He moved to Johnsonburg, Pennsylvania, in 1892 and worked as a shipping clerk. He was later engaged in banking and manufacturing, and served as director of the Johnsonburg National Bank. He served as president of the city council from 1900 to 1904 and as president of the board of education from 1904 to 1910. He was mayor of Johnsonburg from 1908 to 1912, and sheriff of Elk County, Pennsylvania, from 1916 to 1920. He served as chairman of the Republican county committee from 1916 to 1925, and as a treasurer of Elk County from 1920 to 1922.
Congress
Bixler was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-seventh, Sixty-eighth, and Sixty-ninth Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1926.
Later career and death
He was engaged in business as a freight contractor and also interested in agricultural pursuits. He died in Johnsonburg. Interment in Duncannon Cemetery in Duncannon, Pennsylvania.