Josh Hawley | |
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![]() Official portrait, 2019 | |
United States Senator from Missouri | |
Assumed office January 3, 2019 Serving with Eric Schmitt | |
Preceded by | Claire McCaskill |
42nd Attorney General of Missouri | |
In office January 9, 2017 – January 3, 2019 | |
Governor | Eric Greitens Mike Parson |
Preceded by | Chris Koster |
Succeeded by | Eric Schmitt |
Personal details | |
Born | Joshua David Hawley December 31, 1979 Springdale, Arkansas, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | |
Children | 3 |
Education | Stanford University (BA) Yale University (JD) |
Signature | ![]() |
Website | Senate website |
Joshua David Hawley (born December 31, 1979) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Missouri, a seat he has held since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Hawley served as the 42nd attorney general of Missouri from 2017 to 2019, before defeating two-term incumbent Democratic senator Claire McCaskill in the 2018 election.
Born in Springdale, Arkansas, to a banker and a teacher, Hawley graduated from Stanford University in 2002 and Yale Law School in 2006. After being a law clerk to Judge Michael W. McConnell and Chief Justice John Roberts, he worked as a lawyer, first in private practice from 2008 to 2011 and then for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty from 2011 to 2015. Before becoming Missouri attorney general, he was also an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Law, and a faculty member of the conservative Blackstone Legal Fellowship.
As Missouri attorney general, Hawley initiated several high-profile lawsuits and investigations, including a lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act, an investigation into Missouri governor Eric Greitens, and a lawsuit and investigation into companies associated with the opioid epidemic. His political beliefs have been described as strongly socially conservative, and by critics as reactionary and theocratic.[1][2][3][4]
In December 2020, Hawley provoked a political backlash when he became the first senator to announce plans to object to the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 United States presidential election. He led Senate efforts to overturn the Electoral College vote count[5][6][7][8][9] and rallied supporters of the notion that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was stolen. Although he did not directly encourage the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, observers perceived his actions as inflammatory.[10][11][12][13][14] In late January 2021, Hawley denied trying to overturn the election results.[15][16]
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was invoked but never defined (see the help page).:8
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).NPR2020
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Unlike Donald Trump, Hawley did not directly encourage the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol last Wednesday. But his move to muddy the legitimacy of the election undoubtedly fanned the flames.
Misinformation
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).MisleadingDenial
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).ReutersRepublicans
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Hawley was treated like a pariah. Democrats filed an ethics complaint against him. There were calls for his resignation and censure. A year later, nothing has come from the ethics complaint and Hawley has neither resigned nor been censured.