Brian Mast | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chair of theHouse Foreign Affairs Committee | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Michael McCaul |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Patrick Murphy |
| Constituency |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Brian Jeffrey Mast (1980-07-10)July 10, 1980 (age 44) Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | Harvard University (ALB) |
| Website | House website |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 2000–2011 |
| Rank | Staff Sergeant |
| Unit | 28th Ordnance Company[1] |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | |
Brian Jeffrey Mast (born July 10, 1980) is an American politician and U.S. military veteran who has served as theU.S. representative forFlorida's 21st congressional district since 2017. The district, numbered as the18th district before the2020 redistricting cycle, includes theTreasure Coast and northern portions ofPalm Beach County. A member of theRepublican Party, Mast is the firstHispanic American to representSt. Lucie County in theUnited States Congress.
A veteran ofOperation Enduring Freedom, Mast lost both his legs while serving as aU.S. Armyexplosive ordnance disposal technician inAfghanistan in 2010 and received theBronze Star andPurple Heart for his actions.
Mast was born and raised inGrand Rapids, Michigan.[4] He is the son of James Mast and Tixomena Trujillo. His maternal grandparents were immigrants fromMexico.[5] Mast graduated fromSouth Christian High School in 1999.[6] In 2016, he obtained aBachelor of Liberal Arts from theExtension School ofHarvard University with a concentration in economics and minors in government and environmental studies.[7][8]
After graduating from high school, Mast enlisted in theUnited States Army Reserve in May 2000 and became acombat engineer assigned to the 841st Combat Engineer Battalion.[9] In 2006, he transitioned to the activeU.S. Army and became anexplosive ordnance disposal technician. Mast later joined the 28th Ordnance Company,[10] aspecial operations explosive ordnance disposal unit that works alongside personnel of the75th Ranger Regiment. He served inAfghanistan as part ofOperation Enduring Freedom. On September 19, 2010, while clearing a path forUnited States Army Rangers inKandahar, Mast stepped on anIED along the road. The explosion resulted in the amputation of both his legs and losing his left index finger.[11][12] Mast received theBronze Star andPurple Heart for his actions.[13][2][3]
Mast and his family were awarded a customADA-compliant home by the nonprofit organization Helping a Hero.[14]
After his honorable discharge[15] from the Army, Mast was hired as an explosives specialist for theUnited States Department of Homeland Security.[4] While recovering from his injuries atWalter Reed Army Medical Center, Mast provided explosive and counter-terrorism expertise to the Office of Emergency Operations at theNational Nuclear Security Administration from July 2011 to February 2012,[16] and as an instructor of homemade explosives for theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.[17]
Mast first considered running for office while recovering from his injuries atWalter Reed Medical Center.[4] It was reported in May 2015 that he was considering a run forCongress.[18]
On June 8, 2015, Mast announced his candidacy for theRepublican nomination forU.S. Representative inFlorida's 18th congressional district.[19] He defeated five opponents in the August 30, 2016, primary with 38% of the vote.[20] Mast facedDemocratic businessman Randy Perkins in the November 8 general election.[20]
During the 2015–16 election campaign, Mast's largest donors were Duty Free Americas, NextGen Management, and Superior Foods.[21]
Mast won the general election with 53% of the vote.[22]
In 2016, Mast was briefly linked withWorld Patent Marketing, a company theFederal Trade Commission shut down as aninvention promotion scam. World Patent Marketing donated money to Mast's campaign fund and said in a press release that he sat on their advisory board. Mast claimed no knowledge of being given a position on the board and said he had only a couple encounters with members of the company.[23]
In 2018, Anthony Bustamante, a campaign consultant who had worked on Mast's 2016 campaign, toldThe Wall Street Journal that he had used data hacked from theDemocratic National Committee byGuccifer 2.0, a front for Russia'sGRU military intelligence service, to adjust Mast's campaign strategy.[24] Guccifer 2.0 had leaked the hacked data to the HelloFLA blog.[25]
On April 25, 2018, physician Mark Freeman announced a primary challenge to Mast, focusing on his promise to "defend theSecond Amendment" and be an "unwavering partner" to PresidentDonald Trump. Freeman called Mast an "establishment candidate" and complained about Mast's shift ongun control issues after theParkland school shooting.[26]
Mast defeated Freeman in the Republican primary. In the general election, he defeated Democratic nominee Lauren Baer, an attorney and foreign policy expert who served as an official in theObama administration, with 54% of the vote.[27]
During the 2017–18 election campaign, Mast's largest donors were Duty Free Americas andAmway/Alticor (run by theDeVos family).[28] Between March and June 2018, Mast's campaign received thousands of dollars from Soviet-bornIgor Fruman, one of two business associates ofRudy Giuliani who later faced charges of violating federalcampaign finance laws.[29] After this allegedly illegal contribution was discovered and reported by the press, Mast's spokesman said he would disburse the funds to the Treasury Department,[30] but less than two weeks later, Mast said, "I think we donated it to charity."[31]
Mast ran for reelection in 2020 against Democratic nomineePam Keith. In August 2020 he apologized for what he called "disgusting and inappropriate jokes" that he made onFacebook in 2009 and 2011 responding to a friend and subsequent campaign manager about sex with 15-year-old girls in South Africa and an end-of-the-worldpick-up line involving rape or murder.[32] Mast won re-election with 56.32% of the vote, against Keith's 41.5%.[33]
In the2020 United States redistricting cycle, Florida's district 18 was renamed district 21. Mast was renominated in the Republican Primary with 78.1% of the vote.[34] He defeated Democrat Corinna Robinson in the general election, winning 63.5% of the vote.[35]
Mast ran for reelection and defeated Democrat Thomas Witkop in the general election, winning 61.8% of the vote.[36]
Mast was sworn in on January 3, 2017. He was a member of theRepublican Main Street Partnership[37] and theClimate Solutions Caucus.[38]
After voting in favor of theTax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, he had a 40% approval rating among his constituents; 45% said they were disappointed with his work in Congress.[39]
In May 2018, the Associated Press reported that the Trump administration was considering Mast for secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.[40]
In August 2021, an analysis byBusiness Insider found that Mast had violated theStop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012, a federal transparency and conflict-of-interest law that requires members of Congress to report certain types of financial transactions within 45 days, by failing to disclose on time a purchase of stock inVirgin Galactic worth up to $100,000 that Mast made in July 2021.[41] In August 2022, Business Insider reported that Mast had again violated the STOCK Act after he sold stock in Ideal Power worth up to $50,000 in February 2021, but which he failed to report until August 2022.[42] Business Insider also found that Mast violated the STOCK Act a third time when, in October 2022, he reported an exchange of shares inAphria, Inc. for shares ofTilray Brands, Inc. more than a year after the federal deadline.[43]
For the118th Congress:[44]
In the first session of the115th United States Congress, Mast was ranked the 32nd most bipartisan member of theHouse by the Bipartisan Index, a metric published byThe Lugar Center andGeorgetown'sMcCourt School of Public Policy to assess congressional bipartisanship.[46][47]
During Trump's presidency, Mast voted in line with the president's stated position 90.6% of the time.[48][49] As of September 2021, Mast had voted in line withJoe Biden's stated position 19.4% of the time.[50]
Mast believesabortion should be illegal except in cases where the woman's life is at risk or in cases ofrape orincest.[17]
In April 2018, Mast said he would probably vote for legislation to reduce support for sugar farmers, who, under the contemporaneous Farm Bill, were protected by fixed minimum prices, by limits on imports and on domestic production, and by government loans to sugar growers. "I expect I'll be supporting it when it comes up for a vote next week," Mast said of the Sugar Policy Modernization Act, "because it's important to the community I represent, and our waterways". The proposed act,TCPalm reported, "would make sugar import quotas more flexible and protect taxpayers from government-funded buyouts of surplus sugar". Mast said he would "probably be the only representative in the history of this district to vote against thesugar industry".[51] Mast accepted over $15,000 in campaign donations from the owners and executives of the sugar companyFlorida Crystals.[52]
In December 2020, Mast was one of only five House Republicans to vote for theMarijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act.[53] The act aimed to "correct the historical injustices of failed drug policies that have disproportionately impacted communities of color"; it included provisions to removecannabis from theControlled Substances Act, impose a federal tax on cannabis products, and use the proceeds of the tax to fundrestorative justice programs.[54][55][56] A month before the vote, Mast invested between $15,000 and $50,000 in the cannabis companyTilray. He disclosed the purchase on December 1.[57][58]
In November 2021, Mast was one of four original cosponsors of the Republican-ledStates Reform Act to legalize cannabis federally and regulate it similarly to alcohol.[59] In April 2022, after RepresentativeDon Young died in office, Mast was named to replace him as a co-chair of theCongressional Cannabis Caucus.[60][61]
In June 2016, Mast said he supported PresidentDonald Trump "unanimously and wholeheartedly" in the2016 presidential election. After the 2005Access Hollywoodrecording of Trump making crude remarks about sexually assaulting women became public, Mast called Trump's remarks "inexcusable and disgusting".[62] In February 2017, he voted against a resolution that would have directed the House to request ten years ofTrump's tax returns, which would then have been reviewed by theHouse Ways and Means Committee in a closed session.[63]
On December 18, 2019, Mast voted againstboth articles of impeachment against Trump. Of the 195 Republicans who voted, all voted against both impeachment articles.
On January 6, 2021, following theattack on the U.S. Capitol, Mast and 146 other Republican members of Congress voted against certifying the election of PresidentJoe Biden.[64]
Mast believes it was a mistake for theU.S. Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality ofsame-sex marriage inObergefell v. Hodges.[17] Later, on July 19, 2022, he was among 47 Republican Representatives who voted for theRespect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law.[65] However, Mast voted against final passage on December 8, 2022.[66]
In 2018, Mast wrote an opinion piece inThe New York Times in support of theSecond Amendment right to bear arms, but said "it does not guarantee that every civilian can bear any and all arms."[67][68] He supports a ban on assault weapons, citing his military background: "I cannot support the primary weapon I used to defend our people being used to kill the children I swore to defend."[67][68][69][70]
After theStoneman Douglas High School shooting, Mast announced his support for prohibiting the sale of assault and tactical firearms without confiscating such weapons that are already owned; ensuring that all firearm purchasers undergo a background check; improving background checks; banning the sale of gun accessories that enhance the firing rate of weapons, such asbump stocks; preventing those who have been detained for mental illnesses from purchasing firearms; ensuring that those on theTerror Watch List cannot purchase firearms; and placing anyone who makes threats of violence against schools on anFBI watch list for "a long time".[67][68][69][70]
Mast also supports conducting further research on gun violence, which would require a change infederal law.[67]
Mast has partlyblamed violent video games and violent movies for school shootings.[71] In March 2017, he voted for the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act.[72] The measure passed the House but stalled in the Senate.[citation needed]
During his 2015–16 election campaign, Mast accepted $4,950 in campaign donations from theNRA Political Victory Fund.[73]
Mast is in favor of repealing theAffordable Care Act. On May 4, 2017, he voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and pass theAmerican Health Care Act.[74][75]
In June 2018, commenting on theTrump administration family separation policy, Mast said: "It is our duty as an American government to deal compassionately with any child from any nation, just as it is the responsibility of foreign families seeking asylum in the U.S. to choose only legal means to enter our nation so they can avoid family disruption. I am confident this process will be improved." Citing his own Mexican grandparents, he said, "The way that they got to work, the way that they assimilated to the American way of life and became a part of our system is not what we're seeing across the board."[76]
In June 2018, a volunteer for the Martin County Democratic Party, angry about the Trump administration's immigration policy, was arrested after threatening to kill Mast's children.[77] The April 2019 trial in the case ended in a hung jury, and a mistrial was declared.[78]
Mast said he would support a Republican proposal to cut U.S. funding to theUnited Nations.[7]
Mast was critical of Obama's Middle East policy. "ISIS is as strong as it is because of a lack of US leadership," he said in 2016. "ISIS could have been defeated at the time of the Arab Spring if we had sent in special operations forces. What's being done now is too little too late. It's going to require an all-out military effort. The only way to guarantee peace is to make the enemy surrender."[17]
Mast views Obama'sIran nuclear deal as a betrayal by the U.S. of its own national security as well as that of Israel,Jordan, and other regional allies. "The deal has aligned us with aShia regime, which is just enabling extremism. This is going to make it very hard to getSunni regimes to align with us, and Putin is now the go-to player in Syria with his alliance with Assad," he said in 2016.[17]
Mast is "a vocal supporter of Israel and Israelis", reportedThe Times of Israel during his 2016 campaign. "If anyone was lobbing rockets into the US, guys like me would be sent to kill them, and Americans would applaud us," he said.[17] In January 2015, Mast volunteered with theIsrael Defense Forces (IDF) throughSar-El, working at a base outsideTel Aviv packing medical kits and moving supplies.[17][79] Following the2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Mast wore his IDF uniform in Congress.[80][81]
On November 1, 2023, in arguing for a bill to reduce humanitarian funding to Gaza during theIsrael-Hamas war, Mast compared Palestinian civilians to the civilians ofNazi Germany duringWorld War II, saying:
I would encourage the other side to not so lightly throw around the idea of innocent Palestinian civilians, as is frequently said, I don’t think we would so lightly throw around the term ‘innocent Nazi civilians’ during World War II. It is not a far stretch to say there are very few innocent Palestinian civilians.[82][83]
Mast, who sits on theHouse Veterans Affairs Committee, was the first member of Congress to open an office inside a federal agency. The office in question, which opened in 2018, was in the West Palm Beach Veterans Affairs facility. In 2018 he introduced a House bill that would make it easier for other House members to do the same.[84] In 2019, theDepartment of Veterans Affairs evicted Mast from the West Palm Beach office.[85]
In October 2017, Mast voted against the original version of theTax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 due to "out of control" federal spending, fear of the national debt growing, and a desire to see lower tax rates with loopholes closed.[86][87] In December 2017, he voted for the final version of the bill,[88] saying it "provides a lot of confidence to a lot of people" and is "a great moment for our country and our community".[89][39]
Mast was among the 71 Republicans who voted against final passage of theFiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.[90]
During his 12 years of U.S. Army service, Mast received theBronze Star Medal,Purple Heart,Defense Meritorious Service Medal andArmy Commendation Medal with "V" for valor device.[citation needed] PresidentBarack Obama invited Mast as a guest to his2011 State of the Union Address, at which he was seated with First LadyMichelle Obama and Second LadyJill Biden.[91][92]
Mast lives inPalm City, Florida, with his wife Brianna and their four children.[93] As recently as 2016, he attended theevangelicalCalvary Chapel.[17]
Congressman Brian Mast, R-Palm City, has as much authority on guns as anyone, having served in the Army and losing both legs in Afghanistan. He says assault weapons such as the AR-15 should be banned. "I cannot support the primary weapon I used to defend our people being used to kill children I swore to defend," Mast, who represents aswing district and faces a tough re-election, writes in an op/ed for theNew York Times.
Representative Brian Mast of Florida, a Republican and an Army combat veteran, has called for a ban on the sale of AR-15-style rifles. "The exact definition of assault weapon will need to be determined," Mr. Mast said. "But we should all be able to agree that the civilian version of the very deadly weapon that the Army issued to me should certainly qualify."
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| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 18th congressional district 2017–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 21st congressional district 2023–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Foreign Affairs Committee 2025–present | |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 177th | Succeeded by |
| People | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
