John Barrasso

John Barrasso
Senate Majority Whip-designate
Assuming office January 3, 2025
Leader	John Thune (designate)
Succeeding	Dick Durbin
Ranking Member of the Senate Energy Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office February 3, 2021
Preceded by	Joe Manchin
Chair of the Senate Republican Conference
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2019
Leader	Mitch McConnell
Vice Chair	Joni Ernst Shelley Moore Capito
Preceded by	John Thune
Chair of the Senate Environment Committee
In office January 3, 2017 – February 3, 2021
Preceded by	Jim Inhofe
Succeeded by	Tom Carper
Chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee
In office January 26, 2012 – January 3, 2019
Leader	Mitch McConnell
Preceded by	John Thune
Succeeded by	Roy Blunt
Chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee
In office January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2017
Preceded by	Jon Tester
Succeeded by	John Hoeven
United States Senator from Wyoming
Incumbent
Assumed office June 22, 2007 Serving with Cynthia Lummis
Preceded by	Craig L. Thomas
Member of the Wyoming Senate from the 27th district
In office January 3, 2003 – June 22, 2007
Preceded by	Bruce Hinchey
Succeeded by	Bill Landen
Personal details
Born	John Anthony Barrasso III (1952-07-21) July 21, 1952 Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Linda Nix (divorced) Bobbi Brown ​ ​ (m. 2008; died 2024)​
Children	3
Education	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Georgetown University (BS, MD)
Signature
Website	Senate website

John Anthony Barrasso III (/bəˈrɑːsoʊ/ bə-RAH-soh; born July 21, 1952) is an American physician and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wyoming, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Wyoming State Senate from 2003 to 2007. As Chair of the Senate Republican Conference since 2019, he is the third-ranking Senate Republican.

Born and raised in Reading, Pennsylvania, Barrasso graduated from Georgetown University, where he received his B.S. and M.D. He conducted his medical residency at Yale University before moving to Wyoming and beginning a private orthopedics practice in Casper. Barrasso was active in various medical societies and associations.

Barrasso first ran for U.S. Senate in 1996, narrowly losing the Republican primary to Mike Enzi. In 2002, he was elected to the State Senate, where he stayed until his appointment to the U.S. Senate after the 2007 death of Craig L. Thomas. He was elected to finish Thomas's term in 2008 and won his first full term in 2012. In 2018, Barrasso was selected as chair of the Senate Republican Conference. He has been the dean of Wyoming's congressional delegation since 2021, when Enzi retired from the Senate.

Early life, education, and medical career

Barrasso was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, on July 21, 1952, the son of Louise M. (née DeCisco) and John Anthony Barrasso Jr. Barrasso's father was a cement finisher who had a ninth-grade education. Barrasso is a third-generation Italian-American with paternal grandparents from Carife and maternal grandparents from Vasto.

Barrasso is a graduate of the former Central Catholic High School, which later merged with Holy Name High School to form Berks Catholic High School. He attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for two years and joined the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. Barrasso graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Georgetown in 1974 with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology. He received his M.D. degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1978 and conducted his residency at Yale Medical School in New Haven, Connecticut.

In 1983, after completing his residency at Yale, Barrasso moved to Wyoming with his then-wife, Linda Nix. He joined a private orthopedic practice in Casper and for a time was the Wyoming Medical Center's chief of staff. Barrasso was a board-certified orthopedic surgeon in private practice in Casper from 1983 to 2007. He has served as president of the Wyoming Medical Society. Barrasso was also a rodeo physician for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (and a member of the "Cowboy Joe Club") and volunteered as a team physician for Casper College and several local high schools.

1996 U.S. Senate election

Main article: 1996 United States Senate election in Wyoming

Barrasso ran for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in 1996 for the seat being vacated by Republican Alan K. Simpson, losing narrowly to State Senator Mike Enzi, 32% to 30%, in a nine-candidate election. Enzi garnered support due to his pro-life stance, while Barrasso—who had been expected to win the primary—identified as pro-choice at the time.

Wyoming Senate

Barrasso was elected to the Wyoming Senate unopposed in 2002 and reelected unopposed in 2006. He represented Wyoming's 27th Senate District. During his State Senate tenure, he chaired the Transportation and Highways Committee.

U.S. Senate

Barrasso with President Donald Trump in 2018

Appointment

On June 22, 2007, Governor Dave Freudenthal appointed Barrasso to replace Senator Craig L. Thomas, who had died in office earlier that month. Under state law, Freudenthal was able to consider only three individuals chosen by the Republican State Central Committee because the seat was vacated by a Republican. The others were former State Treasurer Cynthia Lummis of Cheyenne, and former Republican state chairman and Justice Department attorney Tom Sansonetti.

Elections

2008

Main article: 2008 United States Senate special election in Wyoming

Barrasso won the general election in a landslide, defeating Democratic nominee Nick Carter with 73% of the vote.

2012

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Wyoming

Barrasso ran for reelection to a first full term in 2012. He faced two opponents for the Republican nomination, which he won with 90% of the vote. In the general election, he defeated Democratic nominee Tim Chestnut with 76% of the vote.

2018

Main article: 2018 United States Senate election in Wyoming

Barrasso faced Dave Dodson and four other challengers in the 2018 Republican primary; he won the primary with 65% of the vote. Barrasso defeated Democrat Gary Trauner and Libertarian Joseph Porambo in the general election, receiving 67% of the vote.

2024

Main article: 2024 United States Senate election in Wyoming

In the primary, Barrasso faced Casper Executive Reid Rasner, who attacked Barrasso for his support of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, among other issues. Barrasso defeated Rasner, 67.9% to 24.5%. He won the general election against Democratic nominee Scott Morrow with 75.1% of the vote.

Tenure

Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and John Barrasso in Jerusalem on January 3, 2014

At the time of his appointment to the U.S. Senate in 2007, Barrasso was quoted as saying on his application: "I believe in limited government, lower taxes, less spending, traditional family values, local control and a strong national defense"; he also said that he had "voted for prayer in schools, against gay marriage and [had] sponsored legislation to protect the sanctity of life".

In 2018, Barrasso was selected as chair of the Senate Republican Conference. In 2024, he declined to run for Senate Republican leader and instead announced that he would run for Republican Whip.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Barrasso voted against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 but for the PPP Extension Act and the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act.

Starting in the 119th Congress, he will be the Senate whip of the Republican Party.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (Ranking Member)
  • As Ranking Member of the full committee, Barrasso may serve as an ex officio member of all subcommittees.
• Committee on Finance
  • Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Health Care
  • Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
• Committee on Foreign Relations
  • Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy
  • Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation
  • Subcommittee on Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy and Environmental Policy

Political positions

Abortion

When Barrasso ran for the 1996 Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, he presented himself as a supporter of abortion rights. Following his loss in 1996, Barrasso's position on abortion (and on other issues) shifted in a conservative direction.

During his tenure in the Wyoming Legislature, Barrasso sponsored an unsuccessful bill to treat the killing of a pregnant woman as a double homicide. He has voted to prohibit federal funding for abortion.

Gun laws

In April 2013, Barrasso was one of 46 senators to vote against a bill that would have expanded background checks for all gun buyers. He voted with 40 Republicans and five Democrats to stop the bill.

Health care

Barrasso voted against the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) in December 2009, and against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. He was part of a group of 13 senators that drafted the Senate version of the American Health Care Act of 2017, an Obamacare repeal bill that failed to pass.

Environment and energy

When asked in 2014 whether human activity contributes to climate change, Barrasso denied the existence of the scientific consensus on climate change, saying that "the role human activity plays is not known." In 2021, he admitted, "We believe that mankind is certainly contributing" to climate change.

Barrasso was a leading opponent of President Barack Obama's climate change policies.

Barrasso opposed the CIA's creation of its Center on Climate Change and National Security in 2009. In 2011, he introduced a bill that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from limiting carbon dioxide emissions.

Barrasso and Senators Mike Enzi and Pat Roberts introduced a bill to remove tax credits for electric cars.

According to OpenSecrets, as of 2017, Barrasso had received over $585,000 from the oil and gas industry since 2012.

In 2019, Barrasso inaccurately claimed that "livestock will be banned" as a result of the Green New Deal, and said we needed to "say goodbye to dairy, to beef, to family farms, to ranches. American favorites like cheeseburgers and milkshake would become a thing of the past."

In September 2020, Barrasso supported a measure to dramatically limit the use of hydrofluorocarbons used in refrigerants and other applications that have contributed to global warming.

In November 2022, Barrasso criticized China's "developing country advantage" in international climate agreements, arguing that China is given unfair privileges in climate agreements that do not reflect its economic growth.

In November 2024, after Trump nominated fracking magnate Chris Wright for secretary of energy, Barrasso called Wright an "energy innovator".

In July 2024, Barrasso and Joe Manchin introduced S. 4753, the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, aiming to speed the permitting process for energy infrastructure and mineral development. The bill would affect both fossil fuel and electric power transmission projects.

Criminal justice

Barrasso opposed the FIRST STEP Act, legislation which sought to reform the federal prison system. The bill passed 87–12 on December 18, 2018.

Foreign policy

Barrasso opposed the Russian-backed Nord Stream 2—a pipeline to deliver natural gas from Russia to Germany. Bloomberg News reported, "Congress brought forward bills authorizing the administration to levy sanctions against a consortium of five European energy companies that have partnered with [Russia's main gas company] Gazprom; at least one bill, sponsored by Republican Senator John Barrasso, would make them mandatory." In May 2022, during the Russo-Ukrainian War, Barrasso visited Kyiv and met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a part of a U.S. Senate delegation to show support to Ukraine. The delegation also visited Finland to meet with President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin to express support for Finland's application to join NATO.

Donald Trump

After it was revealed in November 2018 that Trump had business dealings with Russia while a candidate in the 2016 election, Barrasso said, "The president is an international businessman; I’m not surprised he was doing international business." Asked whether Trump should have disclosed those business ties during the campaign, Barrasso said, "There were so many things involved in the 2016 campaign, it’s hard to point to what one thing influenced voters." Trump joined Barrasso on Thanksgiving 2019 in a surprise visit to American troops stationed at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. At the time, approximately 370 Wyoming National Guard soldiers were deployed in Europe and the Middle East, the most since 2009.

In December 2019, Barrasso appeared to promote Senator John Kennedy's views supporting the discredited conspiracy theory of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

In February 2021, Barrasso opposed the second impeachment of Donald Trump, calling it a "partisan crusade." On February 13, 2021, Barrasso voted to acquit Trump of inciting the 2021 United States Capitol attack. On May 28, 2021, Barrasso voted against creating the January 6 commission. In November 2021, Barrasso refused to condemn Trump for defending January 6 rioters who called for Pence's death.

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023

Barrasso was among the 31 Senate Republicans who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.

Personal life

Barrasso has three children. He is divorced from Linda Nix. On August 11, 2007, during Cheyenne's annual Race for the Cure, Barrasso and Bobbi Brown, herself a breast cancer survivor and at the time the director of Barrasso's state senate offices, announced their engagement. Brown then resigned from her position in Barrasso's state senate offices. They were married on January 1, 2008, in Thermopolis. Brown died of brain cancer on January 25, 2024. She was known for being an advocate on mental health and suicide prevention.

Barrasso is a member of the board of directors of Presidential Classroom, and a member of the Casper Chamber of Commerce. He identifies as a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Electoral history

U.S. Senate special election in Wyoming, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John Barrasso (incumbent)	183,063	73.35%	+3.37%
	Democratic	Nick Carter	66,202	26.53%	−3.33%
	None	Write-ins	293	0.12%
Majority			116,861	46.83%	+6.70%
Turnout			249,558
	Republican hold		Swing

U.S. Senate Republican primary election in Wyoming, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Barrasso (incumbent)	73,516	89.9
	Republican	Thomas Bleming	5,080	6.2
	Republican	Emmett Mavy	2,873	3.5
	Republican	Write-in	279	0.3
Total votes			81,748	100

U.S. Senate general election in Wyoming, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John Barrasso (incumbent)	185,250	75.66%	+2.31%
	Democratic	Tim Chesnut	53,019	21.65%	−4.88%
	Wyoming Country	Joel Otto	6,176	2.52%	N/A
	n/a	Write-ins	417	0.17%	+0.05%
Total votes			244,862	100.0%	N/A
	Republican hold

U.S. Senate Republican primary election in Wyoming, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Barrasso (incumbent)	74,292	64.76%
	Republican	Dave Dodson	32,647	28.46%
	Republican	John Holtz	2,981	2.60%
	Republican	Charlie Hardy (withdrawn)	2,377	2.07%
	Republican	Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente	1,280	1.16%
	Republican	Anthony Van Risseghem	870	0.7%
	Write-in		267	0.23%
Total votes			114,714	100.00%

U.S. Senate general election in Wyoming, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John Barrasso (incumbent)	136,210	66.96%	−8.70%
	Democratic	Gary Trauner	61,227	30.10%	+8.45%
	Libertarian	Joseph Porambo	5,658	2.78%	N/A
	Write-in		325	0.16%	N/A
Total votes			203,420	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

U.S. Senate Republican primary election in Wyoming, 2024

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Barrasso (incumbent)	70,494	67.92%
	Republican	Reid Rasner	25,427	24.50%
	Republican	John Holtz	7,868	7.58%
Total votes			103,789	100.00%

U.S. Senate general election in Wyoming, 2024

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John Barrasso (incumbent)	198,418	75.11%	+8.15%
	Democratic	Scott Morrow	63,727	24.12%	−5.98%
	Write-in		2,017	0.76%	+0.60%
Total votes			264,162	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

See also

• Physicians in the United States Congress
• List of United States senators from Wyoming

External links

• Senator John Barrasso official U.S. Senate website
• John Barrasso for U.S. Senate official campaign website
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Wyoming's New Senator Rita Healy and P.G. Sittenfeld, Time Magazine, June 22, 2007
• A Profile of Wyoming's New Senator Elsa Heidorn, NPR All Things Considered, June 23, 2007
• Wyoming State Senate Members Site