John Yarmuth
Chair of theHouse Budget Committee
In office January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2023
Preceded by	Steve Womack
Succeeded by	Jodey Arrington
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromKentucky's3rd district
In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2023
Preceded by	Anne Northup
Succeeded by	Morgan McGarvey
Personal details
Born	John Allan Yarmuth (1947-11-04)November 4, 1947 (age 77) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Political party	Democratic (since 1985)
Other political affiliations	Republican (until 1985)
Spouse	Catherine Creedon ​ (m. 1981)​
Children	1
Education	Yale University (BA)
Signature
John Yarmuth's voice John Yarmuth speaks in support of theAmerican Rescue Plan Recorded February 26, 2021

John Allan Yarmuth (/ˈjɑːrmɪθ/YAR-mith; born November 4, 1947) is a retired American politician and newspaper editor who served as theU.S. representative forKentucky's 3rd congressional district from 2007 to 2023. His district encompassed the vast majority of theLouisville Metro Area. From 2013 onward, he had been the soleDemocratic member ofKentucky's congressional delegation. Yarmuth chaired theHouse Budget Committee from 2019 to 2023.^[1] On October 12, 2021, he announced that he would not seek reelection in2022.^[2]

Yarmuth was born inLouisville, Kentucky, the son of Edna E. (née Klein) and Stanley R. Yarmuth. He is descended from Jewish immigrants from Russia and Austria.^[3] He graduated fromAtherton High School.^[4] He later graduated fromYale University, majoring in American studies.^[4]

Yarmuth worked as a legislative aide for RepublicanU.S. SenatorMarlow Cook from 1971 to 1974, then returned to Louisville and launched his publishing career by foundingLouisville Today magazine, which operated from 1976 to 1982. He later worked as a vice president of University Relations at theUniversity of Louisville from 1983 to 1986, where he was inducted intoOmicron Delta Kappa as anhonoris causa initiate in 2014.^[4][5]

Yarmuth described himself as aRockefeller Republican in his earlier years. He left the party duringRonald Reagan's presidency, saying, "I saw this unmistakable move away from moderation when he started hostingJerry Falwell andPat Robertson and catering to thereligious right".^[6]

In 1990, Yarmuth founded theLouisville Eccentric Observer (LEO), a weekly newspaper for which he wrote a generally liberal political column that usually ran on page one. In 2003, he sold LEO to a company owned byTimes Publishing Company ofPennsylvania, owner of theErie Times-News. Yarmuth remained on board as a columnist and consultant until January 2006, when he put his column on hiatus to run for Congress.^[4]

On January 31, 2006, Yarmuth filed candidacy papers to representKentucky's 3rd congressional district. He won the Democratic primary on May 16, defeating Andrew Horne, Burrell Charles Farnsley and James W. Moore, and defeated incumbentAnne Northup in the November general election.

On August 7, 2006,The Courier-Journal reported thatThe Hill revealed a week before that theDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee had earmarked $51.5 million for television advertising in 32 congressional districts across the nation, but none for Yarmuth's challenge in the third congressional district.^[7]

On October 20, aCourier-Journal article stated that aWHAS11/SurveyUSA poll revealed the race had tightened dramatically, with Yarmuth leading Northup 48% to 47%. Another poll a month earlier had Northup leading by 6 points.^[8] A WHAS11/SurveyUSA poll released on November 2 showed Yarmuth leading Northup 52% to 44%.^[9]

On October 26, Yarmuth toldCourier-Journal reporter Kay Stewart that he would donate his congressional salary—which would be $168,500 in 2007—to local charity.^[10]

Because polls close early in Kentucky, many analysts saw this race as a key indicator and it immediately became one of the most watched House races in the nation. Yarmuth received 122,139 votes (51%) to Northup's 116,157 (48%). Independent candidates garnered 2,896 (1%).

Yarmuth ran unopposed in the primary, and faced Northup again in the general election.^[11][12][13] He won with 59% of the vote.^[14]

Yarmuth was challenged by Republican Todd Lally and Independent Michael D. Hansen. He was reelected with 55% of the vote.^[15]

Yarmuth was challenged by Republican Brooks Wicker and Independent candidate Robert L. Devore Jr. Yarmuth received 206,385 votes (63.96%) to Wicker's 111,452 (23.32%) and Devore's 4,819 (1.49%).

In the2014 general election, Yarmuth was challenged by Republican Michael McFarlane and Independent Gregory Puccetti. On October 6, 2014,Kentucky Educational Television hosted a debate that was broadcast live on Louisville's KET, and was moderated by KET host Bill Goodman.^[16] Yarmuth was reelected with 63.5% of the vote.

Yarmuth was challenged by Republican Harold Bratcher and Independent Everett Corley. He won with 212,388 votes (63%) of the vote to Bratcher's 122,085 (37%). Corley received no votes.^[17]

On April 17, 2017, Yarmuth announced that his candidacy for reelection in the 2018 election.^[18] During the campaign, he lobbied for the chairship of theHouse Budget Committee and promised to hold hearings onMedicare for all.^[19] Yarmuth was reelected with over 62% of the vote againstVickie Yates Glisson, Kentucky's former Secretary of Health and Family Services.^[20][21] After the Democrats took the House, Yarmuth became Budget Committee chair. In that position, he requested documents pertaining to the withholding of appropriated defense funds to Ukraine.^[22]

Yarmuth was reelected to an eighth and final term with 62% of vote against Republican Rhonda Palazzo.

Yarmuth took office on January 3, 2007.

After his first year in Congress, Yarmuth donated his post-tax congressional salary of just over $120,000 to various Louisville charities.^[23]

On February 8, 2008, Yarmuth endorsedBarack Obama for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.^[24]

On September 29, 2008, Yarmuth voted against the TARP bailout plan, as negotiated by House SpeakerNancy Pelosi, Senate Majority LeaderHarry Reid, PresidentGeorge W. Bush, House Minority LeaderJohn Boehner, and Senate Minority LeaderMitch McConnell.^[25] He voted for the second version of the bailout bill.^[26]

Yarmuth said he was so "nauseated" by a moment of silence forMichael Jackson on the House floor that he left the chamber. "I thought it was outrageous," he said. "In my two and a half years, we've not done this for anybody else. We've done it for former members and that's about it."^[27]

After winning a 2008 rematch with Anne Northup, his 2006 general election opponent, Yarmuth was rewarded by theDemocratic Steering and Policy Committee with a spot on the influentialWays and Means Committee. On the committee, he worked on issues on which he campaigned before the 2008 election:Social Security, pension,Medicare, andMedicaid issues.^{[citation needed]}

At a September 2009 town hall meeting, constituents were unhappy with Yarmuth's decision to support thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act. "Yarmuth stayed calm in the face of boos and catcalls from some in the audience" according to an Associated Press report. "He warned that the current health care system is an unsustainable drain on businesses and the nation's economy."^[28]

In 2011, Yarmuth andWalter Jones introduced a bill to overturn key parts of the controversial court caseCitizens United v. FEC. The legislation would also give Congress the power to enact mandatory public financing for Congressional candidates and create a national holiday for voting purposes.^[29]

In 2011, Yarmuth voted against theNational Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 due to a controversial provision that allows the government and the military to indefinitely detain American citizens and others without trial.^[30][31]

In 2013, Yarmuth introduced theFair Elections Now Act, which would establish a public financing system for Congressional campaigns.^[32][33]

In 2015, Yarmuth once again made an attempt at removing "dark money" from the political sphere by proposing HR 2125, the Keeping our Campaigns Honest Act of 2015.^[34]

Yarmuth signed onto a "Medicare for All" bill along with 120 other House Democrats in 2018, supportingsingle-payer healthcare.^[35]

Yarmuth was the only Kentuckian member of theCongressional Progressive Caucus.

On December 18, 2019, Yarmuth voted for both articles of impeachment against PresidentDonald Trump, the only House member from Kentucky to do so.^[36]

For his tenure as the chairman of the House Budget Committee in the 116th Congress, Yarmuth earned an "A" grade from the nonpartisan Lugar Center's Congressional Oversight Hearing Index.^[37]

In 2021, Yarmuth introduced to the House theAmerican Rescue Plan Act of 2021, PresidentJoe Biden's first major piece of legislation.^[38]

On October 12, 2021, Yarmuth announced that he will retire from Congress at the end of his term in 2023.^[39]

• Committee on the Budget (chair)^[40][41]
• Committee on Education and Labor^[42]

• Regional Whip

Yarmuth's caucus memberships include:^[43]

In 2003, Yarmuth and formerWHAS-AM radio talk show hostJohn Ziegler debated political issues on the weeklyWAVE programYarmuth & Ziegler, with Yarmuth taking the liberal side and Ziegler the conservative side. On a successor program,Hot Button, which ran from September 2004 to December 2005, he faced off with conservative Jim Milliman.

Yarmuth appeared on the March 8, 2007, episode ofThe Colbert Report in the show's "Better Know a District" series. In a parody of Yarmuth's formerYarmuth & Ziegler debate series, hostStephen Colbert prodded Yarmuth into a point/counterpoint style debate. After agreeing to the "debate", Colbert forced Yarmuth to defend the shredding ofkittens inwood chippers, which Yarmuth gamely proceeded to do. Colbert called Yarmuth a real-lifeBruce Wayne, and presented him with a framed print of his congressional photo with aBatman mask photoshopped over his face.^[59]

Yarmuth has served on many boards, including the Bingham Child Guidance Center andKentucky Country Day School. He is Kentucky's first Jewish congressman. Yarmuth and his wife, Cathy Yarmuth, have one son, Aaron, who is a graduate of Kentucky Country Day.^{[citation needed]} Aaron was the owner of theLouisville Eccentric Observer, and along with a group of local investors purchased the publication in 2012. In May 2021 it was sold to theEuclid Media Group.^[60]

• List of Jewish members of the United States Congress

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John Yarmuth

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