About
Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) has represented Michigan’s heavily Republican 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2016. He won reelection in 2022 with 60% of the vote.
Before joining Congress, Bergman worked as a commercial airline pilot and served as a lieutenant general in the Marines, making him the highest-ranking combat veteran to ever serve in the House. His congressional bio includes the observation that “he believes what most Michiganders believe: Americans know how to live their lives better than politicians or bureaucrats do.”
Bergman continues to be a member of the Republican Study Committee, an ultra-conservative caucus in the House. After the 2020 presidential election, he adhered to the GOP playbook by casting doubt on the legitimacy of the outcome and making claims of fraud unfounded by facts. Bergman objected to certifying the Electoral College results and voted against both impeaching Trump for inciting the mob and establishing a special House committee to investigate the insurrection, among other measures.
January 6, 2021
- Just hours after Trump supports attacked the Capitol, Bergman joined 146 other congressional Republicans in refusing to certify Biden’s win of the presidential election. In a statement about his stance, he wrote that he believed “irregularities, discrepancies, and usurpation of state election laws demanded an investigation into the 2020 election.”
- Bergman voted against impeaching Trump for his role in inciting the mob that disrupted congressional certification of the presidential election.
- Bergman voted against establishing a House committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack. While acknowledging that “the violence and rioting that happened on January 6th was wrong and those responsible must be held accountable,” he argued that “this Commission would allow Democrats alone to control the staff selections and the information requested from federal agencies. This would lead to one-sided and select information being used instead of a true bipartisan investigation.”
The Big Lie
- On Dec. 10, 2020, Bergman signed an amicus brief in a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the results of the election in four swing states: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
- On Jan. 4, 2021, Bergman released a joint statement with fellow Michigan congressman Tim Wahlberg (R-Mich.) contending that: “Poll challengers have raised valid concerns about election integrity across our Nation that brings into question the results of the 2020 election and puts faith in future elections in jeopardy.”
- According to a Jan. 5 report by the Petoskey News-Review, Bergman wrote in an email to the paper that “this is far bigger than a few cases of fraud—what we are focused on is the continued abuse and usurpation of state law by governors and secretaries of state.” (When Bergman won his own reelection in 2020, he did not call for an audit of the results.)
- Bergman has personally met with Kristina Karamo, the Trump-endorsed GOP candidate for secretary of state in Michigan who was cited in a November 2020 lawsuit attempting to overturn the presidential election results. Karamo has also repeatedly alleged that the election was stolen—for example, tweeting: “Corrupt politicians with the help of the lying media were trying to steal the election.”