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61-1046: U.S. Senator Jim DeMint founded Senate Conservatives Fund during summer 2008. In 2010, SCF raised $ 9.3 million, supporting successful Senate candidates Mike Lee of Utah (who defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Bob Bennett in a Republican primary), Rand Paul of Kentucky, Marco Rubio of Florida, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. SCF also supported a number of unsuccessful 2010 candidates, including Sharron Angle in Nevada, Ken Buck in Colorado, Joe Miller in Alaska, John Raese in West Virginia, Dino Rossi in Washington, and Christine O'Donnell in Delaware. DeMint left SCF in 2012. SCF, along with its affiliated super PAC, raised $ 16.5 million during

122-423: A 99% score, tied for first with Jim DeMint . He received a Liberal Action score of 38%. In March 2016, Lee endorsed Ted Cruz over Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican primary. He was the first senator to do so. At the time, he said, "I expect I'll be the first of many Republican senators who will endorse Ted Cruz. I'm confident more are on the way, and I welcome others to join." By June, after Trump had become

183-466: A Republican primary challenge to longtime incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran and supported Milton R. Wolf of Kansas in a Republican primary challenge to longtime incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts . Bevin, McDaniel, and Wolf all lost their primary elections. Overall, SCF-endorsed candidates won two of the six Senate races in which SCF invested in 2014; Ben Sasse was elected to the Senate from Nebraska and Joni Ernst

244-675: A Territorial Government for Utah", Section 9 of which provided that "the judicial power of said territory shall be vested in a Supreme Court, District Court, and Justices of the Peace". This act converted Deseret's supreme court into a territorial supreme court with expanded jurisdiction. In 1894, the United States Congress passed an Enabling Act, which called a convention to draft a constitution for Utah, another step towards statehood. The Enabling Act provided that Utah's territorial courts would be succeeded by new state courts with

305-548: A clerk for the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah before clerking for Samuel Alito , who was then a judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals . From 2002 to 2005, Lee was an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Utah. He joined the administration of Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr. , serving as the general counsel in the governor's office from 2005 to 2006. Lee again clerked for Alito after he

366-478: A highly publicized dispute between the company and the Utah public and public officials that caused controversy during his first Senate election. Utah's government had allowed the company to store radioactive waste in Utah as long as it was low-grade "Class A" material. When the company arranged to store waste from Italy, many objected that the waste was foreign and could be more radioactive than permitted. Lee argued that

427-608: A resolution "that would end U.S. military support for the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen's civil war ". Interviewed by The Hill , he said: "regardless of what may have happened with Mr. Khashoggi [referring to the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi ], we are fighting a war in Yemen that we haven't declared, that has never been declared or authorized by Congress. That's not constitutional." The Senate voted 60–39 to "formally begin debate on

488-495: A series of tweets declaring that the United States is "not a democracy" and that "democracy isn't the objective; liberty, peace, and prospefity [ sic ] are. We want the human condition to flourish. Rank democracy can thwart that." After provoking controversy, Lee continued to argue that the United States is more properly characterized as a constitutional republic. In March 2021, Lee said on Fox News that

549-495: A strategy to defund Obamacare that culminated in the 2013 shutdown of the federal government . Republican Senate leaders have criticized SCF for targeting incumbent Senate Republicans. In the 2013–2014 election cycle, SCF supported Matt Bevin and provided significant funding to Bevin’s Republican primary challenge to then-Senate Minority Leader McConnell in the State of Kentucky. SCF also supported Chris McDaniel of Mississippi in

610-420: A suburb of Washington, D.C. His father served first as the assistant U.S. attorney general for the civil division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1975 to 1976, and then as the solicitor general of the United States from 1981 to 1985. Lee is of English, Swiss, and Danish descent. After graduating from Timpview High School in 1989, Lee attended Brigham Young University . He was elected president of

671-488: A virtual meeting later that month, Lee stated his support of Biden's plan. Utah Supreme Court The Utah Supreme Court is the supreme court of the state of Utah , United States. It has final authority of interpretation of the Utah Constitution . The Utah Supreme Court is composed of five members: a chief justice , an associate chief justice, and three other justices . All justices are appointed by

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732-509: Is a conservative Republican. The New York Times used the NOMINATE system to rank Senate members by ideology; Lee ranked as the Senate's most conservative member. GovTrack 's 2017 analysis placed Lee on the right end of the spectrum, to the right of most Republicans, but to the left of a handful of Republican senators. FiveThirtyEight , which tracks congressional votes, found that Lee voted with Trump's positions on legislation 81.3% of

793-617: The 2020 and 2024 elections and supported the Trump administration's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election , although he ultimately voted to certify the outcome. Lee has been reelected twice, in 2016 and 2022 , the latter victory over McMullin. Lee also chaired the Joint Economic Committee from 2019 to 2021. Lee was born in Mesa, Arizona on June 4, 1971, the son of Janet (née Griffin) and Rex E. Lee , who

854-478: The Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution allowed the company to accept foreign waste and that the waste could be reduced in grade by mixing it with lower-grade materials, while the state government sought to ban the importation of foreign waste using a radioactive waste interstate compact . EnergySolutions eventually abandoned its plans to store Italian radioactive waste in Utah, ending the dispute, with

915-568: The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 . In 2017, Lee was one of 22 Republican senators to sign a letter to President Trump urging him to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement . According to OpenSecrets , Lee has received campaign contributions from oil and gas interests amounting to $ 231,520 and from coal interests in the amount of $ 21,895, for a total of $ 253,415 since 2012. At a May 2016 event, Lee rejected

976-633: The For the People Act was "rotten to the core" and was "as if written in Hell by the devil himself". The act attempts to expand voting rights, change campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of money in politics, limit partisan gerrymandering , and create new ethics rules for federal officeholders. It has been criticized by conservatives, including Lee, who believe its provisions improperly take power over elections away from state governments and give it to

1037-540: The House of Representatives overwhelmingly, 360–59. The bill intends to improve rehabilitation programs for former prisoners, and to give judges more "wiggle room" when sentencing nonviolent crime offenders. The bill eventually passed the Senate and became law. In September 2020, during a Senate hearing, Lee took out and waved a pocket-size Constitution published by an anti-government Mormon group founded by conspiracy theorist W. Cleon Skousen . In October 2020, Lee sent

1098-532: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1998 to 1999. Lee then entered private practice at the Washington, D.C., office of the law firm Sidley Austin , specializing in appellate and Supreme Court litigation. In 2002, Lee left Sidley and returned to Utah to serve as an assistant U.S. attorney in Salt Lake City , preparing briefs and arguing cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for

1159-636: The governor of Utah , with confirmation by the Utah Senate . The five justices elect one of their own to serve as chief justice and another to serve as associate chief justice, each for a term of four years. Before present-day Utah became a state, it was organized into a provisional state, called the State of Deseret . Its constitution established a three-member supreme court. In 1850, the United States Congress passed "An Act to Establish

1220-546: The scientific consensus on climate change , calling it "little more than a cheap public-relations ploy" by the Democratic Party. Lee opposes a carbon tax to deal with climate change. In 2018, Lee defended Jim Bridenstine 's nomination to head NASA . Bridenstine's nomination was contentious, given that he rejected the scientific consensus on climate change and had no background in science. In defending Bridenstine, Lee falsely claimed that NASA disputed that there

1281-454: The 10th U.S. Circuit court later ruling that the compact had the power to block foreign radioactive waste from being stored in Utah. Lee ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010 . When campaigning, he focused on the size of the federal government. He said the U.S. Constitution needed to be amended to create a flat-tax system and impose term limits on members of Congress. Senators would be allowed up to two terms and representatives up to six terms under

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1342-491: The 2011-2012 election cycle. In 2012, SCF spent more than $ 8.7 million, endorsing nine Republican U.S. Senate candidates; three of those nine candidates—Ted Cruz, Jeff Flake , and Deb Fischer —were elected. SCF has aligned itself with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and has levied attacks on Senators Mitch McConnell and Lamar Alexander . In 2013, the fund orchestrated a robocall and direct mail campaign to generate signatures for an anti-Affordable Care Act petition. SCF also endorsed

1403-561: The 2017 Alabama special election runoff to fill the seat of U.S. Attorney General and former senator Jeff Sessions . Moore had been removed as the Alabama Supreme Court's chief justice in 2003 for defying a federal order to remove an illegal Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Judicial Building . He was reelected chief justice in 2012. In May 2016, Moore was once again removed from the bench by

1464-752: The Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC), permanently via suspension for the rest of his term, making him ineligible for reelection, for ordering state probate judges to ignore a U.S. Supreme Court decision. In a 50-page opinion, the Court of the Judiciary denied Moore's appeal of the JIC's decision, and said his removal was necessary "to preserve the integrity, independence, impartiality of Alabama's judiciary". Nevertheless, Lee praised Moore for his "reputation of integrity" and said he

1525-571: The FBI was involved in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. To date, only one FBI agent, Brett Gloss, has been identified as having entered a restricted area of the Capitol grounds. After Biden won the 2020 presidential election, Trump refused to concede, and a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol , Lee said Trump should be given a " mulligan " for his inflammatory January 6 speech immediately before

1586-772: The Republican nomination with 51% of the vote to Bridgewater's 49%. Lee won the November 2 general election with 62% of the vote to Democratic nominee Sam Granato's 33% and Constitution Party nominee Scott Bradley's 6%. Lee was reelected in 2016. He was endorsed by the Club for Growth , the Senate Conservatives Fund , and the National Republican Senatorial Committee . Lee defeated Becky Edwards and Ally Isom in

1647-479: The Republican primary election. Isom criticized Lee for seeking a third term after he had supported legislation to limit senators to two terms. In the general election, Lee was challenged by independent Evan McMullin , for whom Lee voted for president in 2016 . The Utah Democratic Party backed McMullin instead of nominating a candidate. Polling in September showed Lee with 36% support and McMullin with 34%, with

1708-578: The Tenth Circuit . He served as general counsel to Utah Governor Jon M. Huntsman Jr. from 2005 to 2006. From 2006 to 2007, Lee again clerked for Alito, who had recently been appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Afterward, Lee returned to private practice in Utah, joining the Salt Lake City office of the law firm Howrey LLP . As an attorney, Lee also represented Class A low-level radioactive waste facility provider EnergySolutions Inc. in

1769-528: The cops, the firefighters, the construction workers, the volunteers, the survivors, all of a sudden ... we gotta go through this." On July 23, 2019, Lee was one of two senators to vote against the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund . In 2013, Lee, Dick Durbin , and Patrick Leahy proposed a bill aiming "to focus limited federal resources on the most serious offenders". The bill would reduce some minimum sentences for drug-related offenses by half. In November 2018, Lee criticized Senator Tom Cotton for his stance on

1830-630: The country without congressional authorization. He said that the Obama administration had not made clear American objectives in Syria surrounding Assad's future, and that he believed Trump's claim that the Islamic State had been defeated. Lee has long been in favor of ending American involvement in Afghanistan . He signed a letter in 2011 urging President Barack Obama to withdraw troops from

1891-508: The country. In May 2017, he called into question a proposal from military leaders to send additional troops there, calling to mind previous times when more soldiers were sent to the country but which, according to Lee, failed to make a significant difference. Lee maintained that American involvement in the war has wasted thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. In April 2021, President Joe Biden announced plans to withdraw all remaining US troops from Afghanistan by September 11 of that year. At

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1952-530: The election results , claiming to have been working "14 hours a day" to find a path he could "persuasively defend". The strategies included attempts to persuade state legislatures in states Joe Biden won to put forward alternative slates of electors and promoting the efforts of attorneys Sidney Powell and John Eastman , arguing that "everything changes, of course, if the swing states submit competing slates of electors pursuant to state law." Ultimately, Lee became concerned by what he considered Powell's missteps,

2013-418: The federal government. Lee has worked with Senator Amy Klobuchar to use antitrust laws against large technology companies like Facebook , Apple , and Amazon . Klobuchar said of collaborating with Lee: We do find common ground on questions of policy, working out deals and contingencies we want to have. We get along quite well. Lee was among the 31 Senate Republicans who voted against final passage of

2074-414: The findings "demonstrate an elaborate and alarming military-venture between rogue, tyrannical states to avoid United States and international sanctions and inflict terror and death upon thousands of innocent people" while calling it "imperative that the United States provides a swift and appropriate response to the continued use of chemical weapons used by President Assad and his forces, and works to address

2135-406: The first general election held more than three years after appointment" and every ten years thereafter. 40°45′34″N 111°53′20″W  /  40.759497°N 111.888918°W  / 40.759497; -111.888918 This article relating to law in the United States or its constituent jurisdictions is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Utah -related article

2196-655: The impetus for the Project was to "build a farm team for the Senate." Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah , a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party , Lee became Utah's senior senator in 2019 and dean of Utah's congressional delegation in 2021. The son of U.S. Solicitor General Rex E. Lee and brother of Utah Supreme Court justice Thomas Rex Lee , Lee began his career as

2257-533: The lack of evidence given by her and others of election fraud, state legislatures' failure to convene alternate slates of electors, and what Lee considered the unconstitutional efforts of Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley to challenge the election certification in Congress on January 6. Lee ultimately voted to certify the election, saying that the effort to block the certification "could all backfire badly", but he continued to promulgate disinformation, claiming

2318-467: The praise of the world" and wants only "the well-being and peace of the American people". His comparison was met with backlash. The overwhelming majority of responses on Lee's Facebook account characterized his efforts as "shameful" or "blasphemous". In a follow-up Facebook post, Lee wrote that he had praised Trump for his willingness to "threaten the established political order", but that the comparison

2379-530: The presumptive nominee, Lee had still not endorsed him, saying he needed "assurances" that Trump would not act as an "authoritarian" or "autocrat" and expressing frustration that Trump had "accused my best friend's father of conspiring to kill JFK "; at several points during the 2016 primary, Trump publicly implied that Ted Cruz's father Rafael had consorted with Lee Harvey Oswald to assassinate President John F. Kennedy . Lee voted for Independent Evan McMullin . On October 16, 2017, Lee endorsed Roy Moore in

2440-536: The proposal. At the Republican State Convention, he received 982 votes (28.75%) on the first ballot, to Tim Bridgewater 's 26.84% and incumbent U.S. senator Bob Bennett 's 25.91%. Bridgewater won the second and third ballots to win the party endorsement. Both Bridgewater and Lee received enough support to have their names placed on the primary ballot. In the June 22 primary election, Lee won

2501-526: The proposed First Step Act , a criminal justice reform bill Lee supported. Cotton had said that the legislation "gives early release to 'low level, nonviolent' criminals like those convicted of assaulting police, even with deadly weapons". Lee responded that "the First Step Act does not 'give early release' to anyone. Anyone claiming it does, does not understand how the bill works." The bipartisan bill, drafted by Chuck Grassley , Lee, and Durbin, passed

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2562-607: The resolution", which would require the President to "withdraw troops in or 'affecting' Yemen within 30 days unless they are fighting al Qaeda ". In April 2018, Lee was one of eight Republican senators to sign a letter to United States Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin and acting Secretary of State John Sullivan expressing "deep concern" over a United Nations report exposing "North Korean sanctions evasion involving Russia and China" and asserting that

2623-661: The rest undecided or choosing another candidate. According to Jason Perry, the director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah , Utah had "not seen a Senate race this competitive in decades". Lee won the election with 53% of the vote. In 2011, Club for Growth gave Lee a 100% score. He also received a 100% Conservative voting record for 2011 from the American Conservative Union . The Heritage Foundation gave him

2684-604: The riot . By April 2022, the January 6th Committee had discovered and released over 100 emails between Lee, Congressman Chip Roy , and Meadows discussing their plans to overturn the election results. Committee assignments Committee on the Judiciary Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Special Committee on Aging (2021–present) Joint Economic Committee Previous committee assignments Lee

2745-653: The same structure and jurisdiction. When Utah became a state on January 4, 1896, its constitution took effect, and Utah's territorial supreme court was replaced by a new state supreme court. The constitution provided that the court would have three members, but that the Utah Legislature could expand its membership to five after 1905, an option it ultimately exercised. In 1998, the Utah Supreme Court moved into its current courthouse, named for Governor Scott M. Matheson . The multimillion-dollar building

2806-571: The sexual misconduct allegations, "If these allegations are true, Judge Moore should resign." Later that day, Lee rescinded his endorsement of Moore. On October 28, 2020, Lee compared President Trump to Captain Moroni , a heroic figure in the Book of Mormon , telling rally-goers in Arizona: "To my Mormon friends, my Latter-Day Saint friends, think of him as Captain Moroni." He said that Trump "seeks not

2867-545: The shortcomings in sanctions enforcement". He criticized Trump for ordering the 2018 missile strikes against Syria in response to the Douma chemical attack , stating that he lacked the constitutional authority to do so without Congress' permission because the U.S. was not in imminent danger. Lee supported Trump's decision to withdraw American troops from Syria in December 2018, saying that American forces should not have been in

2928-401: The state of Kentucky and the people from the state of Utah deserve better", Feal said. Stewart said, "We have to stand up for the people who have always stood up for us, and maybe cannot stand up for themselves due to their illnesses and their injuries. ... There [are] some things that they have no trouble putting on the credit card, but somehow when it comes to the 9/11 first responder community,

2989-401: The storming of the Capitol. Lee later defended his remarks, saying, "my reference to taking a 'mulligan' was not referring to Trump, but to Democratic politicians whose inflammatory comments had just been played for me on the air [on Fox News]. I used the term...to avoid needlessly inflaming partisan passions." On May 28, 2021, Lee voted against creating an independent commission to investigate

3050-558: The students' association, BYUSA , while his father was president of the university. He graduated in 1994 with a bachelor of arts in political science. Lee then attended BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School , where he was a member of the BYU Law Review and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1997. After law school, Lee clerked for Judge Dee Benson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah from 1997 to 1998, then for Judge (later Supreme Court Justice) Samuel Alito of

3111-416: The time as of July 2018. A study by Brigham Young University political science professor Michael Barber found Lee to be the "most ideologically extreme senator in the 113th Congress". On July 17, 2019, Jon Stewart and disabled construction worker John Feal criticized Lee and Rand Paul on Fox News for blocking a bill that provided Victims Compensation Fund support for disabled 9/11 responders. The fund

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3172-526: Was solicitor general under President Ronald Reagan . Lee's older brother Thomas Rex Lee is a former justice of the Utah Supreme Court . Lee's family moved to Provo, Utah , one year later, when his father became the founding dean of Brigham Young University 's J. Reuben Clark Law School . While Lee spent about half of his childhood years in Utah, he spent the other half in McLean, Virginia ,

3233-409: Was "perhaps awkward" and that his "impromptu comments may not have been the best forum for drawing a novel analogy from scripture". Text messages gathered by the January 6 Committee reveal Lee's close coordination with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the aftermath of Trump's defeat in the 2020 election . In the weeks after the election, Lee pursued a series of strategies to overturn

3294-469: Was a scientific consensus on climate change. Since his confirmation, Bridenstine has said that he agrees with the scientific consensus on human contributions to climate change. On March 26, 2019, the Senate opened debate on the Green New Deal . When Lee took the floor, he called the plan absurd, comparing it to an image of Ronald Reagan riding a velociraptor , and argued that having more babies

3355-400: Was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court . In the 2010 U.S. Senate election in Utah , Lee defeated incumbent senator Bob Bennett in the Republican primary, and won the general election. Although he refused to endorse Donald Trump during the 2016 Republican presidential primaries and voted for Evan McMullin in the general election, Lee eventually became a Trump ally. He endorsed Trump in

3416-449: Was elected to the Senate from Iowa. Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli became president of SCF in 2014. Following the 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol , SCF began raising money for Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who had been widely ostracized by corporate donors after accusations that he incited the violence, with SCF raising $ 700,000 and spending nearly $ 400,000 to send texts and emails in support of him. In 2021, it

3477-583: Was essential to getting conservative legislation through the Senate. "That is why I am proudly endorsing Judge Roy Moore. Alabamians have the chance to send a proven, conservative fighter to the United States Senate". On November 9, 2017, Moore was accused of molesting a 14-year-old and other girls under age 18 when he was 32. On November 10, Lee asked the Moore campaign to stop using Lee's endorsement of Moore in its ads. Lee's spokesperson said of

3538-641: Was near exhaustion. On the Senate floor, Paul objected to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand 's request for the bill to be approved by unanimous consent ; per Senate rules, such a request is rejected if any senator objects. Lee had placed such a hold on the measure, despite its 73 Senate co-sponsors. Stewart and Feal, as well as leaders of the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Firefighters , tried to get both senators to withdraw their objections. "The people from

3599-551: Was nicknamed the " Taj Mahal " by some critics over its cost. Prior to that, the court met in the Utah State Capitol . The Governor of Utah nominates justices from a list created by a judicial nominating commission each time a vacancy arises. The nominee must then be confirmed by a majority of the Utah Senate to take office. If confirmed, the justice is subjected to a nonpartisan, "unopposed retention election at

3660-469: Was reported that the SCF spent nearly $ 90,000 on bulk purchases on a book published by Tom Cotton , as well as nearly $ 65,000 to Regnery Publishing for bulk purchases of Josh Hawley's forthcoming book. In 2013, SCF expanded its focus to include supporting conservative candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives through its House Conservatives Project. SCF Executive Director Matt Hoskins stated that part of

3721-609: Was the real solution. He also said that "the authors of the Green New Deal proposal are trying to suggest people should not have babies and I think that's atrocious". According to Deseret News , "The text of the resolution does not address population growth or suggest limiting the number of children people can have." As part of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in 2018, Lee, Bernie Sanders , and Chris Murphy co-sponsored

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