History of Roy Blunt in Timeline
January 10, 1950
Blunt was born on January 10, 1950, in Niangua, Missouri, the son of Neva Dora (née Letterman) and Leroy Blunt, a politician. He earned a B.A. degree in history in 1970 from Southwest Baptist University.
January 10, 1950
Roy Dean Blunt (born January 10, 1950) is an American politician who served as a United States senator from Missouri from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 33rd Missouri Secretary of State (1985–1993) and U.S. Representative for Missouri's 7th congressional district (1997–2011).
May 1967
Blunt has been married twice. He married Roseann Ray in May 1967; he had three children with her: Matt, the former governor of Missouri, Amy Blunt Mosby and Andrew Blunt. All three children are corporate lobbyists. Some critics have criticized Andrew's dual professional roles as both a lobbyist for firms that might benefit from his father's influence and his father's campaign manager. Matt Blunt is also a lobbyist, as is his wife. The Blunts say they are careful not to seek influence for their clients with Senator Blunt.
1971
In 2022, Blunt later became one of ten Republican Senators to support a bipartisan agreement on gun control, which involved a red flag provision, a support for state crisis intervention orders, funding for school safety resources, stronger background checks for buyers under the age of 21, and penalties for straw purchases. As a result of Blunt supporting the Safer Communities Act hunter safety and school archery programs have come under attack by the Department of Education.
1973
Blunt entered politics in 1973, when he was appointed county clerk and chief election official of Greene County, Missouri. He was subsequently elected to the position three times and served a total of 12 years.
1980
In 1980 incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor Bill Phelps ran for governor. Blunt, the Greene County Clerk, decided to run for the open seat and won the Republican primary, but lost the general election to State Representative Ken Rothman 56%–44%.
1984
In 1984, after incumbent Democratic Missouri Secretary of State James Kirkpatrick decided to retire, Blunt ran for the position and won the Republican primary with 79% of the vote. In the general election, he defeated Democratic State Representative Gary D. Sharpe 54%–46%. He became the first Republican to hold the post in 50 years.
1988
In 1988, he won reelection against Democrat James Askew 61%–38%.
1992
Since incumbent Republican Governor John Ashcroft was term-limited, Blunt ran for the governorship in 1992. Missouri Attorney General William Webster won the Republican primary, defeating Blunt and Missouri Treasurer Wendell Bailey 44%–40%–15%. Webster lost the general election to Mel Carnahan.
1994
Blunt said of the amendment, "[W]as it an overreach when Mrs. Clinton put it in the Clinton health care plan in 1994? I don't think it's an overreach at all. It doesn't mention any specific procedure. It doesn't even suggest the mandate should be eliminated."
1996
Born in Niangua, Missouri, Blunt is a graduate of Southwest Baptist University and Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University). After serving as Missouri Secretary of State from 1985 to 1993, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Missouri's 7th congressional district in 1996. There, he served as Republican Whip from 2003 to 2009.
1996
In 1996 Blunt decided to run for the United States House of Representatives after incumbent U.S. Representative Mel Hancock honored his pledge to serve only four terms. Blunt ran in Missouri's 7th congressional district, the state's most conservative district, in the Ozark Mountains in the southwest. Blunt's political action committee is the Rely on Your Beliefs Fund.
August 06, 1996
On August 6, 1996, he won the Republican primary, defeating Gary Nodler 56%–44%. In the general election, he defeated Democrat Ruth Bamberger 65%–32%.
1999
Upon entering the U.S. House, Blunt served on the House International Relations Committee, the House Committee on Agriculture, and the House Transportation Committee. In 1999, he gave up seats on the latter two committees and joined the Committee on Energy and Commerce. In addition he became a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
2002
After only one term, Blunt was appointed Chief Deputy Whip, the highest appointed position in the House Republican Caucus. In that capacity, he served as the Republicans' chief vote-counter. In 2002, when Dick Armey retired and fellow Texan Tom DeLay was elected to succeed him, Blunt was elected to succeed DeLay as House Majority Whip.
2003
Blunt has been a supporter of free-trade agreements. The Springfield News-Leader wrote: "[Blunt] has supported a spate of free-trade agreements during his nearly 20 years in Congress, including a U.S-Singapore deal in 2003, the Central American Free Trade agreement in 2005 and the U.S-Korea agreement in 2011." After early enthusiasm, Blunt has been ambivalent about supporting the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).
2003
Blunt married Abigail Perlman, a lobbyist for Kraft Foods and Philip Morris, in 2003. In April 2006, he and Perlman adopted Charlie Blunt, an 18-month-old boy from Russia. The family lives in Washington, D.C., and also own a condo in Springfield, Missouri. Roy Blunt has six grandchildren. He is a practicing Southern Baptist.
2003
Blunt voted in favor of school prayer and supported the No Child Left Behind Act. He voted in favor of school vouchers within the District of Columbia but against broader legislation allowing states to use federal money to issue vouchers for private or religious schools. He received a 17% rating from the National Education Association in 2003.
2005
In 2005, Blunt supported President George W. Bush's proposal to partially privatize Social Security for those under the age of 55.
September 2005
Blunt served as Majority Leader on an acting basis starting in September 2005, after DeLay was indicted on felony charges involving campaign finance. On January 8, 2006, one day after DeLay announced that he would not seek to regain his position, Blunt announced he would run to permanently replace DeLay.
2006
In 2006, Blunt successfully advocated for legislation that placed restrictions on over-the-counter cold medicines that could be used in the production of methamphetamines. The legislation, called the Combat Meth Act, was opposed by retail and drug lobbyists.
January 14, 2006
On January 14, 2006, Blunt issued a release claiming that the majority of the Republican caucus had endorsed him as DeLay's successor. But when the election was held by secret ballot on February 2, 2006, U.S. Representative John Boehner of Ohio won on the second ballot, with 122 votes to 109 for Blunt. In November 2006, House Republicans elected Blunt to their second-highest position during the 110th Congress, Minority Whip. Blunt handily defeated U.S. Representative John Shadegg of Arizona for the position. He announced he would step down from the position in late 2008, following two successive election cycles where House Republicans had lost seats, avoiding a difficult battle with his deputy, Eric Cantor, who was urged by some to challenge Blunt for the position.
February 19, 2009
On February 19, 2009, Blunt announced he would seek the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate election for the seat being vacated by incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Kit Bond. He successfully ran against Democratic nominee Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, Constitution Party nominee Jerry Beck, Libertarian nominee Jonathan Dine, and write-in candidates Mark S. Memoly, Frazier Miller, Jeff Wirick and Richie L. Wolfe.
August 2009
In August 2009, Blunt stated in two separate newspaper interviews that, because he was 59 years old, "In either Canada or Great Britain, if I broke my hip, I couldn't get it replaced." He stated he had heard the statement in Congressional testimony by "some people who are supposed to be experts on Canadian health care." The PolitiFact service of the St. Petersburg Times reported that it could not find any such testimony.
2010
Blunt has argued for the need to reduce fraud and waste in Medicare and Social Security. He has spoken out for the need to reform entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. In 2016 AARP said of Blunt, "He said in 2010 that he remained open to the idea of individual Social Security accounts. His position hasn't changed, but he has maintained for years that it's not a viable issue for anyone."
2010
Blunt successfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010. The next year, he was elected vice chairman of the Senate Republican Conference. Blunt, who was the dean of Missouri's congressional delegation, was elected to serve as Policy Committee chairman in November 2018. On March 8, 2021, he announced that he would not seek reelection in 2022. He was succeeded in the U.S. Senate by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt.
2011
In 2011, Blunt called for a no fly zone over Libya.
2012
In 2012, Blunt attempted to add an amendment to a highway funding bill that would allow employers to refuse to provide health insurance for birth control and contraceptives. In a press release, Blunt defended the amendment on the grounds that it protected the First Amendment rights of religious employers; the amendment failed, with 51 senators voting against it.
February 2012
The Wall Street Journal reported in February 2012 that "Blunt introduced an amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that would allow an employer to deny health services if they conflict with their 'religious beliefs or moral convictions'."
2013
In 2013, Blunt voted against Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would have outlawed employer discrimination based on sexuality or gender identity. In 2022, Blunt stated his support for gay marriage, recanting his longstanding opposition, and later that year voted for the Respect for Marriage Act.
2013
In 2013, Blunt worked with Monsanto to author a rider called the Farmer Assurance Provision, which was added into the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013. The rider's language originated in an agriculture spending bill in the U.S. House.
April 2013
In April 2013, Blunt was one of forty-six senators to vote against the passing of a bill which would have expanded background checks for all gun buyers. Blunt voted with 40 Republicans and 5 Democrats to stop the bill, which failed to pass.
June 20, 2013
On June 20, 2013, Blunt co-sponsored the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2013. The bill was intended to permanently eliminate federal estate tax and it did not pass.
July 2013
In July 2013, Blunt indicated that he would not support efforts to tie raising the federal debt ceiling to defunding Obamacare. In an interview on MSNBC, he expressed his opinion that Obamacare is "destined to fail", but that raising the debt ceiling should not be "held hostage" to "any specific thing".
January 17, 2014
On January 17, 2014, Blunt introduced a bill called the Partnership to Build America Act. If signed into law, the bill would create a special fund to pay for infrastructure projects across the United States, according to Ripon Advance.
2015
According to The Springfield News-Leader, "Blunt has railed against the Obama administration's proposed rules to combat global warming, which could deal a blow to Missouri's coal-fired power plants." In 2015, Blunt sponsored an unsuccessful amendment which "called on the Senate to nullify a climate change agreement in November between the United States and China in which both nations pledged to reduce their carbon emissions."
2015
Blunt rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. In 2015, he voted against a nonbinding Senate resolution stating that "climate change is real and caused by human activity and that Congress needs to take action to cut carbon pollution." According to The Guardian, Blunt has acknowledged that climate change exists, but said that the human role in it is "unclear".
2016
Blunt ran for re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2016. He won the Republican primary with 73% of the vote and faced Democrat Jason Kander in the November 2016 general election on November 8, 2016. Blunt won with 49.2% of the vote to Kander's 46.4%.
2016
In 2016, Blunt worked to block a carbon tax on emissions. He supports the expanded domestic exploration for coal and natural gas. Citing his support for agriculture and energy production, Blunt "has aggressively pushed to block a rule that would allow the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate some streams, wetlands and other waters."
2016
In 2016, Senators Blunt and Patty Murray (D-WA) co-sponsored a successful $2 billion funding increase for the National Institutes of Health, the first such research increase in over a decade.
February 2016
In September 2020, less than two months before the next presidential election, Blunt supported an immediate Senate vote on Trump's nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy caused by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death. In February 2016, Blunt rejected consideration of President Obama's Supreme Court nominee during a presidential election year, opining that the "Senate should not confirm a new Supreme Court justice until we have a new president."
2017
Blunt has worked to protect the coal industry and co-sponsored an amendment to urge President Obama to consult with the Senate before ratifying the Paris climate agreements. In 2017, he was one of 22 senators to sign a letter to Trump urging him to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. According to OpenSecrets, Blunt has received over $400,000 from the oil and gas industry since 2012.
February 2017
In February 2017, along with Democrat Joe Manchin, Blunt introduced the HIRE Veterans Act, legislation that would recognize qualified employers in the event that they met particular criteria designed to encourage businesses that are friendly toward veterans. These include the percentages of new hires or overall workforce who are veterans, the availability of particular types of training and leadership development opportunities, and other factors that show an employer's commitment to support veterans after their military careers. The bill was signed into law on November 30, 2021.
2018
In 2018, Blunt rejected the CIA's "high confidence" assessment that Saudi prince Mohammed bin-Salman ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the Saudi regime. Blunt said, "we don't quite have all the information we’d like to have yet."
2020
In 2020, Blunt voted to acquit Trump in his first impeachment trial.
January 2020
In January 2020, Blunt supported the Trump administration ordering the killing of Qasem Soleimani.
November 06, 2020
On November 6, 2020, while Chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee and the fourth-ranking Republican in the Senate, Blunt said Trump "should turn this discussion over to his lawyers" and "you can't stop the count in one state and decide you want the count to continue in another state. That might be how you'd like to see the system work but that's not how the system works." The previous night, Trump had alleged that Democrats were "stealing" the election.
2021
In 2021, Blunt criticized the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, arguing that there was a failure to evacuate U.S. citizens and their family members.
2021
In 2021, Blunt was one of 43 senators who voted to acquit Trump in his second impeachment trial.
January 06, 2021
Blunt was at the U.S. Capitol when Trump supporters attacked it on January 6, 2021, serving as a teller for the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count certification, alongside Senator Amy Klobuchar, Representative Rodney Davis, and Representative Zoe Lofgren. Before the certification, Blunt said he would support the certification of the election, in contrast to his fellow Missouri senator Josh Hawley. While Blunt observed the deliberations over the objection to counting Arizona's votes, led by Ted Cruz, the Capitol was breached. Along with other senators, Blunt was removed from the Senate floor to an undisclosed location as the insurrectionists moved closer to the Senate chambers. He tweeted during the attack that the "violence and destruction" needed to stop and that "This is not who we are as a nation." Blunt stated that Trump "was a part of it", referring to the insurrection.
May 28, 2021
On May 28, 2021, Blunt abstained from voting on the creation of an independent commission to investigate the Capitol riot.
August 09, 2021
On August 9, 2021, Blunt was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) "for distinguished service to Australia's bilateral relationship with the United States of America, in particular to the joint Free Trade Agreement".
2022
In 2022, after the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, Blunt said that Trump "should have turned over all the documents" to the National Archives when he left office. Blunt also expressed concern over the timing of the search, citing the upcoming midterm elections.
February 14, 2023
On February 14, 2023, Blunt was elected as president of The State Historical Society of Missouri where he has been a trustee since 2005.
July 17, 2023
On July 17, 2023, it was announced that Blunt was appointed as a member of Southwest Airlines' board of directors.