Devin Nunes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Devin Nunes
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| Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2019 – January 1, 2022 |
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| Preceded by | Adam Schiff |
| Succeeded by | Mike Turner |
| Chair of the House Intelligence Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2019 |
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| Preceded by | Mike Rogers |
| Succeeded by | Adam Schiff |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California |
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| In office January 3, 2003 – January 1, 2022 |
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| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Connie Conway |
| Constituency | 21st district (2003–2013) 22nd district (2013–2022) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Devin Gerald Nunes
October 1, 1973 Tulare, California, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Elizabeth Tamariz
(m. 2003) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | College of the Sequoias (AA) California Polytechnic State University (BS, MS) |
| Awards | Presidential Medal of Freedom (2021) Grand-Officer of the Order of Prince Henry, Portugal (2013) Commander of the Order of the Star of Romania, Romania (2017) |
| Signature |  |
Devin Gerald Nunes GOIH (/ˈnuːnɛs/; born October 1, 1973) is an American businessman and politician who is chief executive officer of the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG). Before resigning from the House of Representatives and joining TMTG, Nunes was first the U.S. representative for CA's 21st congressional district and then CA's 22nd congressional district from 2003 to 2022.
A member of the Republican Party, Nunes was the chair of the House Intelligence Committee from 2015 to 2019. He was also a member of President Donald Trump's transition team. Nunes's former district, numbered as the 21st from 2003 to 2013 and as the 22nd after redistricting, was in the San Joaquin Valley and included most of western Tulare County and much of eastern Fresno County.
In March 2017, the U.S. House intelligence committee, which Nunes chaired at the time, launched an investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. In February 2018, Nunes publicly released a four-page memorandum alleging an FBI conspiracy against Trump. Nunes subsequently began an investigation of the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly abusing their powers in an attempt to hurt Trump. In January 2021, Trump awarded Nunes the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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Early life, education, and early career
Nunes was born on October 1, 1973, the older of two sons of Antonio L. "Anthony" Nunes Jr. and Toni Diane Nunes (née Enas). His grandfather founded Nunes & Sons, a prominent dairy operation in Tulare County. His family operated their farm in California until 2006, when they sold the property and purchased a dairy in Sibley, Iowa.
Nunes is of three-quarters Portuguese descent, with ancestors emigrating from the Azores to California. He has one younger brother, Anthony III. In 2009, Nunes wrote in The Wall Street Journal that he became an entrepreneur at age 14 when he bought seven head of young cattle, learning quickly how to profit from his investment.
After receiving his Associate of Arts degree from the College of the Sequoias in 1993, Nunes graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a bachelor's degree in agricultural business in 1995, and a master's degree in agriculture in 1996. After finishing school, Nunes returned to farming.
In 1996, at age 23, Nunes was elected to the College of the Sequoias Board, making him one of California's youngest community college trustees in state history. He served on the board until 2002.
In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Nunes to serve as California State Director for the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Development section.
U.S. Congress
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Elections
In 1998, Nunes entered the "top two" primary race for California's 20th congressional district seat held by Democrat Cal Dooley. He finished in third place.
In 2002, Nunes ran for the Republican nomination in the 21st congressional district, a new district created by reapportionment after the 2000 United States census. His principal opponents in the crowded seven-way primary were former Fresno mayor Jim Patterson and state Assemblyman Mike Briggs. Nunes was the only major candidate from Tulare County; Patterson and Briggs were both from Fresno. This was critical, as 58% of the district's population was in Tulare County.
Patterson and Briggs split the vote in Fresno County, allowing Nunes to win by a four-point margin over Patterson, his nearest competitor. Nunes won 46.5% of the vote in Tulare County and 28.1% of the vote in Fresno County. Nunes was also helped by a strong showing in the rural part of the district. He was endorsed by the California Farm Bureau and The Fresno Bee. The district was solidly Republican, and Nunes coasted to victory in November 2002. He was 29 years old.
Nunes faced token Democratic opposition in 2004, 2006, and 2008. He ran unopposed in the 2010 general election.
After the 2010 census, Nunes's district was renumbered the 22nd. It lost most of eastern Tulare County to the neighboring 23rd District, and now has a small plurality of Hispanic voters. Despite these changes, on paper it was no less Republican than its predecessor. Nunes was reelected with 62% of the vote in 2012, 72% in 2014, and 68% in 2016.
During the 2014 election cycle Nunes received approximately $1.4 million in political action committee (PAC) contributions. During the 2016 election cycle, he received approximately $1.6 million in campaign contributions from PACs.
In 2018, Nunes faced Democratic nominee Andrew Janz, a Fresno County prosecutor. Nunes defeated Janz with 53% of the vote to Janz's 47%, the closest race of Nunes's career.
In 2020, Nunes received 56.5% of the vote in the primary. Nunes defeated Phil Arballo in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Committees and caucuses
In 2015, Nunes became the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
As co-chair of the U.S.–Mexico Friendship Caucus, he and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer met with President Felipe Calderón of Mexico in April 2012.
Nunes was a member of the House Baltic Caucus and the U.S.-Japan Caucus.
112th Congress
- House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
- Committee on Ways and Means
- Subcommittee on Trade
- Subcommittee on Health
114th and 115th Congress
- House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (chair)
- Committee on Ways and Means
116th and 117th Congress
- House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (Ranking Member)
- Committee on Ways and Means
Resignation
In December 2021, Nunes resigned from the House, effective January 1, 2022, in order to join the Trump Media & Technology Group as chief executive officer.
Political positions
Former Trump campaign CEO and chief strategist Steve Bannon has called Nunes Trump's second-strongest ally in Congress.
Los Angeles Times described him as "one of Trump's most ardent and outlandish defenders in Congress" who "parroted the president's conspiracy theories" and used his position "to try to undermine [the] investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election."
During the presidency of Donald Trump, Nunes voted in line with the president's stated position 96.2% of the time. As of December 2021, Nunes had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 11% of the time.
Energy
On July 28, 2010, Nunes introduced H.R. 5899, "A Roadmap for America's Energy Future", which would have accelerated the exploration and production of fossil fuel, supported the rapid development of market-based alternative energy supplies, and expanded the number of nuclear reactors from 104 to 300 over the next thirty years. Kimberley Strassel of The Wall Street Journal wrote, "It's a bill designed to produce energy, not restrict it" with "no freebies", and "offers a competitive twist to government support of renewable energy."
Environment
Nunes wrote in his book Restoring the Republic that environmental lobbyists were "followers of neo-Marxist, socialist, Maoist or Communist ideals."
In February 2014, during a drought in California, Nunes rejected any link to global warming, claiming "Global warming is nonsense." He has said it was a "man-made drought" due to water restrictions from the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and other environmental regulations that have seen water allocations decline dramatically even in non-drought years.
He criticized the federal government for shutting off portions of California's system of water irrigation and storage and diverting water into a program for freshwater salmon and the delta smelt. Nunes co-sponsored the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act to stop a project designed to restore a dried-up section of the San Joaquin River. He also co-sponsored the California Emergency Drought Relief Act. The bills passed the House of Representatives in February 2014 and December 2014 respectively, but were not voted on by the Senate.
Fiscal policy
On January 27, 2010, Nunes co-sponsored H.R. 4529, Roadmap for America's Future Act of 2010, the Republican Party's budget proposal.
On December 2, 2010, Nunes introduced H.R. 6484, the Public Employee Pension Transparency Act, which would "provide for reporting and disclosure by State and local public employee retirement pension plans," but it never received a vote.
Nunes has long been a proponent of a consumption tax model and has been influenced by David Bradford. In 2016, he introduced the American Business Competitiveness Act (H.R. 4377), known as the ABC Act, a "cash-flow tax plan" featuring full expensing and a reduction of the highest rate for federal corporate income tax rate to 25%. Nunes's proposal was influential among House Republicans, and had similarities to the House Republican tax plan introduced by Speaker Paul Ryan and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady in June 2016. Conservative economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin said Nunes had "a tremendous impact on the debate" for a non-chairman.
In April 2016, Nunes voted for the Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act, a bill that would prevent the IRS from accessing the names of donors to nonprofit organizations. Critics of the bill, which was promoted by the Koch brothers, say IRS access to donor information is important for ensuring foreign funds do not impact U.S. elections.
Nunes voted in support of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
Health care
In 2009, Nunes co-authored the "Patients' Choice Act" with Paul Ryan (R-WI) in the House, and Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Richard Burr (R-NC) in the Senate. The bill would have established a system of state health insurance exchanges and amended the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable tax credit for qualified health care insurance coverage. It also proposed to absorb Medicaid programs into the exchange system. The Patients' Choice Act was incorporated into the "Roadmap for America's Future Act of 2010".
Nunes opposes the Affordable Care Act and has said it cannot be fixed. In 2017 he voted to repeal it.
Immigration and refugees
Nunes supported President Trump's 2017 executive order imposing a temporary ban on entry into the United States by citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, claiming it was "a common-sense security measure to prevent terror attacks on the homeland".
Intelligence Committee
Nunes opposed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an international agreement that the U.S. and other major world powers negotiated with Iran, under which Iran was granted partial sanctions relief in exchange for limits on and monitoring of its nuclear activities.
As House Intelligence Committee chairman, Nunes oversaw the Republican-controlled committee's two-year-long investigation into the U.S. response to the 2012 Benghazi attack. The committee's final report found no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or any other Obama administration officials, and concluded that the response of CIA and U.S. military to the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound was correct. The committee's report debunked "a series of persistent allegations hinting at dark conspiracies" about the attack, determining that "there was no intelligence failure, no delay in sending a CIA rescue team, no missed opportunity for a military rescue, and no evidence the CIA was covertly shipping arms from Libya to Syria", but found "that the State Department facility where [Christopher] Stevens and [Sean] Smith were killed was not well-protected, and that State Department security agents knew they could not defend it from a well-armed attack".
Paul Ryan vacated the chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee when he replaced John Boehner as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Ryan asked Nunes to stay on the Intelligence Committee, and Nunes complied.
Surveillance
In January 2019, Congress passed a bill Nunes supported, which extends Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) until 2023, and Trump signed it into law that month. FISA Section 702 allows the National Security Agency to conduct searches of foreigners' communications without a warrant. The process incidentally collects information from Americans. Nunes lauded the bill's passing: "The House of Representatives has taken a big step to ensure the continuation of one of the Intelligence Community's most vital tools for tracking foreign terrorists".
Armenia–Azerbaijan conflict
Nunes accused Turkey, a NATO member, of inciting the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. On October 1, 2020, he co-signed a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that condemned Azerbaijan's offensive operations against Nagorno-Karabakh, denounced Turkey's role in the conflict and called for an immediate ceasefire.
Transportation
California State Route 99 is a highway running north–south that branches from Interstate 5 at the community of Wheeler Ridge in Kern County and continues northward through the Central Valley until it connects with Interstate 5 again at Red Bluff in Tehama County. In 2005 Nunes introduced H.R. 99, which designated State Route 99 as a congressional High Priority Corridor. The bill also provided federal authorization for Highway 99 to become part of the Interstate Highway System. On February 17, 2011, Nunes introduced H.R. 761, the "San Joaquin Valley Transportation Enhancement Act", which would give the State of California the option to redirect federal high-speed rail funds to finance improvements to Highway 99. H.R. 761 was cosponsored by Jeff Denham (R-CA) and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
U.S. base in Portugal
In 2015, Nunes clashed with the Pentagon over a U.S. base in the Azores, Portugal. He proposed relocating Africa Command and European Command intelligence centers to the Azores, contrary to plans by Pentagon and NATO to create a larger intelligence "fusion" facility in the United Kingdom, maintaining that this would save money because of the Azores' lower living and construction costs. The Pentagon responded by stating "Moving to Lajes Field is very expensive and living is expensive as well." In sum, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found inaccuracies in the information provided by the Department of Defense to Congress, according to its report.
COVID-19 pandemic
On March 15, 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Nunes encouraged families who were "healthy" to "go out and go to a local restaurant, likely you can get in easy." This advice contradicted that of the CDC, and WHO, as well as that of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government's leading expert on infectious diseases, who advised people to stay at home if they could. Later, Nunes walked back his comments and claimed that he had encouraged people to use drive-throughs. On March 31, he described California's decision to close schools to halt the spread of coronavirus as "way overkill". Nunes said he wanted people to return to work in one to two weeks.
On March 17, 2020, Nunes told Laura Ingraham on Fox News that the media was exaggerating the threat of COVID-19. He predicted that the crisis would be over by Easter. "There's a good chance we can get through this in the next couple of weeks and for sure by Easter, because we will have a handle on who's getting sick and how to treat them," he said.
Personal life
The Nunes family is of Portuguese descent, immigrating from the Azores to California in the early 20th century. Nunes wrote a foreword to the 1951 novel Home Is An Island by Portuguese-American author Alfred Lewis for the 2012 edition by Tagus Press, an imprint of the Center for Portuguese Culture and Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.
Nunes married Elizabeth Nunes (née Tamariz), an elementary school teacher, in 2003. They have three daughters. Nunes is a practicing Catholic, and attends Mass in Tulare.
Honors
President Donald Trump awarded Nunes the Presidential Medal of Freedom on January 4, 2021, along with fellow Representative Jim Jordan. No media were allowed to document the ceremony. In a press release from the Trump White House before the ceremony, Nunes was described as having exposed illegal wiretapping by the Obama administration on Trump and the Trump campaign, as part of the unsubstantiated Trump Tower wiretapping allegations. In the same release Nunes is praised as having helped "thwart a plot to take down a sitting United States president", in reference to his work to discredit the allegations (which the release calls the "Russia Hoax") leading to Trump's first impeachment.
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Nunes has received the following foreign honors:
Grand-Officer of the Order of Prince Henry, Portugal (June 7, 2013)
Commander of the Order of the Star of Romania, Romania (June 8, 2017)
