Difenderfer practiced this profession for fourteen years in Lewisburg and
Pottsville, Pennsylvania. He built and operated the first
woolen mill at
Tianjin,
China. He returned to the
United States in August 1900, where he engaged in the wholesale lumber business and as a contractor at
Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. Difenderfer was elected as a
Democrat to the
Sixty-second and
Sixty-third Congresses. He represented the
8th district, then composing of
Bucks and
Montgomery counties. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1914, 1916, and 1918. He was a member of the foreign affairs and pensions committee and the Army expenditure committee. Difenderfer brought an investigation to the house committee on expenditures in the
United States Department of War related to the government showing favoritism in awarding shoe contracts. in 1912, Difenderfer asked that Secretary
Charles Nagel of the
United States Department of Commerce and Labor investigate high coal prices. In 1914, Harry Grim defeated Difenderfer in the Democratic nomination for Congress. Difenderfer challenged the vote count and requested a recount. He was succeeded by
Henry W. Watson. He was engaged in the retail confectionery business at Jenkintown. ==Personal life==