Rob Portman

Education and early career

Portman graduated from Cincinnati Country Day School in 1974 and attended Dartmouth College, where he started leaning to the right, and majored in anthropology and earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1978. In Cincinnati, Portman worked on Bill Gradison's congressional campaign, and Gradison soon became a mentor to Portman. Portman next entered the University of Michigan Law School, earning his Juris Doctor degree in 1984 and serving as vice president of the student senate. During law school, he embarked on a kayaking and hiking trip across China and met Jane Dudley, whom he married in 1986. After graduating from law school, Portman moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked for the law firm Patton Boggs. Some describe his role there as a lobbyist; others say that such a description is inaccurate. Portman next became an associate at Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP, a law firm in Cincinnati.

In 1989, Portman began his career in government as an associate White House Counsel under President George H. W. Bush. From 1989 to 1991, he served as Bush's deputy assistant and director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. While serving as White House counsel, Portman visited China, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

On November 8, 2007, Portman joined the law firm Squire Sanders as part of its transactional and international trade practice in Cincinnati, Ohio. His longtime chief of staff, Rob Lehman, also joined the firm as a lobbyist in its Washington, D.C. office. In 2007, Portman founded Ohio's Future P.A.C., a political action committee. In 2008, he was cited as a potential running mate for Republican presidential nominee John McCain. Portman remained critical of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, passed while he was out of office.

2012 presidential election

Portman was considered a possible pick for vice president on the Republican presidential ticket in 2012. Chris Cillizza wrote that Portman's time in both the executive and legislative branches would qualify him for the role.

After Mitt Romney selected Paul Ryan as his running mate, Portman spoke at the 2012 Republican National Convention about trade and his family business. On trade agreements, Portman stated: "President Obama is the first president in 75 years-Democrat or Republican-who hasn't even sought the ability to negotiate export agreements and open markets overseas. Now why is this important? Because 95 percent of the world's consumers live outside our borders. And to create jobs, our workers and our farmers need to sell more of what we make to those people." In October 2012, Romney spoke at and toured Portman's Golden Lamb Inn.

Portman portrayed President Obama in Romney's mock debate sessions for the general election, reprising a role that he played in the debate preparations of Republican presidential nominee John McCain in 2008.

2016 presidential campaign

In March 2014, Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia Center for Politics speculated that Portman might run for president in 2016. In October 2014, students from the College of William and Mary formed the Draft Rob Portman PAC to encourage Portman to run for president in 2016. However, Portman announced in December 2014 that he would not run for president and would instead seek a second term in the United States Senate.

Portman initially endorsed his fellow Ohioan, Governor John Kasich, during the Republican primaries. In May 2016, after Kasich dropped out of the race and Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee, Portman endorsed Trump. After the emergence of old audio recordings where Trump bragged about inappropriately touching women without their consent in October 2016, Portman announced that he was rescinding his endorsement of Trump and would instead cast a write-in vote for Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

2020 campaign, Capitol attack, and Trump impeachments

In the 2020 presidential election, Portman supported Trump, in a reversal of his 2016 vote. Portman maintained his support for Trump during the impeachment proceedings against Trump for his conduct in the Trump–Ukraine scandal. Portman said that it was "wrong and inappropriate" for Trump to ask a foreign government to investigate a political rival, and that he accepted that there was quid pro quo between Trump and Ukraine in which U.S. aid to Ukraine was on the line, but that he did not consider it to be an impeachable offense. Following the Senate trial of Trump, Portman voted to acquit Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Portman also opposed proposals to formally censure Trump.

Portman was the Ohio state co-chair of Trump's 2020 re-election campaign. After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and Trump refused to concede, Portman initially refused to acknowledge Biden as the president-elect of the United States, although he did acknowledge that it was appropriate for Biden's transition to begin and that, contrary to Trump's false claims, there was no evidence of irregularities that would change the election outcome. Portman accepted the election results six weeks after the election, after the December 15 Electoral College vote.

Portman opposed Trump's attempt to overturn the election results, and did not back a last-ditch effort by Trump's Republican allies in Congress to object to the formal counting of the electoral votes from swing states in which Biden defeated Trump. Portman said, "I cannot support allowing Congress to thwart the will of the voters" and voted against the objections. After Congress's counting of the electoral votes was interrupted by a pro-Trump mob that attempted an insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Portman said Trump "bears some responsibility" for the attack. After Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives for incitement of insurrection, Portman joined most Republican senators in an unsuccessful motion to dismiss the charges and avoid a Senate impeachment trial on the basis that Trump's term had expired and he had become a private citizen. On February 13, 2021, Portman voted to acquit Trump on charges of inciting the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

January 6 commission

On May 27, 2021, along with five other Republicans and all present Democrats, Portman voted to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 United States Capitol attack. The vote failed for the lack of 60 required "yes" votes.

Abortion

On abortion, Portman describes himself as being pro-life. He voted in favor of banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Portman supports legal access to abortion in cases of rape and incest or if the woman's life is in danger. National Right to Life Committee and the Campaign for Working Families, both anti-abortion PACs, gave Portman a 100% rating in 2018; NARAL Pro-Choice America gives him a 0%, Planned Parenthood, which is pro-choice, gives him a lifetime 4% rating, and Population Connection, another pro-choice PAC, gave Portman an 11% rating in 2002.

In 2013, Portman sponsored a bill that would have made it a federal crime to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion if doing so would circumvent state parental consent or notification laws.

SFC Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act

In July 2022, Portman voted for the SFC Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, which would provide care for veterans suffering from diseases caused by burn pit exposure while serving overseas. He put out a press release celebrating his vote, but changed his position when the House returned the final version of the bill to the Senate, and voted against it.

Budget and economy

Portman is a leading advocate for a balanced budget amendment. Portman worked with Democratic Senator Jon Tester in 2012 to end the practice of government shutdowns and partnered with Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill on an inquiry into the Obama administration's public relations spending. Portman has proposed "a balanced approach to the deficit" by reforming entitlement programs, writing "[r]eforms should not merely squeeze health beneficiaries or providers but should rather reshape key aspects of these programs to make them more efficient, flexible and consumer-oriented." Portman became known for his ability to work in a bipartisan fashion when working to pass a repeal of the excise tax on telephone service. He also unsuccessfully proposed an amendment to the surface transportation reauthorization bill to allow states to keep the gas tax money they collect, instead of sending it to Washington with some returned later. On August 10, 2021, he was one of 19 Republican senators to vote with the Democratic caucus in favor of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In October 2021, Portman voted with 10 other Republicans and every member of the Democratic caucus to end the filibuster on raising the debt ceiling, but voted against the bill to raise the debt ceiling.

LGBT rights

While still in the U.S. House, Portman co-sponsored the Defense of Marriage Act, a bill passed in 1996 that banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage; in 1999, he voted for a measure prohibiting same-sex couples in Washington D.C. from adopting children. On March 14, 2013, Portman publicly announced that he had changed his stance on same-sex marriage, and now supported its legalization, becoming the first sitting Republican U.S. senator to do so. The change came two years after his son Will came out to Portman and his wife as gay in 2011. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which supports same-sex marriage and gay rights, gave Portman a 45% score in 2014 and an 85% score in 2016; the HRC also gives Portman a 100% rating for sharing its position on same-sex marriage.

In November 2013, Portman was one of 10 Republican senators to vote for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), after the Senate adopted an amendment he proposed to expand religious protections.

After the House passed a bill to federally protect gay marriage on July 19, 2022, a press spokesman for Portman said he would cosponsor the bill in the Senate. He cosponsored the bill the following day. He was one of 12 Republicans in the Senate voting to advance and pass the Respect for Marriage Act, the legislation protecting federal same-sex marriage rights into federal law.

Women's rights

Portman voted for reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2013.

Environment

In 2011, Portman voted to limit the government's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, and in 2015, he voted to block the Clean Power Plan. In 2013, he voted for a point of order opposing a carbon tax or a fee on carbon emissions. In 2012, Portman said he wanted more oil drilling on public lands. Portman supported development of the Keystone XL pipeline, stating "The arguments when you line them up are too strong not to do this. I do think that at the end of the day the president [Obama] is going to go ahead with this."

In 2013, Portman co-sponsored a bill that would reauthorize and modify the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 and would authorize the appropriation of $20.5 million annually through 2018 for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to mitigate the harmful effects of algal blooms and hypoxia.

Portman co-sponsored an amendment to the 2017 Energy Bill that acknowledged that climate change is real and human activity contributes to the problem.

Foreign policy

Portman opposes U.S. ratification of the Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In March 2016, Portman authored the bipartisan bill Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act, along with Democratic Senator Chris Murphy. Congressman Adam Kinzinger introduced the U.S. House version of the bill. After the 2016 U.S. presidential election, worries grew that Russian propaganda on social media spread and organized by the Russian government swayed the outcome of the election, and representatives in the U.S. Congress took action to safeguard the National security of the United States by advancing legislation to monitor incoming propaganda from external threats. On November 30, 2016, legislators approved a measure within the National Defense Authorization Act to ask the U.S. State Department to take action against foreign propaganda through an interagency panel. The legislation authorized funding of $160 million over a two-year-period. The initiative was developed through the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act.

Israel

In 2018 Portman and Senator Ben Cardin co-authored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, which would make it illegal for companies to engage in boycotts against Israel or Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. They promoted the bill and sought to integrate it into omnibus spending legislation to be signed by Trump.

Trade

Portman supported free trade agreements with Central America, Australia, Chile and Singapore, voted against withdrawing from the World Trade Organization, and was hailed by Bush for his "great record as a champion of free and fair trade."

Portman has repeatedly supported legislation to treat currency manipulation by countries as an unfair trade practice and to impose duties on Chinese imports if China does not stop the practice. In 2016, Portman opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement because he said it does not address currency manipulation and includes less-strict country-of-origin rules for auto parts. In April 2015, Portman co-sponsored an amendment to Trade Promotion Authority legislation which would require the Obama administration to seek enforceable rules to prevent currency manipulation by trade partners as part of TPP.

In January 2018, Portman was one of 36 Republican senators who asked Trump to preserve the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In November 2018, Portman was one of 12 Republican senators to sign a letter to Trump requesting the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement be submitted to Congress by the end of the month to allow a vote on it before the end of the year; the letter-writers cited concerns that "passage of the USMCA as negotiated will become significantly more difficult" if it had to be approved through the incoming 116th Congress, in which there was a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.

Gun laws

Portman has an "A" rating from the NRA Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF), which has endorsed Portman in past elections. According to OpenSecrets, the NRA spent $3.06 million to support Portman between 1990 and 2018.

In 2019, Portman was one of 31 Republican senators to cosponsor the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, a bill introduced by Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz that would allow persons concealed carry privileges in their home state to also carry concealed weapons in other states.

In 2022, Portman became one of ten Republican senators to support a bipartisan agreement on gun control, which included 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.

Immigration

In June 2018, Portman was one of 13 Republican senators to sign a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions requesting a moratorium on the Trump administration family separation policy while Congress drafted legislation. In March 2019, he was one of a dozen Republicans who broke with their party, joining all Democrats, to vote for a resolution rejecting Trump's use of an emergency declaration to build a border wall. He later co-sponsored a bill to provide for congressional approval of national emergency declarations.

Portman opposed Trump's Muslim ban, saying the executive order was not "properly vetted" and that he supported the federal judges who blocked its implementation.

Jobs

In 2014, Portman voted against reauthorizing long-term unemployment benefits to 1.7 million jobless Americans. He expressed concern about the inclusion of a provision in the bill that would allow companies to make smaller contributions to employee pension funds. In April 2014 Portman voted to extend federal funding for unemployment benefits. Federal funding had been initiated in 2008 and expired at the end of 2013.

In 2014, Portman opposed the Minimum Wage Fairness Act, a bill to phase in, over two years, an increase in the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. The bill was strongly supported by President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, but strongly opposed by congressional Republicans.

In 2015, Portman voted for an amendment to establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund to allow employees to earn paid sick time.

Judiciary

In September 2018, Portman said he would support Trump's nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, saying, "The Brett Kavanaugh I know is a man of integrity and humility". Portman did not call for an investigation by the FBI for sexual assault allegations.

In September 2020, Portman supported a vote on Trump's nominee to fill the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg less than six weeks before the 2020 presidential election. In April 2016, Portman said that Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, who was nominated eight months before the election, should not be considered by the Senate, as it was "a very partisan year and a presidential election year... it's better to have this occur after we're past this presidential election."

Human trafficking

Portman has been involved in efforts to end human trafficking. As a member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, he began investigating sex trafficking in 2015. The investigation found that classified advertising website Backpage was aware that the website was being used to sell young girls for sex. Portman sponsored the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, which clarified sex trafficking laws to make it illegal to knowingly assist, facilitate, or support sex trafficking. SESTA was passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump in April 2018.