U.S. House of Representatives
Elections 2017 special election In December 2016, President
Donald Trump nominated
Mick Mulvaney for Director of the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB). At the time, Mulvaney represented
South Carolina's 5th Congressional District in the
United States House of Representatives. Shortly after the nomination, and in anticipation that Mulvaney's seat in Congress would be vacated once the
United States Senate confirmed him, Norman announced his intention to resign from the South Carolina House of Representatives to run for Congress. On May 16, 2017, Norman won a Republican primary runoff election against
Tommy Pope by a margin of 0.6%, triggering an automatic recount per South Carolina state law. Following that recount, the South Carolina State Election Commission certified Norman as the Republican nominee on May 19, 2017. With 35,425 votes cast, Norman received 17,823 to Pope's 17,602, a 221-vote difference. Having secured the Republican nomination, Norman faced Democratic nominee
Sumter attorney
Archie Parnell in a
special election on June 20. Norman received 51.0% of the vote to Parnell's 47.9%. Norman was sworn into office on June 26, 2017.
2018 On March 19, 2018, Norman filed for reelection with the South Carolina Election Commission. Facing no primary challengers, he secured the Republican party nomination after the primary election on June 12. Meanwhile, Parnell chose to run again for
South Carolina's 5th Congressional District seat. He defeated three opponents to win the Democratic nomination, and faced Norman again in the general election. The general election was on November 6. Norman was
reelected with 57.0% of the vote to Parnell's 41.5%. State and national Democrats had distanced themselves from Parnell after news broke that he had abused his first wife.
2020 Norman filed for reelection on March 16, 2020. He secured the Republican nomination after facing no Republican challengers in the primary election on June 12. Norman went on to defeat Democrat Mauricus "Moe" Brown in the
general election on November 3. He received 60.1% of the vote to Brown's 39.9%. In
2022 and
2024, he faced and defeated Democratic nominee Evangeline Hundley.
Tenure As of the
117th Congress, Norman voted with President
Joe Biden's stated position 2% of the time according to a
FiveThirtyEight analysis.
Silfab Solar Controversy In 2024, he became the target of protests from members of his district over the controversial plan for Canadian solar panel manufacturer Silfab Solar, Inc. to build a solar panel manufacturing plant in Norman's district. The controversy stems around the Canadian company's plan to use the toxic gas
Silane at a site zoned by the
York County Zoning Board as "Light Industrial". The proposed site sits adjacent to an elementary and middle school, prompting fears there would not be time to evacuate thousands of children in time. The York County Board of Zoning Appeals ruled unanimously that York County staff erred and solar panel and cell manufacturing is prohibited, reversing York County staff’s interpretation on May 9, 2024. Silfab appealed the York zoning vote, though the county has asserted they don't have to, in violation of the order of the Board of Zoning appeals decision. Norman became a target of the protest due to his founding of the Bipartisan Congressional Solar Caucus with Illinois Democrat
Raja Krishnamoorthi.
Kavanaugh hearings joke On September 20, 2018, at an election debate for the Republican nomination, Norman joked about
sexual assault allegations against
Supreme Court nominee
Brett Kavanaugh. He kicked off the debate by asking the audience, "Did y'all hear this latest late-breaking news on the Kavanaugh hearings?...
Ruth Bader Ginsburg came out saying she was groped by
Abraham Lincoln."
Firearm incident at the reburial ceremony of 13
American Revolutionary War soldiers. At a public meeting for constituents on April 6, 2018, Norman engaged in a conversation with representatives from
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America (MDA). During that conversation, he placed his
.38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun on the table to illustrate his belief that "gun violence is a spiritual, mental or people issue, not a gun issue." Norman holds a
concealed weapons permit issued by South Carolina. The incident sparked widespread criticism of Norman. On April 9, 2018,
South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Trav Robertson wrote the
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division a letter requesting felony charges against Norman for his conduct. The case was originally assigned to South Carolina 16th Solicitor Kevin Brackett, but Brackett recused himself, citing a "personal friendship" with Norman. The issue was then forwarded to
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who declined to press charges, stating that Norman's actions did not "warrant a criminal investigation" or constitute "a prosecutable offense."
Conservative Political Action Conference attendance In late February 2021, Norman and a dozen other Republican House members skipped votes and
enlisted others to vote for them, citing the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic. But he and the other members were actually attending the
Conservative Political Action Conference, which was held at the same time as their slated absences. In response, the
Campaign for Accountability, an ethics watchdog group, filed a complaint with the
House Committee on Ethics and requested an investigation into Norman and the other lawmakers.
Conservative Opportunity Society In 2021, Norman was elected chair of the
Conservative Opportunity Society.
COVID-19 pandemic In 2021, Norman violated House rules by not wearing a
face mask in the House Chamber and was fined $500 as provided by the rules. Despite committing the infraction, he and two other Republican lawmakers sued
Speaker Pelosi over the incident. Norman tested positive for COVID-19 on August 5, 2021, and reported that he had been fully vaccinated and had only mild symptoms.
Federal loans In August 2022, Norman criticized President
Joe Biden for forgiving up to $10,000 of student loan debt for eligible borrowers. Norman was criticized for hypocrisy because he had $306,520 of debt from his
PPP loan forgiven.
Biden impeachment inquiry Norman supported the inquiry into an impeachment of Joe Biden, and said on the House floor that Biden would need to "prove" his innocence:
Political positions Steve King In 2019, Norman joined a small group of House Republicans who sought to reinstate Representative
Steve King on House committees. King had lost his committee positions due to a series of racist and
white nationalist remarks. The group included
Louie Gohmert and
Paul Gosar. After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and Trump made claims of election fraud, Norman called for an investigation into fraud. On October 31, 2019, Norman voted with his fellow Republicans in opposition to a resolution outlining rules for
then-ongoing impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump. On December 18, 2019, Norman voted against both of the
articles of impeachment of the
first impeachment of President Trump. After Trump was impeached for his alleged incitement of a
pro-Trump mob to storm the U.S. Capitol over false claims of election fraud, Norman criticized Representative
Liz Cheney for voting to
impeach Trump. Norman said he was "bothered by Cheney's attitude". Norman himself voted against the
second impeachment of Trump. On January 17, 2021, Norman sent a text message to White House Chief of Staff
Mark Meadows asking him to urge President Trump to invoke
martial law (misspelling it 'Marshall Law') to prevent the inauguration of Joe Biden.
Biden administration Norman supported
efforts to impeach President Biden. During the
117th United States Congress, he co-sponsored two resolutions to impeach Biden. He also co-sponsored resolutions to impeach Vice President
Kamala Harris, Secretary of Homeland Security
Alejandro Mayorkas, and Secretary of State
Antony Blinken.
Epstein files As a member of the
United States House Committee on Rules, on July 14, 2025, he voted in support of an amendment by Congressman
Ro Khanna which would in essence order the release of the
Jeffrey Epstein files. The amendment, which included the language that "affirms Congress's Article I authority to conduct oversight, demands that the Trump Administration release the Epstein files, calls on the Department of Justice and FBI to submit a report on any delays, suppression, or destruction of evidence related to the files, and supports full transparency and access to these documents in the interest of justice and accountability" was defeated with 8 "nay" votes and 4 "yea" votes. Explaining why he joined Democrats, Norman said: “The public’s been asking for it. I think there are files. All of a sudden not to have files is a little strange. We’ll see how it plays out… I think the president will do the right thing.” Subsequently, on September 2, 2025, Norman voted against a resolution calling for a floor vote in the House on the bipartisan
Epstein Files Transparency Act. The measure would have allowed the Justice Department to withhold or redact files that “contain personally identifiable information of victims or victims’ personal and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” Norman said that he preferred to review alternative measures and stated “We’re all for releasing the information and getting this moving forward,” he said.
Committee assignments •
Committee on Oversight and Reform'''''' •
Subcommittee on Government Operations •
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology'''''' •
Subcommittee on Energy •
Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight •
Committee on the Budget''''''
Caucus memberships •
Republican Study Committee •
Freedom Caucus •
Rare Disease Caucus •
Congressional Motorcycle Caucus •
Congressional Solar Caucus •
Congressional Western Caucus • Congressional Waste-Cutters Caucus •
Congressional Blockchain Caucus •
United States–China Working Group == 2026 South Carolina gubernatorial campaign ==