In 1994, Paulsen was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives from District 42B, which covered part of suburban Eden Prairie, Minnesota. He was reelected six times and, in addition, he was elected by his fellow house Republicans to serve as majority leader from 2003 until 2007. He won the 2008 election to the U.S. House of Representatives in Minnesota’s 3rd congressional district, which covers the western suburbs of the Twin Cities, and succeeded retiring Republican incumbent Jim Ramstad. Paulsen represented the district in Congress for five terms. He easily won reelection four times, but was defeated in his 2018 reelection bid by DemocratDean Phillips.[1][2] From 2018 until 2019, he served as chair of the Joint Economic Committee.
Paulsen was elected as member of the Republican Party. Before entering politics he was a businessman.[7] He served on the Commerce and Labor, Rules and Legislative Administration, Taxes, and Ways and Means committees.[8]
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2008
Minnesota's 3rd Congressional district election, 2008[9]
In 2017 a group of constituents sought signatures on a petition asking Paulsen to hold public town hall meetings.[14] His campaign primarily held townhalls over the phone with campaign aides screening questions, in addition to business tours and private meetings.[15][16] Paulsen was invited to attend a "With or Without Him" town hall meeting but declined.[17]
On May 30, 2018, Paulsen held three in-person town hall meetings[18] in the 3rd district. During the events he distanced himself from Donald Trump and congressional leaders.[19]
Paulsen opposed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.[25] He voted against the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act.[26] Paulsen introduced the Text a Tip Act to the House in 2010. The bill would have allowed users to send tips about crimes to a third party, removing all identifying information about the source before the police received the message.[27] The bill died in committee and was not adopted.[28]
In 2010 Paulsen cosponsored a draft of the Small Business Assistance and Relief Act intended to provide increased lending and aid for small businesses and ease their financial burden.[29][non-primary source needed]
Paulsen supported the special investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and Trump's dismissal of James Comey.[30] In February 2017 Paulsen voted against requesting Trump's tax returns from the Treasury Department.[31]
FiveThirtyEight found that Paulsen voted with Trump 98% of the time, and was the third-most partisan Republican in the House when compared to his district's voting patterns.[32][33]
Paulsen supported continuing the Bush-era tax cuts and global free trade agreements.[35] He voted for the fiscal 2012 federal budget plan that provided for substantial overhaul of Medicare, including replacement of the traditional program with a premium support payment for private health insurance coverage for Americans under age 55.[36][non-primary source needed]
In 2009 Paulsen expressed opposition to a public health insurance option and instead supported a Republican alternative plan.[39] At an April 7, 2010, Republican rally in Minneapolis, Paulsen described the Affordable Care Act as a "government takeover of health care," a claim that Minnesota Public Radio said "isn't correct."[40]
Paulsen voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act.[41][42] In January 2017 he voted for the budget reconciliation provision to begin the process of ACA repeal.[43]
In February 2018 Paulsen sponsored legislation to repeal caps on Medicare outpatient services such as physical therapy.[45]
Paulsen introduced legislation to combat opioid abuse by educating seniors about non-opioid alternative pain treatments and ways to safely dispose of addictive painkillers.[46]
Immigration
Paulsen was a longtime proponent of immigration reform and supported granting temporary legal status to those who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children,[47] saying he supported "ensuring that young people who came to the United States through no fault of their own and have done nothing wrong are able to be valuable contributors to our country."[48]
In May 2018 Paulsen joined House Democrats in signing a "discharge petition" to force the House to vote on a series of immigration bills, including one that would provide permanent legal status to those who came to the country illegally as children.[49]
Paulsen did not support building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, citing its projected multi-billion-dollar cost.[50]
Environment
Paulsen had a lifetime rating of 16% from the League of Conservation Voters.[51] He called for an end to Minnesota's ban on building nuclear power plants, saying that "trying to meet our energy needs without using nuclear energy is a little bit like trying to row a boat with one oar."[52] Along with 95% of Republicans and 17% of Democrats, he voted against the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which would have imposed a cap-and-trade system.[53]
Paulsen voted against allowing copper-sulfide mining in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.[54]
LGBT rights
In 2010 Paulsen voted against a bill repealing the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.[55] In 2017 he voted for an amendment that would have defunded transition-related healthcare for transgender soldiers in the military.[56]
Guns
From 2007 through 2018 Paulsen received $21,150 in campaign contributions from the NRA Political Victory Fund (NRA), which gave him an "A" rating.[57][58] As of June 2016 he had voted 13 times against bringing gun safety bills to the House floor.[59]
In February 2018 Paulsen said he would support a ban on bump stocks, strengthened background checks, a lifting of the ban on federal research for gun violence, and gun violence restraining orders.[60]
In May 2018 Paulsen co-sponsored the Jake Laird Act, which provides grants to encourage states to adopt gun violence restraining order laws. Gun violence restraining orders enable local law enforcement to seize and retain firearms from people who are determined to be an imminent danger to themselves or others.[61]
In December 2017 Paulsen voted for the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017,[62] which allows people with a concealed carry permit in one state to legally travel with hidden guns to any other state.
Paulsen strongly supported a bill that would make it easier for nonbank financial institutions such as money service businesses to provide remittance payments internationally.[65] He argued that the bill would make it easier for American immigrants "supporting their extended families overseas" to help their relatives, while still "providing the necessary safeguards to ensure their money reaches its intended destination."[66]
With Democratic U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, Paulsen led an effort to repeal an excise tax on medical devices imposed by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The bill passed the House one vote shy of a veto-proof majority.[69] A two-year suspension of the tax was included in a 2015 year-end funding bill.[70][71][72]
Also in 2015 Paulsen authored a bill to provide tax incentives to encourage food donations[73] and wrote a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act that requires the Department of Defense to return all military working dogs to the United States after completing their service.[74] The American Humane Association strongly advocated passage of this provision.[75]
Personal life
During college at St. Olaf, Paulsen met his wife Kelly. As of 2014, the Paulsens have four daughters and lived in Eden Prairie. He is Lutheran.[3] Paulsen serves as a board member of the Eden Prairie A Brighter Day Foundation, Habitat for Global Learning, Habitat for Technology and the Southdale YMCA. He is a member of the American Council of Young Political Leaders and the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce, and volunteers for Learning Exchange.[76]
Paulsen has participated in the inaugural two-year class of the Aspen Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership, the German Marshall Memorial Fellowship, the Young Leaders Forum of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and the American Council of Young Political Leaders.[77] He has been granted an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership, and a Marshall Memorial Fellowship from the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
^"Members". Republican Mains Street Partnership. Archived from the original on August 26, 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
^"Member List". Republican Study Committee. Archived from the original on September 18, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
^"Membership". Congressional Arts Caucus. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
^"Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
