Claire Conner McCaskill (; born July 24, 1953) is an American former politician who served as a
United States senator
The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress.
Party affiliation
Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...
from
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
from 2007 to 2019 and as
state auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007.
McCaskill is a native of
Rolla, Missouri
Rolla () is a city in and the county seat of Phelps County, Missouri, United States. Its population in the 2020 United States Census was 19,943. It is approximately midway between St. Louis and Springfield along I-44. Its micropolitan sta ...
. She graduated from the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...
and the
University of Missouri School of Law. A member of the
Democratic Party, McCaskill served as a member of the
Missouri House of Representatives
The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...
from 1983 to 1989, as
Jackson County Prosecutor
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...
from 1993 to 1998, and as the 34th
State Auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007. She ran for
governor of Missouri
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
in the
2004 election, defeating Democratic incumbent
Bob Holden in the Democratic primary and losing to Republican
Matt Blunt
Matthew Roy Blunt (born November 20, 1970) is an American politician, lobbyist, and former naval officer who served as the List of governors of Missouri, 54th governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2009. He previously served ten years in the United St ...
in a close general election.
McCaskill was elected to the U.S. Senate in
2006
2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
Events
January
* January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute.
* January 12 – A stampede during t ...
, the first woman to be elected to the chamber from Missouri (
Jean Carnahan was appointed upon the death of her husband). Re-elected in
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, McCaskill was defeated in
2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
by Republican challenger
Josh Hawley
Joshua David Hawley (born December 31, 1979) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Missouri, a seat he has held since 2019. A member ...
. Since February 2019, McCaskill has served as a political analyst for
MSNBC
MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
and
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
.
Early life, education, and early law career
McCaskill was born in
Rolla, Missouri
Rolla () is a city in and the county seat of Phelps County, Missouri, United States. Its population in the 2020 United States Census was 19,943. It is approximately midway between St. Louis and Springfield along I-44. Its micropolitan sta ...
. Her father, William Young McCaskill (1925–1993), served as a state insurance commissioner during the administration of Governor
Warren E. Hearnes. Her mother, Betty Anne (née Ward; 1928–2012), was the first woman elected to the city council of
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...
. Betty Anne McCaskill lost a race for a seat in the state House of Representatives to
Leroy Blunt
Herschel Leroy Blunt (December 3, 1921 – March 21, 2016) was an American farmer and politician who served in the Missouri House of Representatives. He was also the father of U.S. Senator from Missouri and former U.S. Representative R ...
, the father of U.S. senator
Roy Blunt
Roy Dean Blunt (born January 10, 1950) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Missouri from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he pre ...
and grandfather of former Missouri governor
Matt Blunt
Matthew Roy Blunt (born November 20, 1970) is an American politician, lobbyist, and former naval officer who served as the List of governors of Missouri, 54th governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2009. He previously served ten years in the United St ...
.
McCaskill spent her early childhood in the small Missouri town of
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, later moving to
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
, and eventually Columbia. She attended
David H. Hickman High School in Columbia, where she was a cheerleader, Pep Club president, a member of the debate club, a musical cast member, and homecoming queen. While attending the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...
, McCaskill joined
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Alpha Theta (), commonly referred to simply as Theta, is an international Fraternities and sororities, sorority founded on January 27, 1870, at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. It was the first Greek-letter fraternity established ...
sorority,
graduating in 1975 with a
B.A. in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
. She received her
Juris Doctor
A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
(J.D.) from the
University of Missouri School of Law in 1978. In the summer of 1974, before graduating from the University of Missouri, McCaskill studied at the
Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems at
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
.
From the time she graduated from law school in 1978 until her exit from the U.S. Senate in January 2019, McCaskill spent all but three years of her professional career in the public sector. The exception is the three years she spent in private practice as an attorney in a Kansas City law firm (1989 to 1991). Following her graduation from law school, she spent one year as a law clerk on the
Missouri Court of Appeals
The Missouri Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the U.S. state, state of Missouri. The court handles most of the appeals from the Missouri Circuit Courts. The court is divided into three geographic districts: Eastern (bas ...
for the Western District, which sits in
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
. Thereafter, McCaskill joined the
Jackson County prosecutor's office, where she specialized in
arson
Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...
cases.
Early political career
State legislature
In 1982, McCaskill was elected to represent the
Brookside neighborhood of
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
in the
Missouri House of Representatives
The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...
. She left the State House and contemplated running for Jackson County Prosecutor in 1988, but did not pursue the position when her mentor, fellow Democrat and incumbent Prosecutor
Albert Riederer decided to seek another term.
County politics
In 1990, McCaskill was elected to the Jackson County Legislature (the equivalent of a county commission or county council).
In February 1991, she testified in favor of a
Missouri Senate
The Missouri Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 181,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two yea ...
bill that would prohibit a man accused of
raping his wife from using marriage as a defense.
[Marriage no defense for rape, panel decides]
. ''Associated Press''. The Kansas City Star. February 14, 1991. p. C3. "This is simply an issue of fundamental justice. It's embarrassing that we live in a state where it's okay to rape your wife", McCaskill said.
[
In December 1991, McCaskill announced her intention to run for county prosecutor.][Lambe, Joe.]
McCaskill goal: Prosecutor County legislator, an ex-assistant to Riederer, wants to lead crime fight
. ''The Kansas City Star''. December 19, 1991. At the time of the announcement, Riederer had not announced whether he was going to seek reelection.[ McCaskill said that crime had "run amok" during Riederer's eleven years as county prosecutor.][ McCaskill won the Democratic primary, and she went on to win the 1992 general election with 53 percent of the vote. McCaskill was the first woman to serve as prosecutor for Jackson County. She was reelected in 1996 with 71 percent of the vote.
]
State auditor
In 1998, McCaskill was elected as state auditor
State auditors (also known as state comptrollers, state controllers, or state examiners, among others) are fiscal officers lodged in the executive or legislative branches of U.S. state governments who serve as external auditors, program eval ...
with 50.3 percent of the vote in the general election. She was the second female to hold the post, the first having been her immediate predecessor, Margaret B. Kelly.
When McCaskill ran for reelection in 2002, the winner of the Republican Party primary was Al Hanson, who had previously been incarcerated for fraud.[Stearns, Matt.]
GOP disowns auditor nominee
, ''The Kansas City Star'', August 8, 2002. Hanson said he was qualified to detect fraud because he had committed fraud himself.[McCaskill wins re-election bid for auditor]
. ''Jefferson City News-Tribune'', November 6, 2002. Because of Hanson's history, the leader of the Missouri Republican Party urged voters not to vote for Hanson in the general election.[ McCaskill was reelected with 60 percent of the vote.
]
2004 gubernatorial campaign
McCaskill announced her intent to challenge incumbent governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Bob Holden in the Democratic primary on October 20, 2003.
On August 3, 2004, McCaskill defeated Holden, becoming the first candidate to defeat an incumbent governor in a primary election in state history. McCaskill carried much of the rural outstate, while also carrying areas whose voters had taken issues with Holden's actions, such as in Boone County home to the University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...
, which faced cuts under Holden.
On November 2, 2004, McCaskill lost to her Republican opponent, then- Secretary of State Matt Blunt
Matthew Roy Blunt (born November 20, 1970) is an American politician, lobbyist, and former naval officer who served as the List of governors of Missouri, 54th governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2009. He previously served ten years in the United St ...
in the general election by a margin of 51% to 48%. McCaskill's loss to Blunt was the first defeat in her twenty-year political career.
U.S. Senate
Elections
2006
Both incumbent Jim Talent
James Matthes Talent (born October 18, 1956) is an American politician who was a U.S. Senator from Missouri from 2002 to 2007. He is a Republican and resided in the St. Louis area while serving in elected office.
After serving for eight years ...
and McCaskill easily defeated their opponents in their respective primaries on August 8, 2006. McCaskill and Talent debated each other on ''Meet the Press
''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television Sunday morning talk show broadcast on NBC. It is the List of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running program on American television, though its format has changed since th ...
'' on October 8, 2006. On November 8, 2006, McCaskill defeated Talent by a margin of 50% to 47% with two minor-party candidates taking the remainder.
2012
McCaskill ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and faced Republican nominee Todd Akin in the general election. Until mid-August, polling showed them running neck and neck. Then, in a television interview on August 12, Akin claimed that women who were the victims of what he described as "legitimate rape" rarely ended up pregnant
Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins.
Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...
. His comments caused controversy
Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an op ...
and he was criticized by members of both parties. He faced calls to withdraw from the race but did not do so, and McCaskill opened up an increasing lead in opinion polls. Akin's comments caused a backlash among voters, particularly women, and McCaskill was re-elected with 55% of the vote to his 39%. Libertarian candidate Jonathan Dine received 6%.
In August 2015, McCaskill penned a ''Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...
'' article describing how she indirectly helped Akin—who she believed would make a weak general election candidate—win the Republican primary. Specifically, her campaign ran ads during primary season criticizing Akin as being too conservative; McCaskill did this to encourage conservatives (via reverse psychology) to vote for Akin. ''Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' contributor Jonathan Adler and others questioned whether McCaskill's indirect coordination with the Akin campaign constituted an unreported and in-kind contribution to Akin's campaign in violation of federal election law.
2018
McCaskill announced she was running for her third term. Six declared Democratic opponents and five Republicans, including Missouri attorney general Josh Hawley
Joshua David Hawley (born December 31, 1979) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Missouri, a seat he has held since 2019. A member ...
, were declared candidates for the GOP primary. On July 27, ''The Daily Beast
''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc.
It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...
'' reported that Microsoft had discovered that in September 2017, GRU
Gru is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ''Despicable Me'' film series.
Gru or GRU may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Gru (rapper), Serbian rapper
* Gru, an antagonist in '' The Kine Saga''
Organizations Georgia (c ...
"Fancy Bear
Fancy Bear is a Russian cyber espionage group. American cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has stated with a medium level of confidence that it is associated with the Russian military intelligence agency GRU. The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Offic ...
" hackers had attempted spoofing hacks of her staff aides' email in an attempt to target her candidacy efforts, on behalf of the Russian state. Less than three weeks before the November general election, conservative group Project Veritas released secretly recorded video footage of statements by McCaskill and her campaign staff that appeared to differ from their public stances on several issues. In response, McCaskill said she had been "very upfront about all my positions", and called on Republican opponent and State Attorney General Hawley to launch an investigation into whether state laws were violated in the capturing and publishing of this footage. On election day, Hawley received 51% of the vote, to McCaskill's 46%. She has said that one of the reasons she lost was her party's lack of reach to rural Americans. McCaskill later said that the "spectacle" her fellow Democrats created during the confirmation hearings of Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court also played a factor in her defeat.
Tenure
McCaskill was the first elected woman to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate. Jean Carnahan was appointed to the Senate following her husband's death and posthumous election, but was defeated in a close election by Jim Talent
James Matthes Talent (born October 18, 1956) is an American politician who was a U.S. Senator from Missouri from 2002 to 2007. He is a Republican and resided in the St. Louis area while serving in elected office.
After serving for eight years ...
.
In 2006
2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
Events
January
* January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute.
* January 12 – A stampede during t ...
, McCaskill defeated Talent for a full term.
In 2011, she became Missouri's senior senator when Roy Blunt
Roy Dean Blunt (born January 10, 1950) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Missouri from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he pre ...
took office as the junior Senator.
Political positions
Through 2012, McCaskill was named by the ''National Journal
''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes ...
'' as one of the ten most "moderate" senators. In 2011, she was ranked 50th on its scale of the 100 senators, from most liberal to most conservative. In 2013, the ''National Journal'' rated McCaskill's voting record as 53% liberal and 47% conservative. ''The Washington Post'' reported in 2012 that she was the second-most-likely Democratic senator to vote against her party.[ The conservative ]Americans for Prosperity
Americans for Prosperity (AFP), founded in 2004, is a Libertarian conservatism, libertarian conservative political advocacy group in the United States affiliated with brothers Charles Koch and the late David Koch. As the Koch family's primary pol ...
gave her a 30% score for being in line with their positions in 2016. The progressive Americans for Democratic Action gave her a 65% liberal quotient in 2015. As of 2018, ''FiveThirtyEight
''FiveThirtyEight'', also rendered as ''538'', was an American website that focused on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States.
The website, which took its name from the number of electors in the U ...
'', which tracks congressional votes, found that McCaskill voted with President Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
's position 45% of the time.
2008 presidential election
In January 2008, McCaskill endorsed then-Senator Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
in his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
, making her one of the first Senators to do so. She was one of the most visible faces for his campaign, and her support was crucial to Obama's narrow victory in the Missouri primary in February 2008. She has credited her daughter Maddie as having persuaded her to publicly endorse Obama. She was frequently mentioned as a possible vice-presidential nominee for Obama, but was never seriously considered. She spoke on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention in August 2008.
2016 presidential election
In 2013, McCaskill announced that she would be supporting Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
in the 2016 presidential election. During the primaries, McCaskill was among Clinton's top surrogates. She described Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
as "too liberal" and "extreme" and saying that the enthusiasm of his supporters was no more impressive than that of Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977, and again from 1979 to 1985, as well as for Texas' ...
's supporters in 2012. On March 21, after Clinton's sweep of Southern primaries, McCaskill called for Sanders to throw his support to Clinton.
Economic issues
In 2013, the ''National Journal
''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes ...
'' gave her a 46% score on "Liberal on Economic Policy" and a 53% score on "Conservative on Economic Policy". In 2016, FreedomWorks
FreedomWorks was a conservative and libertarian advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. FreedomWorks trained volunteers and assisted in campaigns. It was widely associated with the Tea Party movement. The Koch brothers were once a source of ...
and the Club for Growth
The Club for Growth is a 501(c)(4) political organization active in the United States, with a fiscally conservative agenda focused on tax cuts and other economic policy issues.
Club for Growth's largest funders are billionaires Jeff Yass a ...
, both of which support lower taxes, gave her ratings of 10% and 15%, respectively.
In November 2017, President Trump visited Missouri to promote his tax bill and said that if McCaskill didn't support his tax plan, she should be voted out of office. She said that she could support a tax bill put together "in a bipartisan way" and that she would support "doubling the standard deduction", "enhancing the child tax credit", and even "some corporate tax relief as long as we were cleaning up some of the loopholes that allow so many corporations to avoid paying their fair share." But she did not support Trump's tax bill, which in Missouri, she said, would mainly help rich St. Louis
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
suburbanites.
Ahead of an August 7, 2018, Missouri vote on Proposition A on adopting a right-to-work law
In the context of labor law in the United States, the term right-to-work laws refers to state laws that prohibit union security agreements between employers and labor unions. Such agreements can be incorporated into union contracts to requir ...
in Missouri, McCaskill endorsed a "no" vote on the proposition.
Immigration
In 2010, McCaskill voted for the DREAM Act, which would have given undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children a pathway to citizenship provided that they fulfilled certain conditions.
In January 2018, McCaskill and three other Democratic senators were cosponsors of the Border and Port Security Act, legislation that would mandate that US Customs and Border Protection
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border guard, border ...
"hire, train and assign at least 500 officers per year until the number of needed positions the model identifies is filled" in addition to requiring the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection to determine potential equipment and infrastructure improvements that could be used for ports of entry.
McCaskill has said that "protecting the DREAMers has to be a very top priority." McCaskill opposed the Trump administration's policy of separating immigrant families who illegally crossed the border, and supported legislation to end the family separation policy.
Government spending
McCaskill co-sponsored the Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act, which sought to improve the processes related to the use of credit cards by government employees.
Armed services
As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee
The Committee on Armed Services, sometimes abbreviated SASC for Senate Armed Services Committee, is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defen ...
, McCaskill has called for nuclear weapons modernization. In June 2017, she voted to support Trump's $350 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia.
On January 14, 2014, she introduced the Victims Protection Act of 2014 (S. 1917; 113th Congress), which seeks to help victims of sexual assault in the military. This bill was a watered down version of a similar sexual assault bill previously introduced by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand (; ; born December 9, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York since 2009 ...
. The latter proposal would have streamlined the prosecution process by removing it from the military chain of command. McCaskills' bill allows victims to give a preference as to whether they would prefer their cases to be tried in the military or in the civilian justice system. The bill passed the Senate on March 10, 2014, by a vote of 97–0.
Disaster recovery
As a member of the Senate ad hoc subcommittee on disaster recovery, McCaskill criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...
's handling of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
recovery efforts.
Health care
In 2017, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization gave McCaskill a 100% lifetime rating for her positions on health care. In 2016, the American Public Health Association
The American Public Health Association (APHA) is a Washington, D.C.–based professional membership and advocacy organization for public health professionals in the United States. APHA is the largest professional organization of public health pr ...
also gave her a 100% rating for the positions she had taken on health-care issues during the previous year.
McCaskill voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health ...
, popularly known as ObamaCare, in December 2009.
In April 2017, McCaskill expressed her opposition to a single-payer healthcare
Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare, in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from pr ...
system, saying it is too expensive and not realistic.
In August 2017, McCaskill introduced the Health Care Options for All Act, whereby people living in counties with no health-care exchanges "would be able to buy coverage through the D.C. small business exchange, called SHOP", with the U.S. government "contribut ngtoward the cost of premiums if they meet a certain income threshold." Criticizing Trump's health-care bill in September 2017, she called it "a bait-and-switch, in which they're trying to buy off certain states with promises of more money now, but with no guarantee that healthcare dollars in our state won't ultimately go down." She added that the bill would not help "folks in Missouri who've been sick before and have a pre-existing condition
In the context of healthcare in the United States, a pre-existing condition is a medical condition that started before a person's health insurance went into effect. Before 2014, some insurance policies would not cover expenses due to pre-existin ...
, and older Missourians."
At each event during her 2018 re-election bid campaign, McCaskill asked attendees with preexisting conditions to stand up, and vowed to keep in place health insurance protections for such individuals.
Gun law
McCaskill received an "F" rating from the NRA Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) for not supporting their view of Second Amendment rights and opposing all right-to-carry legislation.
She voted for expanded background check
A background check is a process used by an organisation or person to verify that an individual is who they claim to be, and check their past record to confirm education, employment history, and other activities, and for a criminal record. The fr ...
s and co-sponsored the "Feinstein Amendment," a proposal that would have made it illegal for individuals on the terror watchlist to purchase guns. In January 2016, McCaskill was one of eighteen senators to sign a letter to Thad Cochran and Barbara Mikulski
Barbara Ann Mikulski ( ; born July 20, 1936) is an American politician and social worker who served as a United States senator from Maryland from 1987 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she also served i ...
requesting that the Labor, Health and Education subcommittee hold a hearing on whether to allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to fund a study of gun violence and "the annual appropriations rider that some have interpreted as preventing it" with taxpayer dollars. The senators noted their support for taking steps "to fund gun-violence research, because only the United States government is in a position to establish an integrated public-health research agenda to understand the causes of gun violence and identify the most effective strategies for prevention." In June 2016, McCaskill participated in the Chris Murphy gun control filibuster and in a sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...
on the House floor urging votes for gun control.
In response to the 2017 Las Vegas shooting
On October 1, 2017, a mass shooting occurred when 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in from his 32nd-floor suites in the Mandalay Bay hotel. He fired m ...
, McCaskill co-sponsored a bill to ban bump stock
Bump stocks or bump fire stocks are gun stocks that can be used to assist in bump firing, the act of using the recoil of a semi-automatic firearm to fire cartridges in rapid succession.
The legality of bump stocks in the United States came u ...
s.
Terrorism
During a 2013 congressional hearing, McCaskill asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
Janet Ann Napolitano (; born November 29, 1957) is an American politician, lawyer, and academic administrator. She served as president of the University of California from 2013 to 2020, on the faculty at the Goldman School of Public Policy at t ...
: "Based on the evidence at this point, is there any difference between Sandy Hook and Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
other than the choice of weapon?" McCaskill then urged Napolitano "to reevaluate when and how the federal government defines a criminal act as terrorism".
#MeToo
In October 2017, in the midst of a flurry of news reports about sexual assaults by politicians and other celebrities, McCaskill said on ''Meet the Press
''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television Sunday morning talk show broadcast on NBC. It is the List of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running program on American television, though its format has changed since th ...
'' that while serving in the state legislature, she had asked the House Speaker, Bob F. Griffin, to discuss a bill she was sponsoring. "And I explained to him the bill I had, and did he have any advice for me on how I could get it out of committee?" McCaskill said. "And he looked at me, and he paused, and he said, 'Well, did you bring your knee pads?'"
Comments on men
In November 2015, in a video for ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night news satire, news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Stephen Colbert, Spartin ...
'', McCaskill encouraged men to "sometimes just shut the hell up." McCaskill added, "It's not that women don't value your thoughts, it's just that we don't value all of them." She then set forth a variety of topics about which "women no longer need to hear men's opinions." Regarding the topic of "what women do with their bodies", McCaskill advised men to "hush". McCaskill described the video as a joke.
LGBT rights
On March 24, 2013, McCaskill posted to Tumblr in support of same-sex marriage: "While churches should never be required to conduct marriages outside of their religious beliefs, neither should the government tell people who they have a right to marry."
On a November 4, 2020, MSNBC broadcast, McCaskill said that by supporting issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, and the rights of transgender people, whom McCaskill referred to as "transsexual
A transsexual person is someone who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desires to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (incl ...
s", Democrats "left voters behind and Republicans dove in." McCaskill apologized for using the word transsexuals, which she called a "hurtful term", the next day in a tweet, saying she was "tired" but admitting that is "never a good excuse". She further said that "our party should never leave behind our fight for equality for trans people or anyone else who has been marginalized by hate", adding that "my record reflects that."
Net neutrality
In January 2018, McCaskill announced her support for a Senate bill intended to reverse the Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
's repeal of net neutrality
Net neutrality, sometimes referred to as network neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering User (computing), users and online content providers consistent tra ...
; as she was the 30th Senator to support the bill, it was ensured that the bill would reach the floor of the Senate. In October 2017, McCaskill was one of four Democrats who voted to confirm FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, who announced the plan to reverse net neutrality rules earlier that year. In explaining her vote, McCaskill said that she disagreed with Pai on net neutrality but voted for Pai because "the president has a right to the chairman because he won the election". According to Ars Technica, "it's common for CCcommissioners to get broad bi-partisan support in the Senate even if their policies are opposed by one of the two major parties."
Trade
McCaskill opposed Trump's trade tariffs, saying they were "hurting Missouri farmers and manufacturing."
Israel Anti-Boycott Act
In June 2017, McCaskill co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, Senate Bill 720, which made it a federal crime, punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, for Americans to encourage or participate in internationally sponsored boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlement
Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...
s in the occupied Palestinian territories
The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...
if protesting actions by the Israeli government.
Voting rights
In July 2018, McCaskill introduced legislation that would make it illegal to knowingly and intentionally spread false information about an election, such as false information about the time and place of voting, voter qualifications and registration status. She said, "Misinformation campaigns intended only to suppress the vote and disenfranchise Missourians are crimes that run counter to our democratic values."
Committee assignments
* Committee on Armed Services
** Subcommittee on Airland
** Subcommittee on Cybersecurity
** Subcommittee on Personnel
*United States Senate Committee on Finance
The United States Senate Committee on Finance (or, less formally, Senate Finance Committee) is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generall ...
** United States Senate Finance Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
**
* Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (Ranking Member)
** Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information and International Security
**Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), stood up in March 1941 as the "Truman Committee," is the oldest subcommittee of the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (formerly the Committee on Govern ...
(Ranking Member)
** Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration
McCaskill also served as the Chairwoman of the Select Committee for the Impeachment of Samuel B. Kent, which was disbanded July 22, 2009, after Judge Kent resigned, and the United States Senate Homeland Security Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, which was disbanded in 2013.
Controversies
Private airplane
On March 16, 2011, McCaskill told reporters that she was "embarrassed" about revelations that her office had used taxpayer money for the senator's use of a private airplane she co-owned with her husband and friends. According to a government audit, the plane was used for 90 flights taken between Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, and her home in suburban St. Louis, as well as to numerous sites around the state of Missouri. According to McCaskill's Senate office, all but 1 of the 90 flights in question were within Senate rules. As soon as the story broke, McCaskill sent a check for $88,000 to the U.S. Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments.
...
as reimbursement for the flights.
The Missouri Republican Party filed a formal complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee on March 16. In response McCaskill said, "The Missouri Republican Party is going to try to ride this horse as long as they can. They're going to try to make this as big a deal as they can. Them filing the ethics complaint is about as surprising as the sun coming up." On March 21, 2011, ''Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...
'' reported that McCaskill and her husband had failed to pay more than $280,000 in property taxes on the plane and were planning to sell it. "I have convinced my husband to sell the damn plane", McCaskill said on a conference call with reporters. "I will never set foot on the plane again".[ The Ethics Committee dismissed the Missouri GOP's complaint.
The plane, a 2001 ]Pilatus PC-12
The Pilatus PC-12 is a pressurized, single-engined, turboprop aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland since 1991. It was designed as a high-performance utility aircraft that incorporates a large aft cargo door in addi ...
, was sold in October 2011. It was stored at Spirit of St. Louis Airport, McCaskill confirmed, and owned by Timesaver LLC, a Delaware-based limited liability company. McCaskill noted that she had paid $38,800 in sales taxes on the plane, and she had only recently (as of March 2011) become aware that Missouri also imposed a property tax on private aircraft. She said she was "disappointed" in herself for not ensuring that Timesaver LLC paid the property taxes. "Frankly, having the plane owned in Delaware would not negate the necessity of paying the personal property tax in Missouri", she said. "This is a mistake. It should have been reported in Missouri. It was owed in Missouri. It will be paid in Missouri today".[
]
Meetings with Russian government officials
On March 2, 2017, McCaskill tweeted that she had had "No call or meeting w/Russian ambassador. Ever". After her own tweets of January 20, 2013 ("Off to meeting w/Russian Ambassador.") and August 6, 2015 ("Today calls with British, Russian, and German Ambassadors") were exposed, McCaskill recanted her tweet of March 2, blaming Twitter's character limit. McCaskill had been a leading critic of Attorney General Jeff Sessions
Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States attorney general from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United Stat ...
's meetings with Russian government officials in his capacity as United States senator and had called for Sessions's resignation on this account. McCaskill also said that the nature of her meetings with the Russian ambassador were different to his. PolitiFact
PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times ...
rated McCaskill's assertion false, and also noted "though the context for McCaskill's and Sessions' interactions with Kislyak may be very different, she goes too far in saying she didn't 'ever' have that meeting or phone call."
Pressuring Army officials to punish soldiers cleared of crimes
In a February 4, 2014, contracting oversight hearing with Army officials, McCaskill was on record pressuring officials to bring punishment on up to 1,900 servicemembers by inappropriately adding them to Defense Department and FBI databases. As part of the botched investigation into the Guard Recruiter Assistance Program (G-RAP), false arrest records were added into federal databases after individuals were cleared of charges. This resulted in wide-ranging consequences for affected soldiers. Guardsmen who worked as police officers outside the Guard lost their jobs, concealed weapons permits were revoked, and promotions were inappropriately denied.
Electoral history
State Auditor
She was elected Missouri State Auditor in the 1998 Missouri State Auditor election and re-elected in the 2002 Missouri State Auditor election.
Governor
Results
U.S. Senator
Career after public office
On January 15, 2019, McCaskill joined NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
and MSNBC
MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
as a political analyst. McCaskill is featured as a regular guest on '' Deadline: White House'' and ''Morning Joe
''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news talk show, which airs weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former United States House of Representatives, US Repr ...
''. She also makes frequent appearances on ''The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell
''The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'' is an American weeknight news and political commentary program on MSNBC. The program airs live at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time Mondays through Fridays, and is hosted by Lawrence O'Donnell from Mondays to ...
'' and '' The 11th Hour with Brian Williams'' along with, MSNBC and NBC News Special Event Breaking News Coverage.
In May 2021, McCaskill was reportedly being considered for an ambassadorship in Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
under the Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
administration.
In October 2022, McCaskill joined the Council for Responsible Social Media project launched by Issue One
Issue One is an American nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce the role of money in politics. It aims to increase public awareness of what it views as problems within the present campaign finance system, and to reduce the influence of money ...
to address the negative mental, civic, and public health impacts of social media
Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
in the United States co-chaired by former House Democratic Caucus
The House Democratic Caucus is a congressional caucus composed of all Democratic representatives in the United States House of Representatives, voting and non-voting, and is responsible for nominating and electing the Democratic Party leadersh ...
leader Dick Gephardt
Richard Andrew Gephardt (; born January 31, 1941) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was House majority lead ...
and former Massachusetts lieutenant governor Kerry Healey.
Personal life
McCaskill was married to David Exposito, with whom she had three children. The couple divorced in 1995, after 11 years of marriage, while McCaskill was Jackson County Prosecutor. David Exposito was found murdered in Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
, Kansas on December 12, 2005. Exposito's murder has never been solved.
McCaskill married Joseph Shepard in 2002.
On the October 3, 2009, episode of '' Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' on National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
, McCaskill spoke about a vacation early in her career as a lawyer, where she was a contestant on '' High Rollers''. McCaskill reigned as champion for four days, and later sold several of her prizes to pay off her student loan debt.
McCaskill's mother, Betty Anne McCaskill, died on October 29, 2012, from natural causes at the age of 84. A convert to Roman Catholicism, McCaskill was denied communion for her pro-choice stance on abortion by then-Bishop Raymond Burke, later Cardinal Raymond Burke.
McCaskill maintains residences in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, and Kirkwood, a suburb of St. Louis
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
. She joined Sheryl Sandberg
Sheryl Kara Sandberg (born August 28, 1969) is an American technology executive, philanthropist, and writer. Sandberg served as chief operating officer (COO) of Meta Platforms, a position from which she stepped down in August 2022. She is also ...
's movement to encourage young women to be more assertive in professional interactions. On February 22, 2016, McCaskill announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She stated through Tumblr
Tumblr (pronounced "tumbler") is a microblogging and Social networking service, social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and is owned by American company Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content ...
, "It's a little scary, but my prognosis is good and I expect a full recovery."
Honors
Scholastic
; University degrees
; Chancellor, visitor, governor, rector and fellowships
Honorary degrees
Memberships and non-scholastic fellowships
Awards
See also
* Barack Obama Supreme Court candidates
President Barack Obama made two successful appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States. The first was Judge Sonia Sotomayor to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice David H. Souter. Sotomayor was confirmed by the Unite ...
* Women in the United States Senate
This article covers the history of women in the United States Senate and various milestones achieved by female senators. It includes a list of all women who have served in the Senate, a list of current female senators, and a list of states repre ...
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McCaskill, Claire
1953 births
21st-century Missouri politicians
21st-century American women politicians
American people of Scottish descent
American prosecutors
American women lawyers
Catholics from Missouri
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Protestantism
Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives
Democratic Party United States senators from Missouri
Female United States senators
Georgetown University alumni
Living people
Missouri Democrats
Missouri lawyers
MSNBC people
NBC News people
Politicians from Columbia, Missouri
People from Houston, Missouri
Politicians from Kansas City, Missouri
People from Lebanon, Missouri
People from Rolla, Missouri
State auditors of Missouri
University of Missouri School of Law alumni
Hickman High School alumni
Women state legislators in Missouri
21st-century United States senators
20th-century members of the Missouri General Assembly
20th-century American women politicians