Max N. Rose (born November 28, 1986) is an American military officer and politician who served as a United States representative from New York for a single term from 2019 to 2021. A moderate

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he served on the committees for Homeland Security and Veteran's Affairs and played a key role in bringing a stalled bill for a fund for victims of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

to a vote in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. Rose served in the Biden administration as senior advisor to the

United States Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The ...

for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

from January 2021 to July 2021. From 2012 to 2013, Rose served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

as a

platoon leader {{unreferenced, date=February 2013 A platoon leader (NATO) or platoon commander (more common in Commonwealth militaries and the US Marine Corps) is the officer in charge of a platoon. This person is usually a junior officer – a second or first ...

in combat in the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...

. He was wounded while on duty, and was awarded a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

. In

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, Rose defeated incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Dan Donovan to win election to

New York's 11th congressional district New York's 11th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in New York City. The 11th district includes all of Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn, including the neighborhoods of B ...

. The district includes all of Staten Island and parts of southern

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. In the 2020 election, Rose lost to the Republican nominee, state assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis. After losing reelection to Congress, Rose briefly considered running for mayor of New York City in the 2021 election, but ultimately did not enter the race. On January 20, 2021, he was sworn in as special assistant to the

for

, serving in the role for six months. In December 2021, Rose announced his candidacy in the

2022 United States House of Representatives elections The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 8, 2022, as part of the 2022 United States elections during incumbent president Joe Biden's term. The elections were held to elect representatives from all 435 U.S ...

Early life and education

Rose was born in

, New York, and is Jewish. His mother is a public school teacher and professor of social work and his father is a medical laboratory executive. Rose grew up primarily in

Park Slope Park Slope is a neighborhood in northwestern Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park and Prospect Park West to the east, Fourth Avenue to the west, Flatbush A ...

, and attended elementary school there. He celebrated his bar mitzvah at Union Temple of Brooklyn in Prospect Heights. Rose attended high school at

Poly Prep Country Day School Poly Prep Country Day School (commonly known as Poly Prep) is an independent, co-educational day school with two campuses in Brooklyn, New York, United States. The Middle School (5th to 8th grades) and Upper School (9th to 12th grades) are loc ...

Dyker Heights, Brooklyn Dyker Heights is a predominantly residential neighborhood in the southwest corner of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It is on a hill between Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, and Gravesend Bay. The neighborhood is bounded by 7th and ...

. He captained its wrestling team and graduated in 2004. He subsequently received a bachelor's degree in history from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

, graduating in 2008. Rose became involved in politics while a student at Wesleyan University; he worked as an intern for U.S. Senator

Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Booker is the first African-American U.S. se ...

while Booker was mayor of

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in philosophy and public policy from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

, studying there in 2008 and 2009. He also attended the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Career

Military service

Rose commissioned in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

in 2010. He served nearly five years of active duty with the U.S. Army 1st Armored Division. In 2012 and 2013, he was a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

during the

, where he led a combat outpost of 30 American soldiers and suffered wounds to his face and right knee in 2013 after his

Stryker The Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III. Stryker vehicles are produced by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for the United States Army in a plant in London, Ontario. I ...

armored fighting vehicle hit an

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mecha ...

in northern

Kandahar Province Kandahār ( ps, ; Kandahār, prs, ; ''Qandahār'') is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southern part of the country, sharing a border with Pakistan, to the south. It is surrounded by Helmand in the west, Uruzga ...

. During his service, he earned the Ranger tab (in Fort Benning), and on deployment in Afghanistan the

Combat Infantryman Badge The Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) is a United States Army military decoration. The badge is awarded to infantrymen and Special Forces soldiers in the rank of colonel and below, who fought in active ground combat while assigned as members of e ...

, a

, and a

. He serves as a

company commander A company commander is the commanding officer of a company, a military unit which typically consists of 100 to 250 soldiers, often organized into three or four smaller units called platoons. The exact organization of a company varies by countr ...

in the New York Army National Guard with the 69th Infantry Battalion, the second-oldest unit in the United States. In March 2020, while serving as a member of Congress, Rose deployed with the National Guard to assist New York City's coronavirus pandemic response effort. He and his unit spent two weeks turning a Staten Island psychiatric center into an emergency hospital for patients with COVID-19.

Post-military career

After leaving full-time military service, Rose served as Director of Public Engagement for

Brooklyn District Attorney The Kings County District Attorney's Office, also known as the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, is the district attorney's office for Kings County, coterminous with the Borough of Brooklyn, in New York City. The office is responsible for the ...

Kenneth P. Thompson. Thompson was Brooklyn's first Black District Attorney. Rose worked on an initiative known as "Begin Again," helping people with outstanding warrants for minor offenses address them and clean their records. Later, he served as Chief of Staff at Brightpoint Health, a nonprofit operator of medical outpatient clinics in Staten Island and elsewhere in New York City with 800 employees.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

Rose ran in the 2018 Democratic Party primary for

against five other candidates, winning with 65% of the vote. In the general election, he faced Republican incumbent Dan Donovan and received endorsements from former President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

and former Vice President Joe Biden. Rose defeated Donovan, 52.8% to 46.8%, a win widely seen as an upset as most ratings of the race considered Donovan, who had won the 2016 election by 25 points, a slight favorite. He became the youngest male member of the House of Representatives. The 11th has historically been the most conservative district in New York City, and Staten Island is the city's most conservative borough. For most of the time since the 1990s, it has been the only Republican-held district in the city, and for much of that time it has been the only area in the city in which Republicans usually do well. It has a

Cook Partisan Voting Index The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated Cook PVI, CPVI, or PVI, is a measurement of how strongly a United States congressional district or U.S. state leans toward the Democratic or Republican Party, compared to the nation as a whole, based ...

of R+3; the other 11 districts in the city have PVIs of at least D+20. Rose was only the second Democrat to hold the seat since 1981, and the first since then to unseat an incumbent Republican. His victory made New York City's House delegation entirely Democratic for only the second time since 1933.

2020

In 2020, Rose was defeated in his reelection bid by State Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, who represented much of the district's eastern portion. He conceded on November 11. Ultimately, Malliotakis took 53 percent of the vote to Rose's 46.8 percent. Rose was hampered by Donald Trump carrying Staten Island with 57% of the vote, the most of any borough and ahead of Queens. Rose's participation in a George Floyd protest was also blamed for hurting his reelection chances as the 11th district has historically been home to large numbers of

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

(NYPD) officers and their families.

2022

In December 2021, Rose announced he was running for Congress to reclaim his former seat in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

. He won the Democratic primary on August 23, 2022, receiving 75% of the votes.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Homeland Security ** Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery ** Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism (Chair) * Committee on Veterans' Affairs **

Subcommittee on Health The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health is a subcommittee within the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Jurisdiction The House Subcommittee on Health has general jurisdiction over bills and resolutions relating to pub ...

** Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Caucus memberships

Blue Dog Coalition The Blue Dog Coalition (commonly known as the Blue Dogs or Blue Dog Democrats) is a caucus in the United States House of Representatives comprising centrist members from the Democratic Party. The caucus was founded as a group of conservative De ...

Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus The Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus was formed by openly gay representatives Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank June 4, 2008, to advance LGBT+ rights. The caucus had 165 members (164 Democrats and one Republican, Jeff Van Drew) in the 116t ...

Future Forum Future Forum is a generational caucus of Millennial and Gen Z members of Congress serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. Future Forum is chaired by Representative Darren Soto in the 117th Congress. The organization was founded in April 201 ...

New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a moderate-to-conservative approach to fiscal matters. As of ...

* Problem Solvers Caucus

Political positions

Rose supports improving transportation infrastructure in Southern Brooklyn and Staten Island. He favors lowering the age of Medicare eligibility from 65 to 55,

universal health care Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized ar ...

with a

public healthcare Publicly funded healthcare is a form of health care financing designed to meet the cost of all or most healthcare needs from a publicly managed fund. Usually this is under some form of democratic accountability, the right of access to which are ...

option, and expanding access to clinics for treating

opioid addiction Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder characterized by cravings for opioids, continued use despite physical and/or psychological deterioration, increased tolerance with use, and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing opioids. Op ...

. He voted against Democrat Nancy Pelosi for Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (he opined that she "has lost the trust of voters not just in my district, but across the country"), criticized Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (whom he accused of "ignoring Staten Island and South Brooklyn"), and joined the Problem Solvers Caucus (which seeks to foster bipartisan cooperation). He does not support defunding the police, and instead supports higher salaries for police officers coupled with more accountability for New York Police Department leadership.

Foreign policy

He believes that the United States should rejoin the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in ...

's Paris Agreement as a way to lower

carbon dioxide emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and la ...

. Rose urged the State Department to designate

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Azov Battalion The Special Operations Detachment "Azov" (), also known as the Azov Regiment ( uk, Полк «Азов», translit=Polk "Azov") and formerly the Azov Battalion ( uk, батальйон «Азов», translit=Batalion "Azov"), is a unit of the ...

(converted into a Ukrainian National Guard regiment) a

Foreign Terrorist Organization Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) is a designation for non-United States-based organizations deemed by the United States Secretary of State, in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (INA), to be involved ...

Gun control

He supports criminal

background checks A background check is a process a person or company uses to verify that an individual is who they claim to be, and this provides an opportunity to check and confirm the validity of someone's criminal record, education, employment history, and oth ...

for gun purchases, and an assault rifle ban. In 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its first piece of gun-safety legislation since 1994, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, co-sponsored by Rose, mandating federal criminal background checks for all gun transfers, including private transactions.

War in Afghanistan

In March 2019, in response to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's view that Congress "could have leaned more on the larger role of other agencies before Congress decided to invade a nation without a concrete end plan," Rose wrote to the New York ''Daily News'':

"I believe it's long past time we end the war in Afghanistan, but I strongly disagree with the idea that the invasion was wrong on moral or national security grounds ... After our city and country were attacked we were very clear with the
Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
—either they give up Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, or we would come and get them ourselves ... They chose to protect Osama bin Laden, and they rightfully paid the price."

Impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump

On October 2, 2019, Rose announced his support for an

impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump The inquiry process which preceded the first impeachment of Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States, was initiated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on September 24, 2019, after a whistleblower alleged that Donald Trump may have ab ...

for his attempt to pressure Ukraine into interfering in the 2020 presidential election.

Later career

On December 10, 2020, Rose opened a campaign account with the campaign finance board to raise money for the

2021 New York City mayoral election The 2021 New York City mayoral election was held on November 2, 2021. Incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election. On June 22, 2021, the primary elections for the Democratic and Republican primaries ...

, but announced on January 3, 2021, that he would not run. On January 20, 2021, Rose was sworn in as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Senior Advisor, COVID-19) to serve under

Lloyd Austin Lloyd James Austin III (born August 8, 1953) is a retired United States Army four-star general who, since his appointment on January 22, 2021, has served as the 28th United States secretary of defense. He is the first African American to serv ...

, a position Rose held until July 21, 2021

Electoral history

Personal life

Rose moved to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, in 2015. He and his wife Leigh Byrne, a fashion stylist, were married in March 2018. They reside in

St. George, Staten Island St. George is a neighborhood on the northeastern tip of Staten Island in New York City, along the waterfront where the Kill Van Kull enters Upper New York Bay. It is the most densely developed neighborhood on Staten Island, and the location of th ...

. In 2020, the couple adopted a son.Max Rose (May 2, 2020)
"Leigh and I are so incredibly excited to introduce you to our son, Miles Benjamin Rose. Adoption is often a long and incredibly uncertain journey, and ours was no different, but boy was he worth the wait,"
Twitter.

References

External links

Max Rose for Congress
campaign website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Max 1986 births Alumni of the London School of Economics United States Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Candidates in the 2018 United States elections Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Jewish American people in New York (state) politics Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Living people New York National Guard personnel People from Park Slope Politicians from Brooklyn Politicians from Staten Island Poly Prep alumni United States Army officers Wesleyan University alumni People from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn 21st-century American Jews People from St. George, Staten Island