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Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Lee became Utah's senior senator in 2019, when Orrin Hatch retired, and the dean of Utah's congressional delegation in 2021, when Representative Rob Bishop retired.

Key Information

The son of U.S. Solicitor General Rex E. Lee and brother of Utah Supreme Court justice Thomas Rex Lee, Lee began his career as a clerk for the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah before clerking for Samuel Alito, who was then a judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. From 2002 to 2005, Lee was an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Utah. He joined the administration of Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr., serving as the general counsel in the governor's office from 2005 to 2006. Lee again clerked for Alito after he was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the 2010 U.S. Senate election in Utah, Lee defeated incumbent senator Bob Bennett in the Republican primary, and won the general election.

Although he refused to endorse Donald Trump during the 2016 Republican presidential primaries and voted for Evan McMullin in the general election, Lee eventually became a Trump ally. He endorsed Trump in the 2020 and 2024 elections and supported the Trump administration's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, although he did not sign the Texas v. Pennsylvania amicus brief, and ultimately voted to certify the outcome.

Lee has been reelected twice, in 2016 and 2022, the latter victory over McMullin. Lee also chaired the Joint Economic Committee from 2019 to 2021.[1]

Early life and education

[edit]

Lee was born in Mesa, Arizona on June 4, 1971, the son of Janet (née Griffin) and Rex E. Lee, who was solicitor general under President Ronald Reagan. Lee's older brother Thomas Rex Lee is a former justice of the Utah Supreme Court.

Lee's family moved to Provo, Utah, one year later, when his father became the founding dean of Brigham Young University's J. Reuben Clark Law School. While Lee spent about half of his childhood years in Utah, he spent the other half in McLean, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. His father served first as the assistant U.S. attorney general for the civil division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1975 to 1976, and then as the solicitor general of the United States from 1981 to 1985. Lee is of English, Swiss, and Danish descent.[2][3]

After graduating from Timpview High School in 1989, Lee attended Brigham Young University. He was elected president of the students' association, BYUSA,[a][4][5] while his father was president of the university. He graduated in 1994 with a bachelor of arts in political science. Lee then attended BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School, where he was a member of the BYU Law Review and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1997.[5]

[edit]

After law school, Lee clerked for Judge Dee Benson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah from 1997 to 1998, then for Judge (later Supreme Court Justice) Samuel Alito of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1998 to 1999. Lee then entered private practice at the Washington, D.C., office of the law firm Sidley Austin, specializing in appellate and Supreme Court litigation. In 2002, Lee left Sidley and returned to Utah to serve as an assistant U.S. attorney in Salt Lake City, preparing briefs and arguing cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He served as general counsel to Utah Governor Jon M. Huntsman Jr. from 2005 to 2006. From 2006 to 2007, Lee again clerked for Alito, who had recently been appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.[5] Afterward, Lee returned to private practice in Utah, joining the Salt Lake City office of the law firm Howrey LLP.[6]

As an attorney, Lee also represented Class A low-level radioactive waste facility provider EnergySolutions Inc. in a highly publicized dispute between the company and the Utah public and public officials that caused controversy during his first Senate election. Utah's government had allowed the company to store radioactive waste in Utah as long as it was low-grade "Class A" material. When the company arranged to store waste from Italy, many objected that the waste was foreign and could be more radioactive than permitted. Lee argued that the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution allowed the company to accept foreign waste and that the waste could be reduced in grade by mixing it with lower-grade materials, while the state government sought to ban the importation of foreign waste using a radioactive waste interstate compact. EnergySolutions eventually abandoned its plans to store Italian radioactive waste in Utah, ending the dispute, with the 10th U.S. Circuit court later ruling that the compact had the power to block foreign radioactive waste from being stored in Utah.[7][8]

U.S. Senate

[edit]

Elections

[edit]

2010

[edit]
Main article: 2010 United States Senate election in Utah

Lee ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010. When campaigning, he focused on the size of the federal government. He said the U.S. Constitution needed to be amended to create a flat-tax system and impose term limits on members of Congress. Senators would be allowed up to two terms and representatives up to six terms under the proposal.[9]

At the Republican State Convention, he received 982 votes (28.75%) on the first ballot, to Tim Bridgewater's 26.84% and incumbent U.S. senator Bob Bennett's 25.91%.[10] Bridgewater won the second and third ballots to win the party endorsement. Both Bridgewater and Lee received enough support to have their names placed on the primary ballot.[10]

In the June 22 primary election, Lee won the Republican nomination with 51% of the vote to Bridgewater's 49%.[11]

Lee won the November 2 general election with 62% of the vote to Democratic nominee Sam Granato's 33% and Constitution Party nominee Scott Bradley's 6%.[12]

2016

[edit]
Main article: 2016 United States Senate election in Utah
Mike Lee speaking at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland on February 26, 2015.

Lee was reelected in 2016. He was endorsed by the Club for Growth, the Senate Conservatives Fund, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.[13]

2022

[edit]
Main article: 2022 United States Senate election in Utah

Lee defeated Becky Edwards and Ally Isom in the Republican primary election. Isom criticized Lee for seeking a third term after he had supported legislation to limit senators to two terms.[14]

In the general election, Lee was challenged by independent Evan McMullin, for whom Lee voted for president in 2016.[15] The Utah Democratic Party backed McMullin instead of nominating a candidate. Polling in September showed Lee with 36% support and McMullin with 34%, with the rest undecided or choosing another candidate.[16] According to Jason Perry, the director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah, Utah had "not seen a Senate race this competitive in decades".[17] Lee won the election with 53% of the vote.[18]

Tenure

[edit]

Scorecards and rankings

[edit]

In 2011, Club for Growth gave Lee a 100% score.[19] He also received a 100% Conservative voting record for 2011 from the American Conservative Union.[20] The Heritage Foundation gave him a 99% score, tied for first with Jim DeMint.[21] He received a Liberal Action score of 38%.[22]

2016 presidential election

[edit]

In March 2016, Lee endorsed Ted Cruz over Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican primary. He was the first senator to do so. At the time, he said, "I expect I'll be the first of many Republican senators who will endorse Ted Cruz. I'm confident more are on the way, and I welcome others to join."[23] By June, after Trump had become the presumptive nominee, Lee had still not endorsed him, saying he needed "assurances" that Trump would not act as an "authoritarian" or "autocrat" and expressing frustration that Trump had "accused my best friend's father of conspiring to kill JFK";[24] at several points during the 2016 primary, Trump publicly implied that Ted Cruz's father Rafael had consorted with Lee Harvey Oswald to assassinate President John F. Kennedy.[25] Lee voted for Independent Evan McMullin.[15]

2017 Alabama special election

[edit]

On October 16, 2017, Lee endorsed Roy Moore in the 2017 Alabama special election runoff to fill the seat of U.S. Attorney General and former senator Jeff Sessions.[26] Moore had been removed as the Alabama Supreme Court's chief justice in 2003 for defying a federal order to remove an illegal Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Judicial Building. He was reelected chief justice in 2012. In May 2016, Moore was once again removed from the bench by the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC), permanently via suspension for the rest of his term, making him ineligible for reelection,[27] for ordering state probate judges to ignore a U.S. Supreme Court decision.[28] In a 50-page opinion, the Court of the Judiciary denied Moore's appeal of the JIC's decision, and said his removal was necessary "to preserve the integrity, independence, impartiality of Alabama's judiciary".[29] Nevertheless, Lee praised Moore for his "reputation of integrity" and said he was essential to getting conservative legislation through the Senate. "That is why I am proudly endorsing Judge Roy Moore. Alabamians have the chance to send a proven, conservative fighter to the United States Senate."[26] On November 9, 2017, Moore was accused of molesting a 14-year-old and other girls under age 18 when he was 32.[30]

On November 10, Lee asked the Moore campaign to stop using Lee's endorsement of Moore in its ads.[31] Lee's spokesperson said of the sexual misconduct allegations, "If these allegations are true, Judge Moore should resign."[32] Later that day, Lee rescinded his endorsement of Moore.[33]

2020 presidential election

[edit]

On October 28, 2020, Lee compared President Trump to Captain Moroni, a heroic figure in the Book of Mormon, telling rally-goers in Arizona: "To my Mormon friends, my Latter-Day Saint friends, think of him as Captain Moroni." He said that Trump "seeks not the praise of the world" and wants only "the well-being and peace of the American people".[34] His comparison was met with backlash. The overwhelming majority of responses on Lee's Facebook account characterized his efforts as "shameful" or "blasphemous".[35] In a follow-up Facebook post, Lee wrote that he had praised Trump for his willingness to "threaten the established political order",[36] but that the comparison was "perhaps awkward" and that his "impromptu comments may not have been the best forum for drawing a novel analogy from scripture".[35]

Text messages gathered by the January 6 Committee reveal Lee's close coordination with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the aftermath of Trump's defeat in the 2020 election.[37][38][39] In the weeks after the election, Lee pursued a series of strategies to overturn the election results, claiming to have been working "14 hours a day" to find a path he could "persuasively defend".[37][39] The strategies included attempts to persuade state legislatures in states Joe Biden won to put forward alternative slates of electors and promoting the efforts of attorneys Sidney Powell and John Eastman, arguing that "everything changes, of course, if the swing states submit competing slates of electors pursuant to state law."[37][38] Ultimately, Lee became concerned by what he considered Powell's missteps, the lack of evidence given by her and others of election fraud, state legislatures' failure to convene alternate slates of electors, and what Lee considered the unconstitutional efforts of Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley to challenge the election certification in Congress on January 6.[37][38][39]

Lee ultimately voted to certify the election, saying that the effort to block the certification "could all backfire badly",[37][40] but he continued to promulgate disinformation, claiming the FBI was involved in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. To date, only one FBI agent, Brett Gloss, has been identified as having entered a restricted area of the Capitol grounds.[41]

After Biden won the 2020 presidential election, Trump refused to concede, and a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, Lee said Trump should be given a "mulligan" for his inflammatory January 6 speech immediately before the storming of the Capitol.[42] Lee later defended his remarks, saying, "my reference to taking a 'mulligan' was not referring to Trump, but to Democratic politicians whose inflammatory comments had just been played for me on the air [on Fox News]. I used the term...to avoid needlessly inflaming partisan passions."[43] On May 28, 2021, Lee voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the riot.[44] By April 2022, the January 6 Committee had discovered and released over 100 emails between Lee, Congressman Chip Roy, and Meadows discussing their plans to overturn the election results.[45]

2025 Minnesota shootings

[edit]

In response to the shooting of two Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party lawmakers and their spouses on June 14, 2025, Lee wrote on his personal X account, "This is what happens When Marxists don't get their way" and "Nightmare on Waltz Street", apparently referring to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who was included on the shooter's list along with Senator Tina Smith. Reports indicated that the shooter had been a supporter of President Trump and had targeted Democratic lawmakers.[46] Minnesota senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith criticized Lee for his post.[47][48] Both spoke to him, with Smith saying, "I wanted him to know how much pain that caused me and the other people in my state, and I think around the country, who think that this was a brutal attack". Lee later removed the posts after facing heavy criticism.[49]

Social media

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Lee is a prolific user of X, posting an average of 36 times daily in 2024 and an average of 100 times daily in the first four months of 2025. His account was temporarily suspended in 2023 for posts threatening the Prime Minister of Japan.[50] Lee frequently interacted with Elon Musk on X, where he praised Musk's plans for a Department of Government Efficiency.[51] In July 2025, Lee shared a fake resignation letter allegedly from Chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell. He deleted the post after being informed Powell was not resigning.[52]

Following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Lee suggested that the Kirk estate sue novelist Stephen King over a comment he made in the wake of the murder.[53] Raw Story responded with an article titled 'Proof morons pass the bar': GOP senator mocked for lawsuit threat against Stephen King, which quoted legal bloggers who said that defamation suits by decedents' estates have been barred in the US and Britain for at least two centuries.[54]

Committee assignments

[edit]

Committee on the Judiciary

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Special Committee on Aging (2021–present)

Joint Economic Committee

Previous committee assignments

Political positions

[edit]

Lee is a conservative Republican. The New York Times used the NOMINATE system to rank Senate members by ideology; Lee ranked as the Senate's most conservative member.[55] GovTrack's 2017 analysis placed Lee on the right end of the spectrum, to the right of most Republicans, but to the left of a handful of Republican senators.[56] FiveThirtyEight, which tracks congressional votes, found that Lee voted with Trump's positions on legislation 81.3% of the time as of July 2018.[57] A study[58] by Brigham Young University political science professor Michael Barber found Lee to be the "most ideologically extreme senator in the 113th Congress".[59]

9/11 Responders Compensation Fund

[edit]

On July 17, 2019, Jon Stewart and disabled construction worker John Feal criticized Lee and Rand Paul on Fox News for blocking a bill that provided Victims Compensation Fund support for disabled 9/11 responders. The fund was near exhaustion.[60][61] On the Senate floor, Paul objected to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's request for the bill to be approved by unanimous consent; per Senate rules, such a request is rejected if any senator objects. Lee had placed such a hold on the measure, despite its 73 Senate co-sponsors.

Stewart and Feal, as well as leaders of the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Firefighters, tried to get both senators to withdraw their objections. "The people from the state of Kentucky and the people from the state of Utah deserve better", Feal said. Stewart said, "We have to stand up for the people who have always stood up for us, and maybe cannot stand up for themselves due to their illnesses and their injuries. ... There [are] some things that they have no trouble putting on the credit card, but somehow when it comes to the 9/11 first responder community, the cops, the firefighters, the construction workers, the volunteers, the survivors, all of a sudden ... we gotta go through this."[60] On July 23, 2019, Lee was one of two senators to vote against the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.

Criminal justice reform

[edit]

In 2013, Lee, Dick Durbin, and Patrick Leahy proposed a bill aiming "to focus limited federal resources on the most serious offenders". The bill would reduce some minimum sentences for drug-related offenses by half.[62]

In November 2018, Lee criticized Senator Tom Cotton for his stance on the proposed First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill Lee supported. Cotton had said that the legislation "gives early release to 'low level, nonviolent' criminals like those convicted of assaulting police, even with deadly weapons". Lee responded that "the First Step Act does not 'give early release' to anyone. Anyone claiming it does, does not understand how the bill works."[63] The bipartisan bill, drafted by Chuck Grassley, Lee, and Durbin, passed the House of Representatives overwhelmingly, 360–59.[64] The bill intends to improve rehabilitation programs for former prisoners, and to give judges more "wiggle room" when sentencing nonviolent crime offenders.[65] The bill eventually passed the Senate and became law.[66]

District of Columbia Home Rule

[edit]

In February 2025, Lee and Representative Andy Ogles introduced the BOWSER Act to repeal the District of Columbia Home Rule Act.[67]

Democracy and election reform

[edit]

In September 2020, during a Senate hearing, Lee took out and waved a pocket-size Constitution published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies, a Mormon anti-government group founded by conspiracy theorist W. Cleon Skousen.[68][69]

In October 2020, Lee sent a series of tweets declaring that the United States is "not a democracy" and that "democracy isn't the objective; liberty, peace, and prospefity [sic] are. We want the human condition to flourish. Rank democracy can thwart that."[70] After provoking controversy,[71][72][73][74] Lee continued to argue that the United States is more properly characterized as a constitutional republic.[75]

In March 2021, Lee said on Fox News that the For the People Act was "rotten to the core" and was "as if written in Hell by the devil himself".[76][77] The act attempts to expand voting rights, change campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of money in politics, limit partisan gerrymandering, and create new ethics rules for federal officeholders.[78][79] It has been criticized by conservatives, including Lee, who believe its provisions improperly take power over elections away from state governments and give it to the federal government.[76][80]

Economy

[edit]

Lee has worked with Senator Amy Klobuchar to use antitrust laws against large technology companies like Facebook, Apple, and Amazon.[81] Klobuchar said of collaborating with Lee:

We do find common ground on questions of policy, working out deals and contingencies we want to have. We get along quite well.

Lee was among the 31 Senate Republicans who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.[82]

Environment

[edit]

In 2017, Lee was one of 22 Republican senators to sign a letter[83] to President Trump urging him to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement.[84] According to OpenSecrets, Lee has received campaign contributions from oil and gas interests amounting to $231,520 and from coal interests in the amount of $21,895, for a total of $253,415 since 2012.[85] At a May 2016 event, Lee rejected the scientific consensus on climate change, calling it "little more than a cheap public-relations ploy" by the Democratic Party.[86] Lee opposes a carbon tax to deal with climate change.[87]

In 2018, Lee defended Jim Bridenstine's nomination to head NASA. Bridenstine's nomination was contentious, given that he rejected the scientific consensus on climate change and had no background in science. In defending Bridenstine, Lee falsely claimed that NASA disputed that there was a scientific consensus on climate change.[88] Since his confirmation, Bridenstine has said that he agrees with the scientific consensus on human contributions to climate change.[89]

On March 26, 2019, the Senate opened debate on the Green New Deal. When Lee took the floor, he called the plan absurd, comparing it to an image of Ronald Reagan riding a velociraptor, and argued that having more babies was the real solution.[90][91][92] He also said that "the authors of the Green New Deal proposal are trying to suggest people should not have babies and I think that's atrocious". According to Deseret News, "The text of the resolution does not address population growth or suggest limiting the number of children people can have."[93]

Flint water crisis

[edit]

In 2016, Lee used a procedural hold to block a vote on federal assistance for the Flint, Michigan water crisis.[94] He was initially part of a group of senators blocking $220 million in aid to repair lead contaminated pipes but, due to public pressure on others, Lee eventually became the last opposing senator.[95] While initially anonymous, multiple sources leaked Lee's opposition to the media.[96]

Foreign policy

[edit]

As part of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in 2018, Lee, Bernie Sanders, and Chris Murphy co-sponsored a resolution "that would end U.S. military support for the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen's civil war". Interviewed by The Hill, he said: "regardless of what may have happened with Mr. Khashoggi [referring to the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi], we are fighting a war in Yemen that we haven't declared, that has never been declared or authorized by Congress. That's not constitutional."[97] The Senate voted 60–39 to "formally begin debate on the resolution", which would require the President to "withdraw troops in or 'affecting' Yemen within 30 days unless they are fighting al Qaeda".[98]

In April 2018, Lee was one of eight Republican senators to sign a letter to United States Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin and acting Secretary of State John Sullivan expressing "deep concern" over a United Nations report exposing "North Korean sanctions evasion involving Russia and China" and asserting that the findings "demonstrate an elaborate and alarming military-venture between rogue, tyrannical states to avoid United States and international sanctions and inflict terror and death upon thousands of innocent people" while calling it "imperative that the United States provides a swift and appropriate response to the continued use of chemical weapons used by President Assad and his forces, and works to address the shortcomings in sanctions enforcement".[99] He criticized Trump for ordering the 2018 missile strikes against Syria in response to the Douma chemical attack, stating that he lacked the constitutional authority to do so without Congress' permission because the U.S. was not in imminent danger.[100] Lee supported Trump's decision to withdraw American troops from Syria in December 2018, saying that American forces should not have been in the country without congressional authorization. He said that the Obama administration had not made clear American objectives in Syria surrounding Assad's future, and that he believed Trump's claim that the Islamic State had been defeated.[101]

Lee has long been in favor of ending American involvement in Afghanistan. He signed a letter in 2011 urging President Barack Obama to withdraw troops from the country. In May 2017, he called into question a proposal from military leaders to send additional troops there, calling to mind previous times when more soldiers were sent to the country but which, according to Lee, failed to make a significant difference. Lee maintained that American involvement in the war has wasted thousands of lives and trillions of dollars.[102][103] In April 2021, President Joe Biden announced plans to withdraw all remaining US troops from Afghanistan by September 11 of that year.[104] At a virtual meeting later that month, Lee stated his support of Biden's plan.[105]

In April 2019, after the House passed the resolution withdrawing American support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, Lee was one of nine lawmakers to sign a letter to Trump requesting a meeting with him and urging him to sign "Senate Joint Resolution 7, which invokes the War Powers Act of 1973 to end unauthorized US military participation in the Saudi-led coalition's armed conflict against Yemen's Houthi forces, initiated in 2015 by the Obama administration." The group of senators included Bernie Sanders, Rand Paul, and others. Trump was expected to veto the measure.[106]

In June 2019, Lee was one of seven Republicans who voted to block Trump's Saudi arms deal providing weapons to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Jordan.[107]

In September 2019, Lee stirred up controversy by refusing to cancel his trip to Russia after other members of the delegation had their visas denied. He insisted solo talks with Russian officials would ensure dialogue remained open between the two nations.[108] Lee has been considered a strong supporter of Israel.[109]

Lee has been a vocal critic of Japan's handling of the conviction and imprisonment of Lieutenant Ridge Alkonis, who was serving a three-year sentence in Japan for a May 2021 car crash that killed two Japanese citizens. In February 2023, Lee issued a 24-hour deadline on Twitter to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to hand Alkonis over and threatened to cut off military aid to Japan over the incident.[110][111][112] After the deadline passed, Lee took to the Senate floor to question the Status of Forces Agreement between the U.S. and Japan, which governs how military personnel stationed in Japan are treated under Japanese law. In March 2023, the Japanese Foreign Ministry lodged an official complaint against Lee through the U.S. government.[113]

In December 2023, Lee introduced the Disengaging Entirely from the United Nations Debacle (DEFUND) Act, legislation to withdraw the U.S. from the United Nations.[114][115][116][117]

In January 2024, Lee voted against a resolution proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders that would have applied the human rights provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act to U.S. military aid to Israel. The proposal was defeated, 72 to 11.[118]

In January 2025, Lee called for U.S. withdrawal from the NATO alliance.[119]

Healthcare

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Lee was part of the group of 13 senators drafting the Senate version of the American Health Care Act of 2017 behind closed doors.[120] He eventually came out against the bill, along with Senator Jerry Moran, bringing the "no" vote total among Republicans to four.[121] This effectively stopped any chance of the bill's passage.[122]

Immigration

[edit]

In February 2019, Lee was one of 16 senators to vote against legislation preventing a partial government shutdown and containing $1.375 billion in funding for barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border that included 55 miles of fencing.[123] In that same month, he reintroduced a bill to remove the per-country limitation on employment-based green cards and raised the per-country limitation on family-based green cards from 7% to 15%.[124]

In March 2019, Lee was one of 12 Republican senators to vote to block Trump's national emergency declaration that would have granted him access to $3.6 billion in military construction funding to build border barriers.[125]

LGBTQ rights

[edit]

In 2015, Lee condemned the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that same-sex marriage bans violated the Constitution.[126]

In 2018, Lee condemned the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which is part of the Organization of American States (OAS), for recommending that Costa Rica legalize same-sex marriage. The court's decision was spurred by a petition by Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solís, who was working on ways to improve LGBTQ rights in Costa Rica. Lee suggested that the United States, a primary funder of the OAS, should use its money more wisely and do more to safeguard religious liberties worldwide.[127]

In May 2019, Lee called the Equality Act "counterproductive" and argued it "unnecessarily pits communities against each other".[128]

On November 29, 2022, Lee voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, which requires the U.S. federal government to recognize the validity of same-sex and interracial marriages in the United States. Lee was the sole member of Utah's all-Republican congressional delegation to vote against the bill.[129][b] A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Lee cast this vote despite his church's support for the legal guarantees of religious freedom found in the legislation.[131][132]

National security

[edit]

In February 2011, Lee was one of two Republicans to vote against extending the three provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act that deal with roving wiretaps, "lone wolf" terrorism suspects, and the government's ability to seize "any tangible items" in the course of surveillance.[133] He voted in the same manner in May 2011.[134]

Pornography

[edit]

In 2022, Lee introduced the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act, which seeks to revise the legal definition of obscenity as established by the Communications Act of 1934 and the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Miller test in such a way as to criminalize pornography.[135][136] He reintroduced the bill in 2024 and 2025.[135][137]

Privacy

[edit]

In 2017, Lee voted in favor of a joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval (per chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code) of the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission relating to "Protecting the Privacy of Customers of Broadband and Other Telecommunications Services."[138]

Social Security

[edit]

In April 2011, Lee and Senators Lindsey Graham and Rand Paul proposed a plan to reform the U.S. Social Security retirement payment system. Workers born after 1969 would have to wait until their 70th birthday to receive full Social Security benefits, rather than age 67 under current law. Furthermore, higher-income earners would receive smaller monthly checks under the plan.[139][140]

In December 2020, Lee was the sole vote in the Senate against the ALS Disability Insurance Access Act of 2019, which eliminated the five-month waiting period for those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis to receive Social Security benefits.[141]

Spending

[edit]

In September 2018, Lee was among six senators, including Jeff Flake, Pat Toomey, Rand Paul, David Perdue, Ben Sasse, and Bernie Sanders, to vote against a $854 billion spending bill that would avert another government shutdown. The bill included funding for the departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Labor and Education.[142]

In June 2025, Lee proposed the sale of substantial amounts of public lands as a fundraising measure to support the budget of the Big Beautiful Bill. He suggested the effort was an attempt to better utilize the land, but western senators rejected the measure, which would have disproportionately affected their states, with large areas sold to private citizens or groups.[143]

Supreme Court

[edit]

In March 2019, Lee was one of 12 senators to cosponsor a resolution that would impose a constitutional amendment limiting the Supreme Court to nine justices. The resolution was introduced after multiple Democratic presidential candidates expressed openness to the idea of increasing the seats on the Supreme Court.[144]

In March 2016, eight months before the 2016 election, Lee opposed considering Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, during a presidential election year, citing "the contentious presidential election already well underway". But in September 2020, less than two months before the 2020 presidential election, Lee supported an immediate Senate vote to confirm Trump's nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.[145]

Trade

[edit]

In January 2018, Lee was one of 36 Republican senators to sign a letter to Trump requesting that he preserve the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by modernizing it for the economy of the 21st century.[146]

In November 2018, Lee was one of 12 Republican senators to sign a letter to Trump requesting the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (the replacement to NAFTA) be submitted to Congress by the end of that month to allow a vote on it before the end of the year as they were concerned "passage of the USMCA as negotiated will become significantly more difficult" if it had to be approved by the incoming 116th United States Congress.[147]

Veterans

[edit]

In 2022, Lee was among the 11 senators who voted against the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, a bill that funded research and benefits for up to 3.5 million veterans exposed to toxic substances during their service.[148][149]

Personal life

[edit]

Lee married Sharon Burr in 1993. They live in Alpine, Utah, and have three children.[5] Lee is a second cousin to former Democratic U.S. senators Mark Udall of Colorado and Tom Udall of New Mexico, as well as former Republican senator Gordon H. Smith of Oregon.[150]

As a young adult, Lee served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Texas Rio Grande Valley.[5]

On October 2, 2020, Lee announced he had tested positive for COVID-19.[151] A few days earlier, he had attended an event for Amy Coney Barrett at the White House where he interacted closely with a number of other people who tested positive for COVID-19. Lee did not wear a mask and video footage showed him hugging others at the event.[152]

Lee has served on the BYU alumni board, the BYU Law School alumni board, and as a longtime member of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society and the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. He earned the Eagle Scout award from Boy Scouts of America in 1989 and was selected to receive the National Eagle Scout Association Outstanding Eagle Scout Award (NOESA) in 2011.[153]

Electoral history

[edit]
2010
State Republican I Convention results, 2010[154][155][156]
Candidate First ballot Pct. Second ballot Pct. Third ballot Pct.
Tim Bridgewater 917 26.84% 1274 37.42% 1854 57.28%
Mike Lee 982 28.75% 1225 35.99% 1383 42.72%
Bob Bennett 885 25.91% 905 26.99% Eliminated
Cherilyn Eagar 541 15.84% Eliminated
Merrill Cook 49 1.43% Eliminated
Leonard Fabiano 22 0.64% Eliminated
Jeremy Friedbaum 16 0.47% Eliminated
David Chiu 4 0.12% Eliminated
Total 3,416 100.00% 3,404 100.00% 3,237 100.00%
State Republican Primary results[157]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mike Lee 98,512 51.2%
Republican Tim Bridgewater 93,905 48.8%
Total votes 192,417 100.0%
United States Senate election in Utah, 2010[158]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Mike Lee 390,179 61.56% −7.18%
Democratic Sam Granato 207,685 32.77% +4.37%
Constitution Scott Bradley 35,937 5.67% +3.78%
Majority 182,494 28.79%
Total votes 633,801 100.00%
Republican hold Swing
2016
United States Senate election in Utah, 2016[159]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Mike Lee 760,241 68.15% +6.59%
Democratic Misty Snow 301,860 27.06% −5.71%
Independent American Stoney Fonua 27,340 2.45% N/A
Unaffiliated Bill Barron 26,167 2.34% N/A
Majority 458,381
Total votes 1,115,608 100.00%
Republican hold Swing
2022

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United States Senate election in Utah, 2022[160]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Mike Lee (incumbent) 571,974 53.15% –15.00
Independent Evan McMullin 459,958 42.74% N/A
Libertarian James Hansen 31,784 2.95% N/A
Independent American Tommy Williams 12,103 1.12% –1.33
Write-in 242 0.02% N/A
Total votes 1,076,061 100.00%
Republican hold

Books

[edit]

Since his election to the Senate in 2010, Lee has published six books:

  • The Freedom Agenda: Why a Balanced Budget Amendment is Necessary to Restore Constitutional Government (July 2011, Regnery Publishing)
  • Why John Roberts Was Wrong About Healthcare: A Conservative Critique of The Supreme Court's Obamacare Ruling (June 2013, Threshold Editions e-book)
  • Our Lost Constitution: The Willful Subversion of America's Founding Document (April 2015, Sentinel)
  • Written Out of History: The Forgotten Founders Who Fought Big Government (May 2017, Sentinel)
  • Our Lost Declaration: America's Fight Against Tyranny from King George to the Deep State (April 2019, Sentinel)
  • Saving Nine: The Fight Against the Left's Audacious Plan to Pack the Supreme Court and Destroy American Liberty (June 2022, Center Street)

See also

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Notes

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References

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[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Mike Lee

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Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American attorney and Republican politician serving as the senior senator from since 2011. The son of , who served as under President , Mike Lee graduated from with a in in 1994, where he was student body president, and earned a from in 1997. Prior to entering the , Lee's legal career included clerkships with federal judge Dee V. Benson and on the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, appellate practice at , service as an assistant attorney in , and as chief counsel to Governor . Elected in 2010 amid the Tea Party movement's push for and constitutional limits on government, Lee has distinguished himself through advocacy for originalist interpretation of the , opposition to expansive federal regulations, and efforts to curb ional spending. He has sponsored key legislation such as the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which seeks to require ional approval for major executive branch regulations exceeding $100 million in economic impact. Lee has authored books including Our Lost Constitution: The Willful Subversion of America's Founding Document (2015), critiquing deviations from original constitutional meaning, and Written Out of History: The Forgotten Founders Who Fought Big Government (2017), highlighting anti-federalist influences on the American founding. As chairman of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, he has focused on promoting domestic energy production and reforming federal land management policies. A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Lee maintains a reputation for principled independence, occasionally diverging from party leadership on issues like omnibus spending bills and surveillance reforms to prioritize constitutional fidelity.

Early life and education

Family background and upbringing

Michael Lee was born on June 4, 1971, in , to , a prominent constitutional lawyer, and Janet Griffin Lee. The family belonged to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and relocated to , shortly after his birth, coinciding with Rex Lee's appointment as founding dean of University's in 1972. Raised in a large family emphasizing and traditional values amid the demands of his father's legal career, Lee experienced modest circumstances that reinforced practical independence. His upbringing occurred primarily in Provo, where the family's devout faith and communal ties within the Latter-day Saint community shaped early moral and ethical frameworks, including service-oriented responsibilities common in such households. Rex Lee's progression to Assistant Attorney General (1975–1976) and Solicitor General of the United States (1981–1985) under President Ronald Reagan provided young Lee with direct exposure to high-level public service, including courtroom arguments on constitutional limits to government power. This proximity fostered an early appreciation for federalism and restraint against overreach, as Lee observed his father's defenses of enumerated powers before the Supreme Court in cases like Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha (1983). Later, during Rex Lee's tenure as Brigham Young University president (1989–1995), the family navigated the challenges of institutional leadership, further embedding values of principled governance within a religious academic setting.

Academic and early professional influences

Lee earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in from in 1994, serving as student body president during his senior year. This undergraduate experience, conducted within BYU's environment emphasizing constitutional principles and civic leadership, provided foundational exposure to political theory and governance structures. He subsequently attended BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School, named for the constitutional scholar and diplomat J. Reuben Clark Jr., earning a Juris Doctor in 1997. Lee's legal education centered on constitutional law, shaped significantly by his father, Rex E. Lee, the school's founding dean and U.S. Solicitor General under President Reagan from 1981 to 1985, who argued over 60 cases before the Supreme Court and modeled rigorous textualism in statutory and constitutional interpretation. This paternal influence, combined with the law school's curriculum rooted in original public meaning and federalism, instilled an early commitment to interpreting the Constitution according to its enumerated powers and structural limits on federal authority, rather than expansive policy-driven readings. These academic pursuits oriented Lee toward appellate advocacy and judicial roles, as evidenced by his immediate post-graduation clerkship with U.S. District Judge Dee Benson in , signaling a trajectory aligned with conservative emphasizing and . The integration of first-principles reasoning from his BYU training—prioritizing the Framers' intent and state —later informed his advocacy for restrained , distinguishing his approach from broader living constitutionalism prevalent in some academic circles.

Clerkships and judicial experience

Following his graduation from Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School in 1997, Lee served as a law clerk to Judge Dee V. Benson of the for the District of , gaining foundational experience in federal proceedings involving constitutional and . This role provided hands-on exposure to the application of in diverse civil and criminal matters, emphasizing procedural rigor and adherence to enumerated judicial authority. In 1998, Lee clerked for Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. on the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, where Alito's opinions frequently advanced textualist and originalist approaches to limiting government overreach, as seen in cases addressing and constraints. Alito's jurisprudence during this era prioritized , rejecting expansions of executive or legislative authority beyond constitutional bounds, which aligned with Lee's subsequent advocacy for strict limits on federal power. This clerkship immersed Lee in appellate review of complex constitutional disputes, honing his understanding of precedents that curb activist interpretations often amplified in academic and media analyses. Lee reunited with Alito for a one-year clerkship on the Supreme Court during the 2006-2007 term, contributing to deliberations on landmark cases that reinforced enumerated powers and federalism, such as those examining executive actions and state sovereignty amid post-9/11 security measures. Alito's majority and dissenting opinions in this period, including critiques of overbroad administrative deference, exemplified a commitment to original public meaning over policy-driven expansions of government authority. These experiences underscored the practical mechanics of constitutional restraint, countering narratives of judicial flexibility by prioritizing textual fidelity and historical context in restraining unchecked power.

Private practice and key cases

Following his federal clerkships, Lee joined the office of as an associate, where he specialized in appellate and litigation from approximately 1998 to 2002. His work at the firm involved high-stakes appeals, often addressing constitutional limits on government authority, aligning with his early emphasis on and individual rights protections against expansive regulatory interpretations. After serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in from 2002 to 2005, Lee returned to private practice in 2007 at the office of Howrey LLP, an international firm known for complex litigation. There, he focused on antitrust and commercial disputes, representing clients in cases challenging overreaching business regulations and defending market freedoms against bureaucratic interference, though specific case details from this period remain limited in public records. Howrey's practice emphasized rigorous defense of competitive enterprise, reflecting Lee's consistent advocacy for restraining government intrusion into private economic activities prior to his political career. From 2005 to 2006, interposed between his prosecutorial role and final private stint, Lee served as general counsel to Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr., advising on state-federal jurisdictional conflicts. In this capacity, he provided legal guidance on disputes involving federal overreach, such as resource management and regulatory impositions on state sovereignty, earning recognition for bolstering Utah's position against unchecked expansion of national authority. This advisory work exemplified his pre-Senate efforts to safeguard state autonomy and individual liberties through principled federalism, distinct from prosecutorial enforcement.

Political rise

2010 Senate election

In the 2010 Utah Republican Senate primary process, three-term incumbent Senator Bob Bennett was defeated at the state GOP convention on May 8, 2010, failing to advance beyond the first round of voting amid Tea Party-driven opposition to his support for federal bailouts like TARP and perceived fiscal moderation. Attorney Mike Lee, campaigning on strict constitutional and opposition to unbalanced federal spending, secured second place at the convention with 36% of delegates, advancing alongside businessman Tim Bridgewater to the June 22 primary. Lee narrowly defeated Bridgewater in the primary, winning 51% to 49% in a contest fueled by grassroots conservative activism rejecting establishment ties and advocating balanced budgets as a core constitutional duty. His platform emphasized first-principles limits on government debt, promising to end earmarks, support congressional term limits, and repeal the recently passed Affordable Care Act, framing these as essential correctives to debt-fueled governance that violated fiscal realism and enumerated powers. In the , Lee defeated Democrat Sam Granato with 61.6% of the vote (360,130 votes to Granato's 191,657 and Constitution Party candidate Scott Bradley's 33,062), capitalizing on a national Republican wave against Democratic spending policies and Obamacare implementation. This landslide reflected voters' alignment with Tea Party critiques of incumbent fiscal irresponsibility, marking Lee's entry as a freshman committed to restrained over expansive .

Transition to national prominence

Mike Lee was sworn into the U.S. on January 3, 2011, as part of the Republican gains from the midterm elections, which included a wave of Tea Party-backed candidates emphasizing and . Aligning with fellow incoming senators such as of and of , Lee helped form the Tea Party Caucus in January 2011 to coordinate opposition to excessive federal spending and advocate for constitutional principles. This group, though initially small with only a handful of committed members among the 47 GOP senators, positioned Lee as an early voice for restraining congressional appropriations amid ongoing budget debates. In his first months, Lee drew attention for challenging short-term continuing resolutions and spending proposals that failed to enact deeper cuts, such as announcing opposition on March 2, 2011, to a bill funding government operations without sufficient reductions. These stances contributed to high-stakes negotiations in April 2011, where threats of pressured leadership toward $38.5 billion in cuts for the remainder of the —though Lee and allies critiqued the deal as inadequate compared to proposed levels like returning to 2008 baselines. Lee gained further notice in February and May 2011 for partnering with Paul to block short-term extensions of expiring provisions, insisting on reforms to curb warrantless surveillance and protect Fourth Amendment rights over expedited renewals. This principled resistance, rooted in concerns about executive overreach rather than blanket opposition to counterterrorism tools, highlighted Lee's prioritization of and helped elevate his profile as a libertarian-leaning conservative influencing GOP debates on security versus privacy. By mid-2011, Lee's early actions had established him as a Tea Party role model, attracting media coverage and interest from Republican candidates seeking to emulate his focus on structural spending limits and skepticism of unchecked federal authority, thereby contributing to a broader shift within the party toward fiscal discipline and constitutional scrutiny. Mainstream portrayals sometimes framed these positions as extreme, yet they reflected consistent application of originalist principles against entrenched bipartisan spending habits and expansions.

U.S. Senate tenure

Elections and reelections

In the 2016 United States Senate election in , held on November 8, incumbent Mike Lee secured reelection to a second term, defeating Democratic nominee with 68.0% of the vote to Snow's 27.0%, while independents Stoney Fonua and Bill Barron received the remainder. This landslide victory, amid a national Republican presidential contest marked by Donald Trump's nomination, reflected Lee's entrenched support among 's conservative electorate, where exceeded 60% statewide and Lee's emphasis on fiscal restraint and constitutional limits resonated against Snow's progressive platform advocating expanded government roles in healthcare and social services. The margin underscored a rejection of Democratic alternatives, with Lee's campaign focusing on opposition to federal overreach, consistent with his prior Party-aligned appeals that prioritized over establishment fiscal policies. Lee's 2022 reelection to a third term occurred on , facing a more contested field led by independent , who garnered 42.9% amid Democratic endorsement and criticism of Lee's involvement in events surrounding the 2020 election certification. Lee prevailed with 55.4%, defeating McMullin and minor candidates including Democrat Abran Hefton, while reached approximately 58% in , lower than but sufficient to affirm Lee's base amid national Republican gains in the midterms. McMullin's campaign, drawing on anti-Trump sentiments from his 2016 presidential run, highlighted Lee's perceived alignment with national over traditional , yet the results demonstrated sustained voter preference for Lee's record of blocking omnibus spending bills and advocating debt reduction, empirically evidenced by his 13-point edge despite the independent's targeted urban and suburban outreach. Across both cycles, Lee's reelections exhibited patterns of high rural and conservative turnout, with margins widening against opponents proposing increased federal intervention, signaling a mandate for his advocacy of balanced budgets and as alternatives to expansive government programs. This consistency aligned with 's empirical voting history favoring fiscal hawks, where Lee's positioning—rooted in opposition to bipartisan increases—drove differential mobilization over rivals' calls for broader entitlements.

Committee assignments and legislative roles

Senator Mike Lee currently serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which conducts oversight of federal leasing programs for coal, oil, gas, and minerals, as well as policies governing public lands, national parks, and territorial affairs. This position enables examination of regulatory barriers to domestic energy production and , highlighting instances of inefficient federal spending and administrative delays in permitting processes that hinder . On the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Lee chairs the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, facilitating hearings into , particularly in sectors, and the enforcement practices of agencies like the . These proceedings have scrutinized potential by dominant firms and challenged policy frameworks that prioritize distributional equity over competitive efficiency, revealing misalignments in federal approaches to and consumer welfare. Lee also holds seats on the Committee on Foreign Relations, overseeing executive branch implementation of international treaties and aid programs, and the Committee on the Budget, which reviews fiscal projections and trends across government agencies. These assignments support broader scrutiny of executive overreach and budgetary waste, emphasizing first-principles evaluations of federal priorities against constitutional limits on authority. In prior Congresses, Lee chaired subcommittees focused on oversight and within the and committees, using targeted inquiries to expose administrative inconsistencies in and regulatory favoritism toward entrenched interests. Such roles have consistently advanced congressional checks on agency actions, fostering through public exposure of operational inefficiencies.

Key legislative achievements

Lee was instrumental in the passage of the of 2015, which ended the National Security Agency's bulk collection of Americans' telephone metadata under Section 215 of the , replacing it with a targeted query system requiring court-approved warrants for specific records and thereby limiting warrantless surveillance overreach. As a lead Senate sponsor alongside Senators Grassley, Durbin, and Booker, Lee advanced the , signed into law on December 21, 2018, which retroactively applied the of 2010 to reduce disparities in crack and cocaine penalties, expanded evidence-based recidivism reduction programs allowing low-risk inmates to earn up to 54 days of good-time credit annually, and facilitated for certain elderly or terminally ill prisoners; the law has resulted in over 30,000 sentence reductions and earlier releases by 2023, with Bureau of Prisons data indicating participation in rehabilitation programs correlates with 16% lower rates. Lee supported the renewal and extension of the through the , enacted July 2019, by securing for consideration of amendments proposing phased funding caps totaling $20.18 billion over 20 years to offset costs against fiscal priorities, ultimately voting for the bill's passage (97-3) to provide sustained health benefits for over 100,000 responders while addressing long-term budgetary sustainability. In September 2025, Lee introduced the Safe Transit Accountability Act (S. 2945), which seeks to curb bureaucratic and union-induced delays in public transit safety implementations by clarifying that labor representatives on safety committees lack veto authority over agency decisions, enabling faster adoption of federal mandates amid incidents like disruptions. Lee drafted the Forest Service Reorganization Act of 2025 to transfer the U.S. Forest Service from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of the Interior—reversing its 1905 relocation—and establish a dedicated wildland fire agency, aiming to consolidate overlapping functions for greater efficiency in resource allocation and response on 193 million acres of public lands. In January 2026, Lee proposed "Seven Steps to a Highly Effective Congress," outlining reforms including ending the zombie filibuster, implementing DOGE 2.0 for spending cuts, passing the Shutdown Fairness Act, SAVE Act, REINS Act, abolishing earmarks, and aggressive permitting reform.

Involvement in major national events

In 2013, Senator Mike Lee spearheaded a congressional strategy to defund the (ACA) by conditioning government funding on its repeal, asserting that Article I of the grants Congress exclusive authority over appropriations, which the executive branch was circumventing through unilateral implementation. On July 9, he publicly called for including defunding language in the next , framing it as a necessary check on executive overreach rather than a shutdown provocation. This approach, coordinated with Senator and a group of conservative Republicans, led to the failure of funding bills and a partial from October 1 to October 17, lasting 16 days and costing an estimated $24 billion in economic output according to the Bureau of the Census. Lee argued the impasse exposed the ACA's operational flaws—such as website crashes during enrollment and delayed mandates—and compelled lawmakers to prioritize constitutional budgeting over omnibus spending, though critics attributed the shutdown's resolution to Republican concessions without ACA alterations. During the 2020 presidential election certification process, Lee participated in private communications exploring legal pathways to address alleged voting irregularities in battleground states, including text exchanges with on December 31, 2020, discussing alternate elector slates and state legislature overrides under Article II's electoral appointment clause. He emphasized pursuing evidence of fraud sufficient to alter outcomes, such as in Georgia and , where audits later confirmed discrepancies but not widespread invalidation. On , 2021, amid the Capitol riot, Lee declined to object to certifications after determining insufficient proof to reject state electors, voting to certify results for all states by and stating that constitutional fidelity required deference to state processes absent compelling reversal grounds. This stance aligned with his originalist interpretation prioritizing without subverting , though released texts revealed initial advocacy for Trump retention via legislative action. In 2025, amid escalating budget impasse threats under a second Trump administration, Lee warned against leveraging shutdowns for partisan gains, posting on October 3 that such tactics risked alienating voters and undermined by perpetuating crisis budgeting outside regular order. He criticized Democratic resistance to spending cuts as exacerbating , projected at $36 trillion, while urging Republicans to enforce appropriations discipline constitutionally to avert disruptions affecting 2.1 million federal workers. Regarding the June 14, 2025, assassination of state Representative and her husband—perpetrated by a suspect with leftist extremist ties—Lee initially highlighted on the incident's roots in unchecked political radicalism and governance failures, linking it to national patterns of ideologically motivated violence that demand enhanced border and domestic measures. Facing bipartisan rebuke, he removed the posts by June 17 but reiterated concerns over rising threats from Marxist-inspired actors, advocating legislative probes into policies and federal oversight gaps to safeguard democratic institutions.

Political philosophy and positions

Constitutional originalism and limited government

Senator Mike Lee adheres to constitutional originalism, advocating for the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution according to its original public meaning at ratification, as a means to constrain federal authority to explicitly enumerated powers under Article I, Section 8. This approach, which Lee applies in legislative decision-making, rejects expansive readings that have enabled Congress to delegate broad rulemaking authority to executive agencies, viewing such delegations as undermining the separation of powers and the nondelegation doctrine implicit in the Constitution's structure. For instance, Lee has sponsored the ARTICLE ONE Act to repeal and replace provisions of the National Emergencies Act that permit indefinite executive delegations of legislative power, thereby restoring Congress's role in overseeing emergency declarations and expenditures. Lee's advocacy for extends to structural reforms aimed at enforcing fiscal discipline and preventing the accumulation of unaccountable power, rooted in the Framers' intent to avoid monarchical excesses through checks like balanced budgets and rotation in office. He has repeatedly introduced a requiring annual federal outlays not to exceed revenues, capping spending at 18% of GDP, and mandating approval for raising the —proposals he argues align with the Constitution's original design to limit Congress's taxing and spending to necessary and proper ends. Similarly, Lee supports congressional term limits to combat incumbency advantages that erode republican virtues, pledging in his campaigns and op-eds to "drain the swamp" by curtailing careerism and restoring citizen-legislators, as exemplified by Abraham Lincoln's emphasis on of, by, and for the . Critics in mainstream outlets often frame Lee's originalist restraint as obstructionism, yet empirical trends in federal debt—exceeding $35 trillion as of 2023, driven by spending unbound by enumerated limits—underscore the causal risks of unchecked expansion, including , interest burdens crowding out private , and intergenerational inequity, outcomes the Framers sought to avert through strict textual limits rather than perpetual borrowing. Lee's countermeasures, such as the REINS Act requiring congressional approval for major agency rules with economic impacts over $100 million, directly address this by reasserting legislative accountability over , which has ballooned to issue regulations with the force of law without direct electoral oversight. This philosophy prioritizes causal fidelity to constitutional mechanisms over expedient governance, countering narratives that equate growth with progress by highlighting historical precedents like the Articles of Confederation's weaknesses, which the remedied with defined bounds, not boundless authority.

Economic policy and fiscal restraint

Lee has consistently championed , asserting that the federal government should spend no more than it collects in and restrict deficits to exceptional circumstances, such as genuine national emergencies. This stance reflects a commitment to and market-driven growth, prioritizing spending reductions and over expansive federal interventions, which he views as prone to inefficiency and unintended cost escalations due to distorted incentives in public spending. In practice, Lee has earned recognition for his voting record, receiving the 2022 Taxpayer Hero Award from the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste for opposing wasteful expenditures. A core element of Lee's approach involves rejecting omnibus spending packages, which he criticizes for bundling unrelated provisions, obscuring earmarks, and pressuring lawmakers into all-or-nothing votes that undermine . In December 2022, he co-authored a statement with Senator urging Senate Republicans to block a $1.7 in favor of a short-term , arguing it would perpetuate fiscal irresponsibility amid $32 in national . Similarly, in May 2023, Lee proposed amendments to the Fiscal Responsibility Act to secure deeper cuts, decrying its $12 billion in immediate savings against a massive hike as inadequate given the $6 -plus added to the during the prior administration. He reiterated this in November 2024, rallying opposition to a potential year-end omnibus to prevent rushed, opaque appropriations. These efforts align with his broader push for procedural reforms to enhance transparency, such as requiring separate votes on major spending items to expose and curb pork-barrel additions. On taxation, Lee supported the 2017 (TCJA), which lowered the corporate rate from 35% to 21%, doubled the , and expanded the , measures he endorsed for spurring investment and wage growth. Post-enactment data showed U.S. GDP growth averaging 2.5% in 2018–2019, with unemployment falling to 3.5% by late 2019 and $1 trillion in overseas profits repatriated, outcomes Lee and proponents attribute to reduced and incentives for domestic reinvestment rather than static redistribution models. In April 2025, he advanced a budget resolution to extend expiring TCJA provisions, emphasizing their role in sustaining post-pandemic recovery over alternatives that would raise rates and dampen incentives. Lee has also targeted federal subsidies as exemplars of fiscal distortion, particularly enhanced premium tax credits extended through 2025, which he argues inflate healthcare costs by insulating consumers from price signals and enabling waste—evidenced by enrollment surging to 21 million amid reports of tens of billions in improper payments annually. In October 2025 statements, he linked these subsidies to predictable , where third-party payments decouple spending from individual accountability, driving premiums up 20–30% in unsubsidized markets while fostering fraud vulnerabilities in rushed enrollments. Complementing this, Lee has sponsored bills, such as the 2024 LIBERATE Act, to rescind burdensome rules stifling innovation and adding compliance costs estimated in the tens of billions yearly.

Healthcare and social welfare

Lee has been a leading critic of the Patient Protection and (ACA), advocating its full since his election on that platform. He played a key role in the 2013 government shutdown strategy to block its implementation, arguing that the law's mandates and subsidies distorted insurance markets and failed to control escalating healthcare costs as promised. In 2015, he collaborated with Senate Majority Leader on efforts to dismantle the ACA via simple-majority votes, targeting its core regulatory framework. During the 2017 repeal attempts, Lee opposed the Senate's Better Care Reconciliation Act and similar bills, contending they retained too many ACA provisions, including expansions and regulations, which he viewed as perpetuating inefficiencies rather than fostering . He highlighted empirical failures of mandates, noting that pre-ACA cost trends accelerated post-enactment, with market premiums rising over 100% from 2013 to 2017 despite projections of affordability. Lee promotes alternatives like deregulated interstate sales, expanded health savings accounts, and price transparency to empower and address root causes of through market mechanisms. In January 2026, following the House passage of a three-year extension of enhanced ACA subsidies with 17 Republican votes, Lee criticized the supporters on social media, stating, "Why even bother to run as a Republican if you're just going to vote like a Democrat once you've been elected?" In social welfare policy, Lee prioritizes work requirements to promote and mitigate dependency traps in entitlement programs. He introduced the SNAP Reform and Upward Mobility Act in April 2023 and reintroduced it in March 2025, mandating 20 hours weekly of work, job training, or for able-bodied adults without dependents to qualify for benefits, exempting parents and the disabled. Lee cites the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act as evidence of efficacy, under which welfare caseloads fell 60% from 1996 to 2000 while labor force participation among single mothers rose 10 percentage points, reducing without increasing hardship. His broader and Upward Mobility Act aims to consolidate overlapping programs, cap spending growth, and tie aid to employment outcomes, arguing that unconditional benefits erode work incentives and exacerbate cycles of poverty. On the opioid crisis, Lee supports targeted responses emphasizing cultural and social root causes, such as family disintegration and decline, over unchecked federal expansion. He cosponsored the Rural Abuse Prevention Act in 2021 to fund pilot programs in underserved areas but voted against the 2018 Crisis Response Act—the only dissenter—criticizing its $7.9 billion in unaccountable grants and new bureaucracies as likely to inflate costs without addressing addiction's non-medical drivers, like eroded social bonds contributing to isolation and .

Criminal justice and civil liberties

Lee has advocated for reforms aimed at reducing federal over-incarceration for non-violent offenses while emphasizing rehabilitation, deterrence, and public safety. As a former federal prosecutor, he co-authored the of 2018, a bipartisan measure signed into on December 21, 2018, which expanded judicial in sentencing, retroactively applied fair sentencing reductions for offenses, and incentivized prisoner participation in evidence-based reduction programs, allowing eligible inmates to earn up to 54 days of good-time credit annually for exemplary compliance. The legislation has facilitated the early release or sentence reduction for thousands of federal prisoners, with the Bureau of Prisons reporting over 20,000 individuals benefiting by 2023 through expanded and risk-assessment tools, though Lee has stressed it maintains mandatory minimums for violent crimes to preserve deterrence. In parallel, Lee has pursued sentencing adjustments to address disparities without undermining proportionality. He co-sponsored the Smarter Sentencing Act, first introduced in 2013 and reintroduced with Senator in 2023, which seeks to lower mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug offenses from five-to-ten years to two-to-five years for simple possession or distribution, building on provisions from the and responding to empirical data showing federal prison populations skewed toward non-violent drug offenders, who comprised about 46% of federal inmates in 2018. Lee frames these efforts as restoring judicial discretion to impose punishments fitting both the and the offender, countering what he describes as overly rigid federal guidelines that exacerbate over-incarceration without enhancing safety. On civil liberties, Lee has defended due process protections against government overreach, particularly in surveillance practices. He introduced the Due Process Guarantee Amendment in 2016, applicable to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents apprehended on U.S. soil, to mandate probable cause and judicial warrants before indefinite detention, drawing from historical precedents like Japanese American internment to underscore constitutional imperatives. More recently, in March 2024, Lee co-introduced the bipartisan SAFE Act with Durbin to reform Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, requiring warrants for querying U.S. persons' data incidentally collected in foreign intelligence operations and imposing stricter oversight on the FBI's use of such information, amid revelations of over 3.4 million unwarranted queries on Americans in 2021 alone. These initiatives reflect Lee's prioritization of Fourth and Fifth Amendment safeguards, arguing that unchecked executive surveillance erodes civil liberties without proportionally advancing security. Lee has opposed policies perceived as weakening , citing post-2020 crime surges as evidence against leniency. In March 2023, he criticized the District of Columbia's Revised Criminal Code Act for reducing penalties for offenses like and , warning it incentivizes amid national increases of 30% from 2019 to 2020 per FBI data. He co-sponsored the CLEAN D.C. Act in 2025 to repeal elements of Washington's 2022 policing reforms, which he contends contributed to rising by restricting proactive enforcement, aligning with his view that effective policing upholds by preventing victimization. Throughout, Lee balances reform with rule-of-law principles, asserting that empirical reductions in —such as a 16% drop for participants—must not compromise deterrence for serious offenses.

Immigration and border security

Senator Mike Lee has consistently advocated for an enforcement-first approach to , prioritizing physical barriers, tactical , and strict controls to curb illegal entries while supporting reformed legal immigration pathways. He co-sponsored the Build the Wall Now Act (S.422) in 2023, which sought to resume construction of a physical barrier along the U.S.- , arguing that such measures demonstrably reduce illegal crossings in fortified sectors, as evidenced by U.S. Customs and Protection data showing apprehension rates dropping by up to 90% in areas with completed barriers compared to unfenced regions prior to construction. In October 2025, Lee introduced the Border Lands Conservation Act (S.2967), amending the Wilderness Act of 1964 to authorize the Department of Homeland Security to construct roads, surveillance systems, and other tactical infrastructure in federal wilderness areas along the southern and northern borders, bypassing certain environmental restrictions to enable effective enforcement amid surging illegal crossings that have strained public lands. The legislation responds to over 10 million encounters at the southwest border since 2021, enabling rapid deployment of barriers and access routes where geographic features previously hindered patrols. Lee opposes for illegal immigrants, contending that it incentivizes further unlawful migration and undermines efforts, as stated in his July 2025 criticism of proposals that would reward border violations and betray legal immigrants. He has argued against chain migration policies, which he views as exacerbating demographic pressures on and welfare systems by allowing sponsorships that multiply entries beyond merit-based limits, aligning with his support for legislation reducing such categories to prioritize high-skilled legal entrants. In 2025, Lee introduced the Safe Transit Accountability Act to hold transportation unions accountable for delays in implementing federally mandated safety plans, addressing vulnerabilities in public transit systems strained by broader migration-related demands on , though focuses primarily on overriding union vetoes over safety funding under the 2021 Infrastructure Act. This measure aims to expedite protections amid national surges in transit usage tied to population shifts from unchecked border flows.

Environmental policy and public lands

Lee has consistently advocated for multiple-use management of federal public lands, emphasizing resource extraction, housing development, and economic productivity over preservationist restrictions, while arguing that vast federal holdings—comprising approximately 66% of Utah's land—hinder local growth despite historical disposal mandates in state enabling acts. In June 2025, he sponsored an amendment to a Republican budget reconciliation bill requiring the sale of up to 3 million acres of and U.S. Forest Service lands deemed suitable for residential development near urban areas, citing underutilization statistics such as low visitation rates on certain parcels and the failure to dispose of lands as promised under Utah's statehood agreement, which directed the sale of non-reserved federal holdings to fund public institutions. The measure, projected to generate revenue for infrastructure while alleviating Western housing shortages amid population growth, encountered resistance from environmental advocacy groups and was ultimately withdrawn amid bipartisan concerns over potential losses of recreational access. In October 2025, Lee drafted the Forest Service Reorganization Act to relocate the U.S. Forest Service from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of the Interior, positing that the transfer to USDA created misaligned bureaucratic detached from core land stewardship missions, thereby impeding timber harvesting, , and that historically sustained rural economies. He contends this restructuring would foster integrated resource policies, supported by data showing fragmented oversight contributes to events like the escalating acreage burned—over 7 million acres in 2024—due to suppressed practices. Lee's environmental positions extend to skepticism of federal regulatory expansion, as demonstrated by his 2016 hold on a $220 million bipartisan aid bill for the , water crisis, which he criticized as fiscally irresponsible "political grandstanding" laden with unrelated provisions rather than enabling targeted local remediation. This action underscored his preference for state and municipal accountability in environmental crises—where causal factors like infrastructure neglect predominate—over blanket federal funding that he argues incentivizes dependency without addressing root governance failures, drawing on precedents where localized responses yielded faster contaminant reductions than protracted agency interventions.

Social and cultural issues

Senator Mike Lee has consistently advocated for policies reinforcing traditional family structures, emphasizing empirical evidence linking intact, married biological-parent households to superior child outcomes in physical health, emotional stability, and academic performance. In a 2015 address, Lee described the family as the foundational institution of society, criticizing government policies that inadvertently penalize marriage or subsidize family fragmentation through welfare structures that disincentivize two-parent households. He supports legislative incentives, such as tax reforms favoring stay-at-home parents and protections for parental rights against international conventions that could erode family authority. Lee defends religious liberty through exemptions shielding faith-based entities from mandates conflicting with doctrinal beliefs, such as refusals to perform or recognize same-sex marriages. In 2013, he introduced the Marriage and Religious Freedom Act, which prohibits federal penalties—including revocation of tax-exempt status—for religious organizations upholding traditional marriage views. Similar provisions appeared in his 2015 reintroduction and 2018 First Amendment Defense Act, aimed at preventing discrimination against individuals or groups acting on sincerely held religious convictions regarding marriage and sexuality. These efforts counter regulatory overreach, as seen in his 2022 amendment to the , which sought to preserve nonprofit exemptions for faith-aligned practices. On , Lee opposes its unchecked online dissemination, introducing the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act in May 2025 to standardize a national threshold, facilitating federal prosecution of materials lacking serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value while depicting sexual conduct. This addresses state-level inconsistencies exploited by distributors, with Lee arguing it enables child exposure to harmful content; studies link youth consumption to permissive sexual attitudes, gender-stereotypical beliefs, , and elevated risks of peer . Regarding transgender participation in sports, Lee has sponsored bills barring biological males from women's competitions to preserve fairness and safety, citing inherent physiological advantages in strength, speed, and endurance persisting post-puberty despite hormone therapy. His 2021 Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, co-led with Senator Tommy Tuberville, conditions federal funding on sex-segregated teams aligned with biological sex at birth, arguing that transgender inclusion transforms women's events into unisex ones, disadvantaging female athletes. Lee has publicly challenged organizations like the NCAA for policies undermining Title IX protections, emphasizing biological dimorphism as a scientific reality.

Foreign policy and national security

Senator Mike Lee has advocated for a foreign policy rooted in constitutional restraint, emphasizing congressional oversight of war powers and military engagements to prevent executive overreach in initiating or prolonging conflicts. He has co-sponsored bipartisan legislation, such as the National Security Powers Act with Senators Tim Kaine and Marco Rubio, to require congressional approval for certain military actions and limit unauthorized hostilities, reflecting a commitment to reasserting legislative authority over executive-led interventions abroad. This approach prioritizes "America First" realism, focusing U.S. resources on core national interests rather than indefinite commitments that could entangle the country in neoconservative-style perpetual wars, while maintaining strategic alliances conditioned on mutual burden-sharing. Lee has expressed skepticism toward NATO expansion, arguing that assurances of membership for Ukraine and Georgia contributed to Russian invasion pretexts and that further enlargement without allied compliance risks U.S. overextension. In July 2024, he introduced resolutions demanding NATO members meet their 2% GDP defense spending commitments before additional U.S. aid to Ukraine and opposing Ukraine's NATO accession as a pathway to membership, stating that "if Ukraine is in, the U.S. should be out" to preserve alliance integrity. He has opposed unconditional Ukraine aid packages, insisting on separate consideration from Israel funding, verifiable tracing of assistance, and prioritization of U.S. border security over foreign expenditures, critiquing unchecked aid as fiscally irresponsible amid domestic vulnerabilities. In integrating with , Lee supports mechanisms to address imbalances through reciprocal agreements rather than unilateral free- orthodoxy, introducing the Global Trade Accountability Act in 2017 to require congressional approval for executive actions like impositions that could escalate into broader conflicts. While historically wary of sparking trade wars, as voiced in opposition to 2018 and aluminum tariffs, he has endorsed using strategically as leverage in negotiations to reduce global barriers and deficits, potentially enhancing U.S. economic resilience against adversarial dependencies. On intelligence surveillance tied to foreign threats, Lee has championed reforms to Section 702 of the (FISA), co-introducing the bipartisan SAFE Act in March 2024 with Senator to mandate warrants for querying U.S. persons' data incidentally collected in foreign intelligence operations, aiming to balance counterterrorism efficacy with Fourth Amendment protections against warrantless intrusions. He opposed short-term FISA reauthorizations without such safeguards, highlighting abuses like surveillance of journalists and lawmakers, and backed the Government Surveillance Reform Act to curb broader warrantless authorities while preserving tools against non-citizen threats.

Controversies and criticisms

2020 election challenges

In the weeks following the November 3, 2020, presidential election, Senator Mike Lee exchanged text messages with White House Chief of Staff , exploring constitutional mechanisms under Article II for state legislatures to address alleged irregularities in appointing electors. On November 7, 2020, Lee offered support for pursuing legal remedies like recounts and audits to verify integrity, while stressing the need for "strong evidentiary argument" to sustain challenges. He initially advocated contacting figures like for fraud evidence but later warned of defamation risks absent substantiation, shifting focus to legal viability by late November. Lee framed these discussions as fidelity to state legislative authority, rejecting alternate elector slates on January 3, 2021, unless backed by state law, deeming unauthorized versions "illegitimate" and likely to "end badly." He conducted extensive reviews, devoting up to 14 hours daily by early January to assess claims in battleground states, but concluded no sufficient evidence warranted overriding certified results. This led him to recognize as president-elect, prioritizing constitutional limits over unsubstantiated reversal. On January 6, 2021, amid the joint congressional session to count electoral votes, Lee addressed the , affirming Congress's narrow role—to "open and then count" votes as submitted by states—without authority to alter slates absent state legislative action. He noted procedural concerns in states like , such as executive changes to voting rules potentially bypassing legislatures, but found no evidence of intent to appoint alternate electors after investigation. Lee declined to object to any state's votes and voted to certify all, including and after failed objections by colleagues. Lee's actions prompted no legal proceedings against him, as federal courts rejected over 60 related fraud suits for insufficient evidence or standing, and congressional challenges failed to alter certifications. His involvement remained confined to private inquiries and public advocacy for evidence-based scrutiny, with no participation in or incitement of the Capitol breach that disrupted proceedings; he condemned deviations from legal process and proceeded with certification post-security restoration.

Social media incidents

In June 2025, following the fatal shooting of state Representative and her husband on June 14, Senator Mike Lee posted on X (formerly ) a photo of the suspect, Vance Boelter, captioned "This is what happens when Marxists don't get their way," and another image with the caption "Nightmare on Walz Street," referencing Democratic . These posts implied a connection between the attack and leftist ideologies or state policies under Walz, drawing immediate condemnation from fellow senators, including Republicans like , who called them "insensitive, to say the least." Lee deleted the posts on June 17, 2025, amid widespread backlash, including calls for resignation from officials and criticism from Utah's editorial board, which urged an apology for spreading what they described as . Lee did not issue a formal apology but maintained in subsequent interactions, such as a confrontation with Senator , that his commentary highlighted perceived patterns in , though sources reported no detailed public defense beyond deletion. Lee's frequent X posts critiquing political establishments and media narratives have strained his relationship with leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which he is a prominent member. Church officials and Utah Latter-day Saints expressed discomfort with his "bellicose" online tone, including comparisons viewed as embarrassing to institutional priorities, leading to frayed ties despite shared conservative values. Through such platforms, Lee has advocated against perceived , criticizing and government pressures on conservative speech as deceptive practices that suppress discourse on issues like institutional biases. His unfiltered posts serve to bypass traditional media gatekeeping, enabling direct amplification of viewpoints challenging dominant narratives, though this approach has invited accusations of inflammatory from outlets with documented left-leaning editorial slants.

Public lands and environmental disputes

Senator Mike Lee has faced significant criticism from environmental advocacy groups for his advocacy of reducing federal ownership of public lands in the , particularly through proposals to transfer or sell parcels to states or private entities for local management. In , where the federal government owns approximately 64.4% of the state's 54.3 million acres, Lee has argued that this concentration hampers , housing availability, and , citing restricted access that limits multiple-use activities like , , and while imposing high maintenance costs on taxpayers. Critics, including over 100 environmental organizations such as the and , contend that such transfers risk privatization and loss of public access, potentially converting recreation areas into developments without adequate environmental safeguards. In June 2025, proposed an to the Republican budget reconciliation bill mandating the sale of up to 3.3 million acres of (BLM) holdings in states like and , targeting lands near population centers to address housing shortages and generate revenue estimated at billions. The provision drew bipartisan backlash, with environmental groups warning it would fragment habitats and reduce recreational opportunities—'s public support over 5 million annual visitor days for activities like and —while past federal sales in the West have yielded limited housing gains relative to environmental costs. countered that federal stewardship has led to inefficiencies, such as deferred maintenance backlogs exceeding $20 billion across agencies, and that state or local control could enhance stewardship through tailored policies, as evidenced by 's management of transferred school trust generating $100 million annually in revenue without broad . The was withdrawn on June 28, 2025, after parliamentarian review and public opposition, though maintained it addressed constitutional limits on indefinite federal retention. Lee's positions trace to longstanding western grievances over federal dominance, rooted in 19th-century land retention policies that left Utah with federal holdings second only to Nevada's among states, constraining county-level growth where 18 of Utah's 29 counties exceed 50% federal . He has supported initiatives like Utah's 2012 H.B. 148 demanding transfer of millions of acres for state stewardship, arguing locals better balance preservation with economic needs, such as permitting controlled burns or absent bureaucratic delays. Environmental opponents, often aligned with preservationist agendas, have labeled these efforts "anti-public lands," but from multiple-use federal parcels show they correlate with higher county growth rates compared to locked areas, where access restrictions limit economic contributions from estimated at $8 billion yearly in . Lee's October 2025 Border Lands Conservation Act further intensified disputes by proposing to reclassify over 9.5 million acres of border-adjacent for Department of use, prioritizing security over preservation amid showing 70% of cross-border incidents occur on such unmanaged terrains. Defenders of Lee's approach highlight evidence of improved recreation under balanced state oversight, as in Utah's state parks where visitor numbers rose 20% post-management reforms, contrasting federal closures during events like the 2023 affecting 80% of Utah's public sites. Yet critics, drawing from historical sales like the 1980s BLM disposals that prioritized extractive uses over public benefits, argue transfers exacerbate fragmentation without proven gains in access or affordability. These debates underscore tensions between federal preservation mandates and local demands for utilitarian , with Lee's policies aiming to devolve authority amid empirical patterns of federal mismanagement costs outweighing restricted-use benefits in rural economies.

Relations with party leadership and institutions

Lee has demonstrated a pattern of principled independence from Republican Party leadership, often prioritizing constitutional conservatism and fiscal restraint over institutional loyalty. This approach has led to tensions with Majority Leader , particularly on spending legislation perceived as fiscally irresponsible. For instance, in December 2014, Lee collaborated with Senator to delay a procedural vote on a $1.1 trillion omnibus appropriations bill, objecting to its rushed process, inclusion of extraneous provisions, and failure to incorporate meaningful spending reductions amid rising deficits projected by the (CBO). Lee has consistently invoked CBO analyses in critiques of such deals, arguing that they exacerbate long-term debt trajectories without offsetting cuts, as evidenced by CBO's recurring forecasts of trillion-dollar annual deficits under baseline spending paths. Regarding presidential endorsements, Lee initially withheld support for during the 2016 Republican primaries, emphasizing the need for candidates aligned with a reform agenda focused on rather than personal loyalty. Following the release of the tape in October 2016, Lee publicly called for Trump to withdraw from the race, describing him as a "distraction" from core policy issues. His stance evolved by late 2018, when Lee endorsed Trump for reelection, citing policy achievements such as conservative judicial confirmations and tax reforms that advanced shared goals of and economic liberty over partisan allegiance. Lee has also critiqued threats to judicial institutions, staunchly defending the Supreme Court's structure against expansion proposals. In his 2022 book Nine, he detailed historical precedents for the nine-justice norm and warned that court-packing would politicize the , eroding its role as an independent check on legislative and executive overreach. Following the 2022 Dobbs decision overturning , Lee predicted that opponents would escalate attacks on the Court's legitimacy, potentially triggering a through structural alterations rather than engaging with its rulings on merits. These positions underscore Lee's commitment to institutional integrity, even when diverging from party consensus on navigating political pressures.

Personal life

Family and religious faith

Mike Lee married Sharon Burr in 1993; the couple resides in , and has three children named John, James, and Eliza. Lee has emphasized as a core personal priority, describing fatherhood as one of man's greatest callings and crediting his upbringing for instilling values of duty and stability. A lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Lee maintains an active devotion to his faith, which shapes his emphasis on personal integrity and community service in private life. This commitment draws from the legacy of his father, , a prominent LDS figure who served as U.S. from 1981 to 1985, president of from 1986 to 1989, and argued 59 cases before the ; Mike Lee has cited his father's example as formative in prioritizing faith, family, and principled action. Unlike many public figures subject to intense media examination, Lee has avoided personal or familial scandals, with no verified reports of marital, parental, or ethical lapses in his private conduct over three decades in the public eye. This record aligns with his stated adherence to LDS teachings on moral rectitude and family cohesion as bulwarks against societal pressures.

Public persona and writings

Senator Mike Lee has developed a public persona centered on rigorous constitutional scholarship and advocacy for , often employing historical analysis to critique expansions of federal authority. His writings emphasize textual fidelity to the U.S. Constitution, drawing on primary sources and case studies to argue against judicial and legislative overreach. In his 2015 book Our Lost Constitution: The Willful Subversion of America's Founding Document, Lee examines six key provisions, illustrating their historical implementation and subsequent erosion through narratives involving figures like , who resisted unconstitutional federal actions. The work posits that modern deviations from original meaning undermine liberty's safeguards, advocating restoration via principled reinterpretation rather than progressive adaptation. Lee's other publications extend this framework: The Freedom Agenda (2011) presses for structural reforms like a balanced budget amendment to curb fiscal irresponsibility; Written Out of History (2017) highlights overlooked Anti-Federalists who opposed centralized power; and Saving Nine (2023) defends the Supreme Court's institutional integrity against politicized expansions, warning of precedents that erode judicial independence. These texts collectively reinforce Lee's intellectual stance against what he terms willful subversions of founding intent, prioritizing enumerated powers over implied expansions. Beyond books, Lee disseminates these views through op-eds addressing policy specifics, such as opposition to unchecked executive actions, and his podcast The Official Mike Lee Talk, where episodes dissect legislative threats to constitutional limits using data on government growth and historical precedents. This communicative style positions him as a debater who leverages empirical fiscal trends and textual evidence to contest assumptions of inevitable state enlargement, fostering discourse on restrained governance.

Electoral history

Summary of vote totals and margins

In the 2010 Republican primary, Mike Lee secured the by narrowly defeating Tim Bridgewater, receiving 64,419 votes (51.3%) to Bridgewater's 60,944 (48.7%). In the general that year, Lee won with 390,179 votes (61.6%), a margin of 28.8 points over Democrat Sam Granato's 207,685 (32.8%), with Constitution Party candidate Scott Bradley receiving 31,842 (5.0%). Voter turnout was approximately 633,906.
YearElection TypeMike Lee Votes (%)Main OpponentOpponent Votes (%)Margin (Percentage Points)
2016General868,472 (68.0)Misty Snow (D)344,347 (27.0)41.0
2022General856,139 (55.5) (I)632,768 (41.0)14.5
In 2016, Lee's victory occurred amid high statewide turnout of over 1.27 million votes, with minor independent candidates Stoney Fonua (Independent American, 2.3%) and Bill Barron (Independent, 1.2%) splitting the remainder; no significant third-party challenge emerged. In 2022, independent —endorsed by the —drew substantial support from moderates and anti-Trump voters, narrowing Lee's margin despite total turnout exceeding 1.51 million; other candidates collectively received under 3%. These results reflect Lee's consistent capture of a majority in a heavily Republican state, even as national polarization and independent bids tested his base in later cycles.

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  104. https://utahnewsdispatch.com/2025/07/13/mike-lee-says-selling-public-lands-will-solve-the-wests-housing-crisis-past-sales-show-otherwise/
  105. https://www.propublica.org/article/utah-mike-lee-public-lands-sell-off
  106. https://www.cpr.org/2025/06/29/public-land-sales-gone-from-gops-one-big-beautiful-bill/
  107. https://www.eenews.net/articles/mike-lee-looks-to-move-forest-service-to-interior-department/
  108. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/271844-sen-lee-slams-flint-aid-bill-as-political-grandstanding/
  109. https://kutv.com/news/local/sen-mike-lee-defends-decision-to-block-220-million-in-aid-of-flint-michigan-water-crisis
  110. https://www.eenews.net/articles/utah-senator-flexes-conservative-muscle-on-environment-energy/
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  118. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtznN7V_MYc
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  120. https://www.deseret.com/politics/2025/05/09/mike-lee-cracks-down-on-pornography/
  121. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11160374/
  122. https://acpeds.org/the-impact-of-pornography-on-children/
  123. https://www.lee.senate.gov/2021/2/sen-lee-leads-legislation-to-protect-women-s-sports
  124. https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/gop-senators-seek-ban-transgender-girls-female-sports-n1240992
  125. https://www.deseret.com/utah/2020/12/29/22205280/transgender-women-sports-titleix-kelly-loeffler-mike-lee-federal-funds-high-school-college-ncaa/
  126. https://www.ksl.com/article/50000384/sen-mike-lee-finds-ncaa-position-on-transgender-athletes-offensive
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  130. https://www.newsweek.com/maga-senator-mike-lee-draws-red-line-withdrawing-us-nato-1877569
  131. https://www.lee.senate.gov/2024/7/lee-introduces-bills-to-demand-burden-sharing-and-oppose-ukraine-membership-ahead-of-nato-summit
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  134. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/06/08/mike-lee-we-need-less-peacocking-and-popping-off-when-dealing-with-russia/
  135. https://www.lee.senate.gov/2017/1/make-trade-policy-accountable-again
  136. https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2018/03/06/senator-mike-lee-advises-president-dont-start-a-trade-war/
  137. https://www.ksl.com/article/51291272/sen-mike-lee-wants-to-see-tariffs-used-as-leverage-in-trade-negotiations
  138. https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-applauds-introduction-of-bipartisan-government-surveillance-reform-act-to-rein-in-warrantless-government-surveillance
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  140. https://www.deseret.com/2022/4/20/23034383/what-mike-lee-says-about-text-messages-donald-trump-2020-election-mark-meadows-fraud
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  144. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/06/22/mike-lees-posts-minnesota-shootings-incensed-fellow-senators-they-refused-to-let-it-go
  145. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sen-mike-lee-faces-criticism-posts-minnesota-shooting/story?id=122930819
  146. https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2025/06/17/utah-sen-mike-lee-deletes-some/
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  151. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sen-lee-big-tech-gop-censorship-deceptive-trade-practice
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  153. https://gardner.utah.edu/news/federal-government-owns-64-4-of-utahs-land-the-second-highest-share-of-federal-land-in-the-nation/
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