Amash has described himself as a
libertarian, dissenting from both Republican and Democratic leadership more frequently than the vast majority of Republican members of Congress. Amash was regarded as one of the most libertarian members of Congress, receiving high scores from right-leaning interest groups such as the
Club for Growth,
Heritage Action, and
Americans for Prosperity, and praise from limited-government
think tanks and nonprofit organizations. He was a founding member of the
House Freedom Caucus, On July 4, 2019, he announced that he was leaving the Republican Party to become an independent. He officially announced his membership in the
Libertarian Party in April 2020. Before leaving the GOP, Amash gained a reputation as a
gadfly within the Republican Party; his staunchly libertarian and sometimes
contrarian views resulted at times in disagreements with party leadership and other members of the Michigan congressional delegation. Amash has been outspoken about the American
two-party system. In a 2020 interview, he argued that national politicians now focused on media perception of their party, whereas "the actual process of legislating is all but forgotten." Amash has called economists
F. A. Hayek and
Frédéric Bastiat his "biggest heroes" and political inspirations and has described himself as "Hayekian libertarian." He describes himself as "100 percent pro-life" and in 2017 voted in favor of
federal legislation to ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Amash voted "present", rather than "yes" or "no", on the 2011 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act, which provided for the cessation of federal funding to
Planned Parenthood. Although he supports eliminating federal funding for Planned Parenthood, he abstained from defunding legislation, arguing that "legislation that names a specific private organization to defund (rather than all organizations that engage in a particular activity) is improper" and an "arguably unconstitutional"
bill of attainder. In May 2012, Amash was one of seven Republicans to vote against the Prenatal Non-Discrimination Act, which would have made it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion on a woman who wants to end a pregnancy based on the gender of the fetus. He criticized the bill as ineffective and virtually impossible to enforce, and said Congress "should not criminalize thought", while maintaining that he believes "all abortion should be illegal".
D.C. statehood On June 26, 2020, Amash voted against H.R. 51, a
D.C. Statehood bill.
Death penalty In July 2019, Amash cosponsored Representative
Ayanna Pressley's bill that would abolish the death penalty at the federal level. On February 26, 2020, he was one of four representatives who voted against the
Justice for Victims of Lynching Act, which recognized
lynching as a federal
hate crime, stating that it would expand the use of the death penalty and that the acts criminalized by the bill are already illegal under federal law.
Drug policy and police reform Amash has supported efforts to decriminalize cannabis, including the
Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act in 2017 (which he cosponsored) and the
Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act in 2020. Both bills sought to legalize cannabis at the federal level by removing it from the
Controlled Substances Act. In 2015, Amash and Representative
Ted Lieu (D–CA) introduced a bill to block the
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from financing its Cannabis Eradication Program through
civil asset forfeiture. Amash took aim at asset forfeiture in a statement, saying the practice allows "innocent people to have their property taken without sufficient
due process". In December 2020, Amash introduced a bill titled the Civil Asset Forfeiture Elimination Act to abolish the practice nationwide. In June 2020, Amash and Pressley introduced the
Ending Qualified Immunity Act which would remove from law enforcement officers, and other officials, the protection of
qualified immunity that routinely protects them from civil lawsuits.
Economic Amash opposes government bailouts and tax increases. That same year, he was one of four House Republicans who joined 161 Democrats to oppose an alternative balanced budget resolution without a federal spending cap.
Energy and environment Amash has criticized the
Environmental Protection Agency, arguing that many environmental regulations are too strict. He voted for the
Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011, which would have amended the
Clean Air Act of 1963 to prohibit the EPA from regulating specified
greenhouse gases as
air pollutants. In a 2017 debate, Amash "exaggerated uncertainty around the basics of climate science"—specifically, the
scientific consensus that
carbon emissions cause climate change. But in a 2020 interview, Amash said that
climate change is a real and "very important" issue, that he believes climate change is being driven at least in part by human activity and that "action with respect to climate change" should be taken. Amash opposes regulations to
combat climate change, voted against legislation to block Trump's decision to
withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, and voted for legislation "expressing the
sense of Congress that a
carbon tax would be detrimental to the United States economy."
Gerrymandering Amash opposes political
gerrymandering, saying in 2018 that he strongly supported adopting "an independent process for drawing districts" based on geographic considerations, so that districts would be "as compact and contiguous as possible." Amash was the only Republican member of Michigan's congressional delegation who did not join a federal lawsuit challenging the state's political boundaries.
Healthcare On May 4, 2017, Amash voted in favor of repealing the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and to pass a revised version of the
American Health Care Act. Amash initially opposed the American Health Care Act, describing it as "Swampcare", tweeting that "It didn't take long for the swamp to drain @realDonaldTrump" and criticizing House leadership for attempting to "ram it through." Nevertheless, Amash voted for the updated AHCA plan before the
Congressional Budget Office could determine its impact or cost.
Political reform Amash has pointed to structural problems in how Congress operates. He believes that many members have put "party above principles," in both the Democratic and Republican parties. He notes that many in Congress lack an understanding of parliamentary procedure, allowing leadership to dictate what legislation is passed. On February 13, 2013, he voted against the
Federal Disaster Assistance Nonprofit Fairness Act of 2013, which would make all places of religious worship eligible for FEMA grants, stating that bill "skews the law away from fairness by making religious buildings automatically eligible for reconstruction aid when other entities aren’t."
Security and surveillance Amash has been a frequent critic of the
National Security Agency's surveillance programs. He voted against the 2011 reauthorization of the
USA PATRIOT Act, the 2012 reauthorization of the
FISA Amendments Act, and the
USA Freedom Act. In 2013, Amash and 15 other members of Congress filed an
amicus brief in Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court supporting the release of the Court's unpublished opinions regarding the "meaning, scope, and constitutionality" of Section 215 of the Patriot Act. On June 12, 2013, he called for
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to resign for stating at a Senate committee hearing in March that the NSA did not collect data. In 2013, Amash was one of two Republicans to vote in favor of closing
Guantanamo Bay and transferring its detainees. The amendment by
Adam Smith would have eliminated all funding for the detention facility by December 31, 2014, removed all limitations on the transfer of detainees, removed a ban on the transfer of detainees to the United States and removed statutes that had banned the use of taxpayer funds for the construction of facilities in the United States for those detainees. It failed on a 174–249 vote. In 2015, Amash joined
John Lewis in signing a letter to the Senate urging them to oppose the USA Freedom Act, which extended surveillance. He recalls: “Here I was, one of the new wave Republicans leading the charge at the time, and I go to John Lewis, an iconic Democrat, asking for help. He says that of course he can help me. His signature was so important in getting other Democrats to look beyond party affiliation and look at the policy—and realize that the policy needed pushback.” In 2016, Amash was one of three Republicans to vote in favor of an amendment to close Guantánamo Bay and potentially allow federal officials to transfer detainees to facilities in the United States. It failed on a 163–259 vote. Amash opposed President
Donald Trump's 2017
executive order to ban citizens of seven majority-
Muslim countries from entering the United States. Amash said: "Like President Obama's executive actions on immigration, President Trump's executive order overreaches and undermines our constitutional system." Amash proposed an amendment to the reauthorization bill of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The Amash amendment would have required the government in criminal cases to seek a warrant based on probable cause before searching surveillance data for information about Americans. While the Amash amendment received bipartisan support as well as support from civil liberties groups including the
American Civil Liberties Union, the amendment ultimately failed by a vote of 183 to 233.
Suicide prevention hotline In July 2018, Amash was the only member of the U.S. House to vote against creating a three-digit national
suicide prevention hotline. He argued that Congress lacked the constitutional power to pass the legislation, saying it was a "good idea" but lacked a "constitutional basis". Freelance journalist Jim Higdon asked Amash how the Constitution prohibits "preventing suicide by hotline"; Amash responded, "The correct question under our Constitution is: What is the authority for the legislation? We live under a Constitution that grants Congress limited, enumerated powers."
LGBT rights While running for the House of Representatives in 2010, Amash supported the
Defense of Marriage Act, but in 2013 he advocated repealing it, saying that the "real threat to traditional marriage & religious liberty is government, not gay couples who love each other & want to spend lives together". He supported the result of
Obergefell v. Hodges (in which the Supreme Court held that same-sex couples cannot be deprived of the
fundamental right to marry) on the grounds that government-issued marriage licenses should not be "necessary to validate the intimate relationships of consenting adults." In 2015, Amash was among 60 Republicans voting to uphold President Barack Obama's 2014 executive order banning federal contractors from making hiring decisions that discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity. In 2016, Amash was among 43 Republicans to vote for the Maloney Amendment to H.R. 5055 which would prohibit the use of funds for government contractors who discriminate against LGBT employees. In 2017, Amash was one of two dozen Republicans to vote against an amendment to the
National Defense Authorization Act that would have prohibited taxpayer funds from being used by the Department of Defense to provide gender transition support to military members. He said, "Those who serve in our Armed Forces deserve the best medical care...With respect to
transgender persons, we should focus on the best science, not the political or philosophical opinions of partisans." In 2019, Amash voted "present" on a resolution objecting to Trump's restrictions on transgender individuals in the military. In May 2020, Amash stated that if elected president, he would support and protect transgender Americans, saying, "I think that people can take the term 'sex' that's in federal law and interpret it to mean things beyond what it traditionally meant...I would protect transgender Americans under the protections that exist for sex."
Foreign Diplomacy In May 2020, Amash expressed support for U.S. membership in the
United Nations as a "positive venue" for diplomatic engagement.
Immigration At a January 2013 town hall event, Amash responded to a question about immigration reform, "I don't think you can just grab people and deport them...I think we need to have a system that is sympathetic to people, looks at their situations and allows as many people to stay here as possible." On March 21, 2013, he and five other representatives signed a letter to U.S. Senator
Rand Paul supporting immigration reform in the form of a "three-pronged stool" of border security, expanding legal immigration and "addressing" immigrants who came here "knowingly and illegally". In August he explained his support for immigration reform, saying improving the legal immigration system to make it more accessible would lead to fewer illegal border crossings. He announced his support for a path to legal status for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. He also supported an eventual path to citizenship once the undocumented obtained legal status. In July 2017, Amash was the only Republican to vote against
Kate's law, a bill that increased maximum penalties for criminals who entered the U.S. illegally more than once. He later said he was concerned the bill did not have adequate
5th amendment due process protections for undocumented immigrants to challenge their removal orders. In July 2018, House Republicans introduced a resolution supporting the officers and personnel of
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Amash was the only Republican in the chamber to vote against the resolution. He tweeted, "The House voted today on an inane resolution regarding ICE. The resolution makes several dubious claims and denounces calls to abolish ICE. I wouldn't abolish ICE without an alternative, but there's no reason to treat a federal agency as though it's beyond reproach and reform." In February 2019, Amash was the only House Republican to co-sponsor a resolution to block
Trump's declaration of a national emergency to redirect funds to build a
wall on the U.S.-Mexico border without a congressional appropriation for such a project. He wrote, "A national emergency declaration for a non-emergency is void", and "[Trump] is attempting to circumvent our constitutional system." On February 25, Amash was one of 13 House Republicans to vote to block Trump's declaration.
Military National Convention in Washington, DC Amash supports decreasing
U.S. military spending and believes there is significant waste in the
U.S. Department of Defense. He believes only
Congress has the
power to declare war, and has criticized multiple military actions taken by Presidents
Obama and
Trump. In July 2011, he sponsored an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act that would have prevented funding for operations against
Gaddafi's government and Amash later stated that President Obama's actions during the
Libyan Civil War were unconstitutional without authorization from Congress. He criticized President Obama's
intervention in Syria against
the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant for proceeding without a Congressional declaration of war. In 2011, Amash was one of six members of Congress who voted against House Resolution 268 reaffirming U.S. commitment to a negotiated settlement of the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict through direct Israeli–Palestinian negotiation, which passed with 407 members in support. In 2014 he was one of eight members of Congress who voted against a $225 million package to restock Israel's
Iron Dome missile defenses, which passed with 398 members in support. He supports a
two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. calling it "one of the most anti-liberty pieces of legislation of our lifetime". Amash co-sponsored an amendment to the NDAA that would ban indefinite military detention and military trials so that all terror suspects arrested in the United States would be tried in civilian courts. He expressed concern that individuals charged with
terrorism could be jailed for prolonged periods of time without ever being formally charged or brought to trial. On March 14, 2016, Amash joined the unanimous vote in the House to approve a resolution declaring the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to be committing
genocide against religious minorities in the Middle East (it passed 383–0), but joined Representatives
Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and
Thomas Massie (R-KY) in voting against a separate measure creating an international tribunal to try those accused of participating in the alleged atrocities (it passed 392–3). In 2017, Amash criticized U.S. involvement in
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, arguing that "Al Qaeda in Yemen has emerged as a de facto ally of the Saudi-led militaries with whom [Trump] administration aims to partner more closely." In July 2017, Amash was one of only three House members to vote against the
Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, a bill that imposed new economic sanctions against Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The bill passed the House on a 419–3 vote, with Representatives
Thomas Massie (R-KY) and
John Duncan Jr. (R-TN) also voting no. Trump initially opposed the bill, saying that relations with Russia were already "at an all-time and dangerous low", but ultimately signed it. although he subsequently said that he supports U.S. NATO membership, pointing to his 2017 vote to affirm NATO's
Article 5. In 2019, Amash signed a letter led by Representative
Ro Khanna and Senator
Rand Paul to Trump arguing that it is "long past time to rein in the use of force that goes beyond congressional authorization" and that they hoped this would "serve as a model for ending hostilities in the future – in particular, as you and your administration seek a political solution to our involvement in Afghanistan." In October 2019, Amash criticized Trump's proposed withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria for having "green-lighted" the
2019 Turkish offensive into northeastern Syria against Kurdish forces. In January 2020, Amash voted in favor of the "No War Against Iran Act", which sought to block funding for the use of US military force in or against Iran unless Congress preemptively signed off. This proposed act is more restrictive than the 1973
War Powers Act, which requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action and forbids armed forces from remaining for more than 60 days without congressional authorization. It passed the
U.S. House of Representatives on a 228–175 vote. Amash also voted to repeal the
2002 authorization for use of military force (AUMF), which passed the U.S. House on a 236–166 vote.
Criticism of Donald Trump In 2016, Amash joined the
list of Republicans who opposed the Republican presidential nominee,
Donald Trump. After Trump was elected president, the
Huffington Post profiled him in an article titled "The One House Republican Who Can't Stop Criticizing Donald Trump". In that article Amash said, "I'm not here to represent a particular political party; I'm here to represent all of my constituents and to follow the Constitution." After Representative
John Lewis (D-GA) said that Trump was not a "legitimate president," Trump sent out a series of tweets on January 14, 2017, criticizing Lewis. Amash responded to Trump's tweets with one of his own: "Dude, just stop." Amash later explained, "The reason I did it is he wouldn't stop... The way he feels so slighted about everything I think is not healthy for our country." Amash felt that Lewis' comments were "inappropriate" but said that Trump's response should have been "dignified and conciliatory to the extent possible" instead of "personal jabs, attacking his district". In April 2017,
Dan Scavino, a senior Trump White House aide, called for Amash to be defeated in a Republican primary challenge. Amash later called Trump a "childish bully." In May 2017, Trump was accused of pressuring fired FBI director
James Comey to end an investigation into former national security adviser
Michael Flynn. Amash and
Carlos Curbelo were the first Republican members of Congress to publicly state that the allegations, if proven true, merited impeachment. In June 2018, the
Huffington Post asked House Republicans, "If the president pardoned himself, would they support impeachment?" Amash was the only Republican who said "definitively he would support impeachment". In July 2018, Amash strongly criticized
Trump's conduct at a meeting in Helsinki with Russian president
Vladimir Putin, writing: "The impression it left on me, a strong supporter of the meeting, is that 'something is not right here.' The president went out of his way to appear subordinate. He spoke more like the head of a
vassal state." When Trump's former attorney
Michael Cohen testified before the
House Oversight Committee on February 27, 2019, Amash asked him, "What is the truth President Trump is most afraid of people knowing?"
The Hill columnist
Krystal Ball wrote, "Amash showed how someone actually can exercise oversight responsibility and try to get to the truth, even if the truth might not be in his party's short-term best interest."
CNN editor
Chris Cillizza wrote, "The Michigan Republican did something on Wednesday that almost none of his GOP colleagues seemed willing to even try: Ask Cohen questions about his relationship with Trump that might actually shed some new light on not only their relationship but on the President of the United States."
Comments on the Mueller Report In May 2019, Amash said that Trump "has engaged in impeachable conduct" based on the
obstruction of justice findings of the
Mueller Report, which, Amash said, "few members of Congress have read". Amash also said that Attorney General
William Barr "deliberately misrepresented" the report's findings and that partisanship was making it difficult to maintain
checks and balances in the American political system. Amash was the first Republican member of Congress to call for Trump's impeachment. In response, Trump called Amash a "loser", accused him of "getting his name out there through controversy", and stated that the Mueller report had concluded that there was no obstruction of justice. Republican Senator
Mitt Romney described Amash's statement as "courageous", though he disagreed with Amash's conclusions.
The New York Times reported that while many Republicans supported Trump in public, they criticized his actions in private. Shortly after making his remarks on impeachment, Amash received a standing ovation from the majority of attendees at a town hall meeting in his district. He told the crowd that Trump was setting a bad example for the nation's children. Two days after Amash's comments, state representative
James Lower announced that he would challenge Amash in the 2020 Republican primary, running as a self-described "pro-Trump conservative."
Army National Guard member Thomas Norton announced his candidacy in April. Three other Republicans sought the nomination to oppose Amash;
Peter Meijer ultimately won the August 4 primary as Amash opted to not stand for re-election.
Trump impeachment On October 31, 2019, Amash was the only non-Democrat in the House to vote for an
impeachment inquiry against Trump in connection with the
Trump-Ukraine scandal. On December 18, 2019, he voted in favor of both
articles of
impeachment proceedings against Trump, the only non-Democrat to vote in favor of either article. When
Mitt Romney was the only Republican senator who voted to convict Trump in his
Senate trial, Amash tweeted, "Thank you, @SenatorRomney, for upholding your oath to support and defend the Constitution. You will never regret putting your faith in God and doing right according to the law and your conscience." ==Personal life==