His paternal family originally hails fromGelfingen (presently part ofHitzkirch) onLake Sempach in theCanton of Lucerne. In 1924, his grandfather took municipal citizenship, in nearbyMosen onLake Hallwil, where his father was raised on a farm before moving to Riehen near Basel.[9][10][11] His paternal grandfather, Josef Jans (1899–1968), served as the president of the municipal council of Mosen.[12]
He was involved in the development projects of the SwissHelvetas [de] inParaguay andHaiti between 1987 and 1989[13] and was a member of the board atPro Natura between 2000 and 2010,[13] when he resigned to assume office as a member of the National Council of Switzerland.[14] From 2010 until 2015 he was a member of the board atecos [de].[13]
Jans joined the SP in 1998 and became a member of theGrand Council of Basel Stadt in 2001.[13] In the Grand Council, he was a member of the Commission of Economics and Taxes.[13] He remained a member of the Grand Council after he joined the National Council of Switzerland in 2010[14] succeedingRuedi Rechsteiner[15] and only resigned in 2011.[16] He was re-elected to the National Council in the federal elections in 2011,[17] 2015[18] and 2019.[19] In the National Council, he was also member of the Commission of Economics and Taxes.[20] As it became clear thatAnita Fetz would not stand for another term in theCouncil of States for Basel-Stadt,[21] he put himself forward as a candidate, but later withdrew to enable a female candidate for the SP.[22] He was again a candidate for the National Council andEva Herzog for the Council of States. Both candidacies were successful in theOctober 2019 federal elections.[23]
He was elected vice-president of the SP in 2015, succeedingJaqueline Fehr,[24] but resigned in 2015 when the party abolished the offices of the president and vice-president and instituted a co-presidency ofMattea Meyer andCédric Wermuth.[25]
He was elected into theExecutive Council of Basel-Stadt on the 25 October 2020[26] and as its president in November 2020.[27]Sarah Wyss of the SP succeeded him, after he resigned as a member of the National Council in December 2020.[28]
During the2023 Swiss federal election he became an official candidate forFederal Council to succeedAlain Berset for theSocial Democratic Party.[29] The election was held on 13 December 2023 and he was the official nominee together with fellow politicianJon Pult. Three ballot rounds were required to determine the successor. During the second ballot round, Jans was ahead of his counter parties receiving 112 votes, opposing candidateDaniel Jositsch received 70 votes (presumably from theSwiss People's Party andThe Liberals).[30] He was ultimately elected to Federal Council during the third round of ballot.[31][32][33] Jans assumed office on 1 January 2024.
He gained a reputation as a unifier during his term as head of the Basel-Stadt Socialist Party, but he is considered very left-wing by his political opponents.[34] He notably supported the federal popular initiative on responsible multinationals submitted to a vote in November 2020.[34] As a federal councillor, he was sharply criticized for a controversial proposal to extend data retention, which critics fear will lead to disproportionate surveillance without legal basis.[35]
On 11 June 2004, Jans married American-born Tracy Renee Glass (b. 1972), abiostatistician originally fromMiami, Florida, whom he met whilehiking inHawaii. They had a long distance relationship for two years before she relocated to Basel to take a position atNovartis, a large pharmaceutical company. She currently works as team lead atSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute.[36][37] They have two daughters.[38][39] His wife and his children are Swiss-American dual citizens.[40][41][42]
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