Scott Gordon Perry was born inSan Diego,California, to Cecile Lenig and Jim Perry.[5] Scott's grandparents were Colombian immigrants.[6][7] His mother was a flight attendant and left an abusive relationship with his father after he was born.[5] She moved with him and his brother to south-centralPennsylvania, when he was seven.[8] After losing her flight attendant job, she worked for a wholesale food company.[5] The family lived first inHarrisburg and then soon afterwards moved toDillsburg.[8]
Perry and his family were on public assistance for several years during his youth. He was raised in a simple home that initially had no electricity and plumbing, pumping water from a well and cutting firewood with his older brother in the winter.[5] When he was eleven years old, his mother married his step father, Daniel Chimel, who was an airplane pilot andair traffic controller.[5]
Perry began working at age 13, picking fruit at Ashcombe's Farm inMechanicsburg. Since then, he has worked as a mechanic, dock worker, draftsman and a licensed insurance agent, among other jobs.[8]
After receiving his commission, Perry qualified as a helicopter pilot in the United States ArmyAviation Branch,[12] where he earned qualifications in numerous aircraft (Huey, Cayuse, Kiowa, Cobra, Chinook, Apache, and Blackhawk) and an Instructor Pilot rating.[13] He commanded military units at the company, battalion and brigade levels and served in a variety of staff assignments as he advanced through the ranks, including executive officer of 1st Squadron,104th Cavalry Regiment during deployment toBosnia and Herzegovina in 2002–03, and commander of 2nd Battalion (General Support),104th Aviation Regiment beginning in 2008.[12]
In 2009–2010, Perry commanded 2nd Battalion,104th Aviation Regiment during its service in Iraq forOperation Iraqi Freedom.[12] As Task Force Diablo, 2-104th Aviation was credited with flying 1,400 missions, accruing over 10,000 combat flight hours, and transporting over 3 million pounds of cargo and 50,000 soldiers and civilians.[14] Perry flew 44 combat missions in Iraq,[15] and accrued nearly 200 combat flight hours.[16] On Thanksgiving Day 2009, Perry and some of his soldiers participated in a race around the airfield atCamp Adder.[17]
After returning from Iraq, Perry was promoted to colonel and assigned to command thePennsylvania National Guard's 166th Regiment (Regional Training Institute).[12] From 2012 to 2014, he commanded the garrison at theFort Indiantown Gap National Training Center.[12] In May 2014, Perry was assigned as assistant division commander of the28th Infantry Division and promoted tobrigadier general in November 2015.[18][10][19] In May 2016, he was selected as assistant adjutant general at the Pennsylvania National Guard's Joint Force Headquarters.[12] Perry retired from the Pennsylvania National Guard on March 1, 2019.[20]
After graduating from college, Perry co-founded mechanical contracting business Hydrotech Mechanical Services.[21]
In 2002, Perry was charged with falsifying reports to thePennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The reports regarded levels of chlorine and acidity at a sewage plant which had a maintenance contract with Hydrotech. He completed the state's Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program and the company was fined $5,000. Perry says he learned of problems at the sewage plant and reported the problems to the DEP; he said "I saw something going on that I thought was wrong, and as bureaucrats often do, they pursued me in that regard.”[21]
Before entering politics, Perry chaired the Carroll Township Planning Commission, and was a member of the Township Source Water Protection Committee. He chaired the Dillsburg Area Wellhead Protection Advisory Committee and served on the Dillsburg Revitalization Committee. He remains a member of theJaycees and held the office of regional director for the state organization. He is a member of DillsburgAmerican Legion Post #26, DillsburgVeterans of Foreign Wars VFW Post #6771, andLions Club International.[22]
In 2006, state representativeBruce Smith of Pennsylvania's 92nd House district decided to retire. Perry won the Republican primary with 41% of the vote.[23] He won the general election with 71% of the vote, and took office on January 2, 2007.[24][25] In 2008, Perry was reelected to a second term unopposed.[26] In 2010, he was reelected to a third term unopposed.[26]
In 2012, Perry gave up his state house seat to run for the 4th congressional district. The district had previously been the 19th district, represented by six-term incumbent RepublicanTodd Platts, who was giving up the seat to honor a self-imposed term limit. In 2010, when Platts wanted to becomeU.S. comptroller general, he spoke to Perry about running for the seat.[28]
Perry won a seven-way primary with over 50% of the vote. Although outspent nearly 2 to 1 in the campaign, he beat his closest competitor with nearly three times as many votes.[29] Political newcomer Harry Perkinson, an engineer,[30] advanced in a two-way Democratic primary.[31] Perry won the general election, 60%–34%.[32]
In 2014, Perry was unopposed in the Republican primary and the formerHarrisburg mayor,Linda D. Thompson, was unopposed in the Democratic primary.[33] Perry won the general election, 75%–25%.[34]
Perry won the 2016 election with no primary challenge and no official Democratic opponent. Joshua Burkholder of Harrisburg, a political novice, withdrew from the Democratic primary after too many signatures on his qualifying petition were successfully challenged. His subsequent write-in candidacy won the Democratic primary, but he was unaffiliated in the general election.[35][36][37][38][39] Perry defeated Burkholder, 66%–34%.[40]
After ruling the state's congressional map an unconstitutionalgerrymander, thePennsylvania Supreme Court issued a new map for the 2018 elections. Perry's district was renumbered the 10th and made significantly more compact than its predecessor. It lost most of the more rural and Republican areas ofYork County to the neighboring11th district (the old16th). To make up for the loss in population, it was pushed slightly to the north, absorbing the remainder of Democratic-leaningDauphin County that had not been in the old 4th.[41] On paper, the new district was less Republican than its predecessor. Had the district existed in 2016,Donald Trump would have won it with 52% of the vote toHillary Clinton's 43%;[42] Trump carried the old 4th with 58% of the vote.[43]
Pastor and Army veteran George Scott won the Democratic primary by a narrow margin and opposed Perry in the general election for the reconfigured 10th. The two debated in October before Perry won with 51.3% of the vote to Scott's 48.7%, with the new district boundaries taking effect in 2019.[44][45][46][47] Perry held on by winning the district's share of his home county, York County, by 11,600 votes.[48]
On January 2, 2024, a lawsuit seeking to bar Perry from the 2024 ballot viaSection 3 of the14th Amendment to the US Constitution was filed by Democratic activistGene Stilp.[53][54] The suit was withdrawn after the U.S. Supreme Courtruled in March that only Congress can disqualify federal candidates.[55] Perry faced Democratic nomineeJanelle Stelson in the general election.[56] The race was closely watched because it took place in a swing district in a swing state.[57] Perry ultimately defeated Stelson with 50.6% of the vote.[58]
Perry is a member of theFreedom Caucus.[61] In November 2021, he was elected to chair the group, succeedingAndy Biggs in January 2022;[62]Bob Good succeeded Perry as chair in January 2024.[4]
In January 2018, Perry suggested thatISIS might have been involved in the2017 Las Vegas shooting. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, but authorities have maintained that gunmanStephen Paddock acted alone.[64][65][66]
Perry participated inattempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, including by attempting to replace Pennsylvania's electors.[2] The House committee investigating theJanuary 6 Capitol attack sought to question Perry about his role in efforts to installAssistant Attorney GeneralJeffrey Clark as acting attorney general and his introduction of Clark to President Trump. Perry declined both the committee's initial request and subsequent subpoena, leading to his referral to the House Ethics Panel after the November 2022 elections.[68][69]
In March 2021, Perry voted against theAmerican Rescue Plan Act of 2021.[70][71] The bill's main purpose was stated to be economic relief during theCOVID-19 pandemic, but Perry claimed the majority of its funds were dedicated to partisan political efforts by the Democratic Party.[72]
In June 2021, Perry was one of 21 House Republicans to vote against a resolution to give theCongressional Gold Medal to police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol onJanuary 6.[73] He cosponsored a bill, introduced the same day, that would give the same medal to police officers without mentioning the attack.[74]
In July 2022, Perry was among 47 House Republicans to vote for theRespect for Marriage Act, which would protect the right to same-sex marriage at a federal level by repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.[75] Perry said, "Agree or disagree with same-sex marriage, my vote affirmed my long-held belief that Americans who enter into legal agreements deserve to live their lives without the threat that our federal government will dissolve what they've built."[76] In December 2022, Perry voted against the final version of the bill. He said his initial "yes" vote was a mistake based on a lack of time to review the legislation, claiming that his initial reasoning was primarily focused on protecting interracial marriage at the federal level, but that he did not want to "vote against traditional marriage."[77]
In May 2024,CNN obtained a recording in which Perry told a closed door briefing of the House Oversight Committee thatKu Klux Klan is "the military wing of the Democratic party" and that migrants coming to the U.S. "have no interest in being Americans." Perry said "Replacement theory is real. They added white to it to stop everybody from talking about it," in reference to theGreat Replacement conspiracy theory in the United States.[78]
After voting for the initial version of theOne Big Beautiful Bill Act, Perry supportedElon Musk's criticism that "this massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination." Perry questioned House leadership, noting that the House expected the Senate to make major improvements to the bill.[85] In July 2025, Perry voted for passage of the final version of the bill.[86]
In March 2021, Perry was one of 14 House Republicans to vote against a measure condemning theMyanmar coup d'état that overwhelmingly passed.[87]
In July 2021, Perry voted against the bipartisan ALLIES Act, which would increase by 8,000 the number ofspecial immigrant visas for Afghan allies of the U.S. military duringits invasion of Afghanistan while also reducing some application requirements that caused long application backlogs; the bill passed in the House 407–16.[88]
In April 2022, Perry voted against a bill to encourage documentation and preservation of Russian war crimes during its invasion of Ukraine.[89]
In 2023, Perry was among 47 Republicans to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21, which directed PresidentJoe Biden to remove U.S. troops fromSyria within 180 days.[90][91]
In 2024, Perry voted against two multi-billion dollar foreign aid packages which included money forTaiwan,Ukraine, andIsrael. Perry opposed House speakerMike Johnson's tactic of bundling aid bills, saying he preferred single subject bills. Perry also objected to $9 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza, citing the Israeli government's claim thatHamas has been stealing aid intended for Gaza's civilians.[92]
Perry frequently opposes proposed climate change policies in Congress, including policies which have support within the GOP.[96] During 2023 testimony before the Foreign Affairs committee by theU.S. special presidential envoy for climate, Perry presented charts that he said showed climate change had stopped since 2016. This position is sharply at odds with thescientific consensus on climate change.[97][98]
Perry opposes a federal abortion ban. He has "repeatedly stated his support for IVF, and says that he maintains his personal pro-life stance while continuing to leave the issue to the states."[99]
In 2016, Perry met withBrigitte Gabriel, founder ofACT for America, ananti-Muslim organization designated as a hate group by theSouthern Poverty Law Center. Perry called Gabriel "someone who demands (and deserves) to be heard about the security of our nation." Following criticism from aGettysburg College professor for meeting with Gabriel, Perry denounced the SPLC as an "extremist left-wing organization" and denied that ACT for America was anti-Muslim, saying "One person's hate group is another person's patriot."[100] Perry spoke at ACT for America's national conference where he praised Gabriel as a "hero".[101] In 2017, Perry criticized theFBI for rescinding training material during theObama administration that had been characterized as spreading anti-Muslim stereotypes.[102] In 2021, when RepresentativeIlhan Omar, who is Muslim, introduced a bill to combat Islamophobia; Perry falsely accused Omar of being "affiliated with" unspecified terrorist organizations. Perry's remark was struck from the congressional record.[103][104] In 2025, Perry cosponsored legislation withChip Roy to opposeSharia, or Islamic law. The legislation would mandate the deportation of "Sharia-law-adherent aliens" and ban them from entering the United States.[105][106]
According toThe Philadelphia Inquirer, Perry was "one of the leading figures in the effort to throw out Pennsylvania's votes in the 2020 presidential election."[2]
Perry reportedly played a key role in a December 2020 crisis at theJustice Department, in which Trump considered firing actingattorney general Jeffrey A. Rosen and replacing him withJeffrey Clark, the acting chief of theCivil Division of theDOJ.[68] According toThe Los Angeles Times, Perry "prompted" Trump to consider the replacement.[124]The New York Times reported that Perry introduced Clark to Trump because Clark's "openness to conspiracy theories about election fraud presented Mr. Trump with a welcome change from Rosen, who stood by the results of the election and had repeatedly resisted the president's efforts to undo them."[68]
Before the certification of the electoral college vote on January 6, Perry and Clark reportedly discussed a plan in which the Justice Department would send Georgia legislatorsa letter suggesting the DOJ had evidence of voter fraud and suggesting the legislators invalidate Georgia's electoral votes, even though the DOJ had investigated reports of fraud but found nothing significant, as attorney generalBill Barr had publicly announced weeks earlier.[68][125] Clark drafted a letter to Georgia officials and presented it to Rosen and his deputy Donoghue. It claimed the DOJ had "identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple States" and urged the Georgia legislature to convene a special session for the "purpose of considering issues pertaining to the appointment of Presidential Electors." Rosen and Donoghue rejected the proposal.[126]
In August 2021, CNN reported that Ratcliffe had briefed top Justice Department officials that no evidence had been found of any foreign powers' interference with voting machines. Clark was reportedly concerned that intelligence community analysts were withholding information and believed Perry and others knew more about possible foreign interference. Clark requested authorization from Rosen and Donoghue for another briefing from Ratcliffe, asserting hackers had found that "aDominion machine accessed the Internet through a smart thermostat with a net connection trail leading back to China."[127]
On January 6, 2021, Perry joined Missouri senatorJosh Hawley in objecting to counting Pennsylvania's electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election.[128] Duringthe storming of the U.S. Capitol that day, Perry and his congressional colleagues were ushered to a secure location.[129]
On December 20, 2021,House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack chairmanBennie Thompson wrote to Perry asking him to provide information about his involvement in the effort to install Clark as acting attorney general. Thompson believed Perry had been involved in the effort to install Clark, given previous testimony from Rosen and Donoghue, as well as communications between Perry and Meadows.[130][131][132] Perry declined the request the next day, asserting the committee was illegitimate.[133] Among several text messages to Meadows the committee released on December 14 was one attributed to a "member of Congress" dated January 5 that read "Please check your signal", a reference to the encrypted messaging systemSignal. In his letter to Perry, Thompson mentioned evidence that Perry had communicated with Meadows using Signal, though Perry denied sending that particular text message.[134][135][131] CNN acquired and published additional Meadows text messages in April 2022 that confirmed Perry had sent that message.[118]
On June 9, 2022, Select Committee memberLiz Cheney asserted that Perry requested a presidential pardon from Trump in the weeks after the January 6 attack.[136][137] Perry denied Cheney's assertion, calling it "an absolute, shameless, and soulless lie".[138] On June 23, 2022, the Select Committee broadcast testimony fromCassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Meadows, who said Perry was one of several lawmakers who contacted her to "inquire about preemptive pardons."[139] In response, Perry said he had never spoken with any White House staff about a pardon for him or any other members of Congress.[140][120]
In August 2022, Perry reported that threeFBI agents had seized his cellphone after presenting him with a warrant. He called the seizure an "unnecessary and aggressive action".[141] Perry asked Chief Judge of theD.C. District CourtBeryl Howell to prevent investigators from accessing 2,219 documents stored on his phone, citing theSpeech or Debate Clause of the U.S. Constitution. On February 24, 2023, Howell unsealed her December 2022 ruling that found Perry had an "astonishing view" of his immunity, ordering him to disclose 2,055 messages, including all 960 of his contacts with members of the executive branch.[142] The ruling was appealed to a three-judge panel of theD.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which in September 2023 directed Howell's successorJeb Boasberg to scrutinize all 2,055 messages; he ruled in December 2023 that investigators could see 1,659 messages and Perry could withhold 396 others.[143][144]
^abcdef"Brigadier General Scott G. Perry".National Guard General Officer Management Office. Arlington, VA: National Guard Bureau. 2015.Archived from the original on August 23, 2020. RetrievedOctober 7, 2021.
^Josh Marshall, chief editor ofTalking Points Memo, summarised his post-Iraq military career so: "Perry is a retired Brigadier General. Among other things he was an Army helicopter pilot and he flew missions in Iraq. A Brigadier General is a one star. So the first rung on the four rank gradations of being a general officer. ... He was in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. So even though his career stretched over four decades he wasn't a full time soldier."TPM Edblog, April 26, 2022 8:22 p.mArchived April 27, 2022, at theWayback Machine
^"2016 Primary Withdrawals"(PDF).Pennsylvania Department of State. April 21, 2016.Archived(PDF) from the original on September 29, 2021. RetrievedSeptember 28, 2021.
^Benner, Katie (June 5, 2021)."Meadows Pressed Justice Dept. to Investigate Election Fraud Claims".The New York Times.Archived from the original on March 29, 2022. RetrievedApril 27, 2022.In five emails sent during the last week of December and early January, Mr. Meadows asked Acting Attorney GeneralJeffrey A. Rosen to examine debunked claims of election fraud [that] ... included a fantastical theory that people in Italy had used military technology and satellites to remotely tamper with voting machines in the United States and switch votes for Mr. Trump to votes for Joseph R. Biden Jr.
^abThompson, Bennie G. (December 20, 2021)."Letter to Representative Scott Perry"(PDF). House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.Archived(PDF) from the original on December 21, 2021. RetrievedDecember 22, 2021.
