Mo Brooks

Morris Jackson "Mo" Brooks Jr. (born April 29, 1954) is an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2023. His district was based in Huntsville and stretches across the northern fifth of the state. A member of the Republican Party, Brooks was a founding member of the Freedom Caucus.

In 2022, Brooks retired from the U.S. House of Representatives to run for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Richard Shelby. Once a strong ally of former President Donald Trump, Brooks was initially supported by Trump, but Trump rescinded his endorsement of Brooks's candidacy in March 2022. In May, Brooks came in second in the Republican primary, behind Katie Britt; he lost to Britt in the runoff. Since then, Brooks has been an outspoken critic of Trump.

Early life, education, and legal career

Brooks was born in 1954 in Charleston, South Carolina, and moved to Huntsville, Alabama, in 1963. His mother, Betty J. (Noland) Brooks, taught economics and government for over 20 years at Lee High School, while he attended Grissom High School. His father, Morris Jackson "Jack" Brooks Sr., was raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and worked as an electrical engineer before retiring from Redstone Arsenal's Meteorology Center. They still live in Madison County, Alabama.

Brooks graduated from Grissom High School in 1972. He graduated from Duke University in three years with a double major in political science and economics, with highest honors in economics. Brooks received his J.D. degree from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1978.

Brooks started his legal career with the Tuscaloosa County district attorney's office. He left that office in 1980 to return to Huntsville as a law clerk for presiding circuit court Judge John David Snodgrass. During every year except when he was serving as a prosecutor or judicial clerk, Brooks was a practicing lawyer. In 1993, he became counsel to Leo and Associates, a business law firm with a national focus, founded by Karl W. Leo. He became a partner in the firm, which was reorganized as Leo & Brooks, LLC. He maintained a national practice that specialized in commercial litigation.

Early political career

Brooks was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1982 and reelected in 1983, 1986, and 1990. While in the legislature, Brooks was elected Republican house caucus chairman three times.

In 1991, Brooks was appointed Madison County district attorney, after the incumbent, Robert E. Cramer, was elected to Congress. In 1992, he ran for the office, but lost to Democrat Tim Morgan. A Republican had not been elected to the office since the Reconstruction era.

In 1995–96, Brooks was appointed state special assistant attorney general for Alabama attorney general Jeff Sessions. From 1996 to 2002, he was special assistant attorney general for attorney general Bill Pryor.

In 1996, Brooks ran for the Madison County commission and unseated an eight-year incumbent Republican. He was reelected to the commission in 2000, 2004, and 2008.

In 2006, Brooks unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor of Alabama, coming in third behind eventual nominee Luther Strange and former state treasurer George Wallace, Jr.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2010

Brooks won the Republican primary, receiving 51% of the vote, defeating incumbent (and former Democrat) Parker Griffith (33%) and conservative activist Les Phillip (16%).

The Republican National Committee named Brooks a "Young Gun" in 2010. Larry Sabato, Charlie Cook, and Real Clear Politics rated the race "Likely Republican". CQPolitics, Stuart Rothenberg, and the ''New York Times'' rated the race "Safe Republican". Nate Silver in the FiveThirtyEight.com ''New York Times'' blog predicted that there was a 94.1% chance that Brooks would defeat Democratic nominee Steve Raby.

Brooks won the general election, 58%–42%. He became the first freshman Republican to represent this district since Reconstruction.

2012

In January 2012, Parker Griffith, having switched parties, filed for a rematch against Brooks in the Republican primary. He said of the incumbent, "We'll contrast my time in Congress with my opponent's time in Congress. The distinction is clear. He has wandered away from many of the issues people want us to address". Brooks had the support of Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum political action committee. He defeated Griffith in the rematch, 71%–29%. Brooks won all five counties.

2014

In the November 4, 2014, general election, Brooks faced independent candidate Mark Bray and won by a margin of 115,338 (74.4%) to 39,005 (25.2%).

2016

In the November 8, 2016, general election, Brooks faced Democratic nominee Will Boyd Jr. and won by a margin of 205,647 (66.7%) to 102,234 (33.2%).

2017

On May 15, 2017, Brooks announced his candidacy in the 2017 United States Senate special election. He ran against Luther Strange, a Republican appointed to the Senate by former Alabama Governor Robert Bentley after Senator Jeff Sessions was appointed U.S. attorney general.

Brooks was endorsed by talk-radio host Mark Levin, radio host Laura Ingraham, radio and television host Sean Hannity, and Congressman Mike Rogers.

In an interview with ''Yellowhammer News'', Brooks touted his conservative record, saying that during the previous session of Congress, Heritage Action ranked him one of the Top Ten Best Congressmen on issues involving the "principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense". The American Conservative Union ranked his record in the top 20% of all Congressmen, with an overall A grade during the last session of Congress, on issues relating to "liberty, personal responsibility, traditional value, and a strong national defense". The National Taxpayers Union ranked his record at the top of the Alabama Congressional delegation, tied with Byrne and Gary Palmer, on issues relating to "tax relief and reform, lower and less wasteful spending, individual liberty, and free enterprise". The Club for Growth ranked his record in the top 20% of all Congressmen on "economic policies that strengthen our nation's economy and shrink the size of the federal government". He was the Tea Party movement's preferred candidate.

Bentley initially decided to align the special election with the 2018 general election, but Kay Ivey, his successor, moved the date up to December 12, 2017, scheduling the primary for August 15 and primary runoff for September 26. In the Republican primary, Brooks lost to Strange and former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who advanced to the runoff. In his concession speech, he announced his reelection campaign for his congressional seat in 2018. He also "spoke more favorably of Moore and the race that he ran rather than Strange", but did not endorse a candidate.

Brooks declared he intended to vote for Moore on November 11, days after ''The Washington Post'' published a story alleging sexual abuse by Moore. In a text message to al.com on November 13, Brooks said, "Socialist Democrat Doug Jones will vote wrong. Roy Moore will vote right. Hence, I will vote for Roy Moore". He continued by invoking the Duke University lacrosse rape case, a story that he claimed to "vividly remember" because he had graduated from the university. Brooks then said:

As an attorney, I know accusations are easy. Proving them to the satisfaction of a judge, a jury, or here, voters, is another thing. I do not know enough of the evidence to know with confidence what the true facts are ... I do believe this, there are millions of people in America who would lie in a heartbeat if it meant adding another Democrat to the Senate.

Brooks was also critical of ''The Washington Post'' in a statement to ''The Decatur Daily'', saying:

My view of ''The Washington Post'' is that they are part of the communications wing of the Democratic Party. They are hyper-partisan to the point that they are more than willing to lie to advance their left wing, amoral, socialist agenda. I've seen them do it firsthand of my own personal knowledge.

2018

In the November 6, 2018, general election, Brooks faced Democratic nominee Peter Joffrion and won by a margin of 159,063 (61%) to 101,388 (38.9%).

2020

In the November 3, 2020, general election, Brooks was reelected without major party opposition, as the ballot was uncontested.

Tenure

In February 2018, Brooks delivered a House floor speech and later released a statement through his office announcing his opposition to the spending bill that would ward off another United States federal government shutdown, saying the bill would do more harm than good by granting more funds than the United States could afford.

In April 2018, after Trump ordered missile strikes against Syria, Brooks confirmed that he was in favor of the strikes but would prefer the president "consult with Congress and obtain an unambiguous Authorization for the Use of Military Force from Congress before engaging in acts of war against a foreign nation" and said there was evidence the Assad regime had used chemical agents.

In July 2018, Brooks announced his support for Trump's nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court, saying Kavanaugh was an excellent choice who "has an established record of upholding the Constitution and federal law without inserting his personal political views into his decisions. As such, I look forward to his quick confirmation by the Senate". "In my view, America is burdened with too many liberal, activist federal justices and judges who fail to abide by their role as limited by the Constitution, and I am pleased President Trump nominated a judge who understands the importance of limiting his role to that intended by America's founding fathers".

In July 2018, Brooks announced his support for Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan amid allegations of ignoring claims of sexual abuse of athletes by a team doctor while Jordan was serving as a wrestling coach at The Ohio State University (OSU). In his statement, Brooks recounted his seven years working alongside Jordan and said Jordan had proved to him during that time that were he aware of the claims, he "would have done everything in his power to stop the inappropriate conduct". OSU opened an investigation in April 2018 that looked into allegations of sexual misconduct by the former wrestling team's physician, Richard Strauss, who was the physician when Jordan was an assistant coach. At least eight former wrestlers said that Jordan had been aware of, but did not respond to, allegations of sexual misconduct by Strauss.

On October 23, 2019, Brooks, Bradley Byrne and Jordan joined about two dozen other House Republicans in aggressively intruding upon that day's confidential hearing in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) where Republican and Democratic congressional members had been taking testimony from Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper. Brooks gave an incendiary speech before joining the non-committee Republicans forcing their way into the hearing in which he demanded, "By golly, if they are going to do it, do it in public. Don't hide it from the American people". One committee member said, "It was the closest thing I've seen around here to mass civil unrest as a member of Congress," as the conservatives had barged into the hearing room with prohibited electronic devices.Total SCIF Show: The GOP's Raid Puts National Security at Risk
''Wired.com'', Brian Barrett, October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.Chaotic scene as Republicans disrupt impeachment deposition
, ''Washington Post'', Michael Balsamo and Mary Clare Jalonick ''(Associated Press),'' October 24, 2019. Retrieved October 24, 2019.Reps. Mo Brooks, Bradley Byrne at forefront of GOP charge into impeachment room
'' AL.com'', Paul Gattis, October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 24, 2019. Brooks said, "Show your face where we can all see the travesty that you are trying to foist on America and the degradation of our Republic that you're engaged in". Jordan said, "The members have just had it, and they want to be able to see and represent their constituents and find out what's going on". In the 116th Congress, the chair, Adam Schiff and 12 Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee were appointed by the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who is an ex officio committee member. The House Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy, also an ex officio member, appointed the ranking member, Devin Nunes, and eight other Republicans to the committee. Each side gets equal time to question witnesses appearing before the committee. The disruption delayed Cooper's testimony by many hours.

Brooks and Byrne were the only Republican members of the Alabama House delegation to vote in October 2019 against a resolution condemning Trump for removing U.S. military forces from Syria, arguing that it had greatly endangered the effective Kurdish resistance to the Islamic State in Syria (ISIS).https://www.alreporter.com/2019/10/17/all-but-two-alabama-republican-congressmen-vote-to-condemn-trumps-syria-exit/ , ''Alabama Political Reporter'', October 17, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.

In July 2021, Brooks voted against the bipartisan ALLIES Act, which would increase by 8,000 the number of special immigrant visas for Afghan allies of the U.S. military during its invasion of Afghanistan, while also reducing some application requirements that caused long application backlogs; the bill passed in the House 407–16.

As of October 2021, Brooks had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 7.5% of the time.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Armed Services
** Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies and Information Systems
** Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
* Committee on Science, Space and Technology
** Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics

Caucus memberships

* Freedom Caucus
*Congressional Constitution Caucus

Political positions

In 2012, the ''National Journal'' ranked Brooks the 75th most conservative member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Abortion

Brooks opposes stem cell research that uses human embryos. He co-sponsored the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, which would have ended federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

Race issues

On August 4, 2014, Brooks was interviewed on ''The Laura Ingraham Show'' and responded to a clip of Ron Fournier warning that the Republican Party could not survive as the "party of white people". Brooks said, "Well, this is a part of the war on whites that's being launched by the Democratic Party ... And the way in which they're launching this war is by claiming that whites hate everybody else. It's part of the strategy that Barack Obama implemented in 2008, continued in 2012, where he divides us all on race, on sex, creed, envy, class warfare, all those kinds of things". His remark drew considerable comments and controversy. When asked about it later that day, Brooks repeated the claim of a "war on whites", saying, "In effect, what the Democrats are doing with their dividing America by race is they are waging a war on whites, and I find that repugnant". Two days after his original comment, Brooks added that the Republican Party was involved in a "war on whites".

Drugs

Brooks has a "B" rating from NORML for his voting record on cannabis-related matters. He has said that legalization of marijuana is a state issue and voted for bills to allow Veterans Health Administration doctors to discuss medical marijuana with patients and block the DEA from taking enforcement actions against medical marijuana in states that have legalized it.

Economy

In 2011, Brooks said, "Financial issues overshadow everything else going on in Washington. That one set of issues is sucking everything else out of the room".

Brooks supports changes to Social Security, including allowing individuals to invest some of their Social Security money in private retirement accounts. He has said that he does not support the full privatization of Social Security "because the stock market and many other investments are simply too volatile". Brooks also supports the plan Paul Ryan proposed to shift Medicare from a publicly run program to one managed by private insurers.

Brooks signed Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge. He supports the Fair Tax proposal. In 2010, Brooks signed a pledge sponsored by Americans for Prosperity not to vote for any climate change legislation that would raise taxes.

At a monthly breakfast meeting of the Madison County Republican Men's Club, Brooks referred to the jobs bill President Obama proposed as the "Obama 'kill jobs' bill". He told the crowd that it added to the debt, promoted "frivolous lawsuits," and created new government agencies. He challenged Obama's promotion of the bill, saying, "If Barack Obama is serious about jobs, how about repealing Obamacare, dealing with illegal immigration and urging the Democratic-controlled Senate to pass pro-jobs bills that have already cleared in the House". At the same meeting, Brooks compared the recession of 2008 (and its after effects) with the Great Depression, saying that the problems associated with the Great Depression are "a cakewalk compared to what can happen to our country if we don't start acting responsibly in Washington, D.C., to try to get this deficit under control".

In 2020, Brooks was one of 48 members of Congress the National Taxpayers Union named a "Taxpayer's Friend" for tax-related votes.

Environment

In May 2018, Brooks claimed that land erosion played a significant role in sea level rise. "Every time you have that soil or rock or whatever it is that is deposited into the seas, that forces the sea levels to rise, because now you have less space in those oceans, because the bottom is moving up". The vast majority of the scientific community rejects this claim. At the hearing, Brooks also argued that the Antarctic ice sheet was growing. In actuality, while in the past it has grown, in recent years it has shrunk, and earlier growth does not disprove that climate change is occurring.

Foreign policy

Brooks has said, "we cannot continue to be the world police". He has expressed disappointment that the U.S. military did not leave Afghanistan immediately after Osama bin Laden's death on May 1, 2011.

Brooks disapproves of NATO military actions in Libya that the United States has been involved in. In 2011, he said, "I reject the president's position that the way to prevent Libyans from killing Libyans is by Americans killing Libyans". He voted against H.R. 2278 and after voting published the following statement: "We should be out of Libya altogether, and not voting piecemeal on parts of the operation. While this bill excludes some operations in Libya, it approves many others. The lesson from Vietnam is that the one sure way to lose a war is by fighting it half-way".

Brooks opposed the Electrify Africa Act of 2013, a bill that would direct the president to establish a multiyear strategy to help countries in sub-Saharan Africa develop a mix of power solutions to provide sufficient electricity access to people in rural and urban areas in order to alleviate poverty and drive economic growth. At a meeting of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, he said, "American taxpayers spend more than $40 billion per year on foreign aid ... Given America's out-of-control deficits and accumulated debt that threaten our economic future, I cannot justify American taxpayers building power plants and transmission lines in Africa with money we do not have, will have to borrow to get, and cannot afford to pay back".

In 2019, Brooks was one of 60 representatives to vote against condemning Trump's withdrawal from Syria.

In 2020, Brooks voted against the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021, which would prevent the president from withdrawing soldiers from Afghanistan without congressional approval.

In June 2021, Brooks was one of 49 House Republicans to vote to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002