing Caucus (Co-Chair)
• Congressional Diabetes Caucus (Vice-Chair)
• Private Property Rights Caucus (Chairman/Founder)
• Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus[54]
• Tuesday Group [55]
• Congressional Constitution Caucus[56]
• Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus[57]
• Congressional Western Caucus[58]