Ernest Scott Garrett (born July 9, 1959) is an American politician who was the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for , serving from 2003 to 2017. He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously served in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

from 1990 to 2003. Garrett chaired the United States House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises. He lost his reelection bid in 2016 to Democrat

Josh Gottheimer Joshua S. Gottheimer ( ; born March 8, 1975) is an American politician, attorney, writer, and public policy adviser who has served as the U.S. representative for since 2017. The district stretches along the northern border of the state from Ne ...

, becoming the only incumbent Congressman in New Jersey to be defeated that year. On June 19, 2017,

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 ...

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 ...

nominated Garrett to become chairman and president of the

Export–Import Bank of the United States The Export–Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) is the official export credit agency (ECA) of the United States federal government. Operating as a wholly owned federal government corporation, the bank "assists in financing and facilitating ...

, a post that requires confirmation by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. In a 10–13 vote on December 19, 2017, the

Senate Banking Committee The United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (formerly the Committee on Banking and Currency), also known as the Senate Banking Committee, has jurisdiction over matters related to banks and banking, price controls, ...

declined to advance his nomination. Garrett was subsequently hired into an

excepted service The excepted service is the part of the United States federal civil service that is not part of either the competitive service or the Senior Executive Service. It allows streamlined hiring processes to be used under certain circumstances. Overvie ...

position at the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

's Office of General Counsel.

Early life, education and career

Garrett earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in political science from

Montclair State College Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Clifton and into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public un ...

in 1981 and a

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 ...

from

Rutgers School of Law–Camden Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public university, public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the ...

in 1984. Born in Bergen County in the town of Englewood, Garrett spent much of his life living in North Jersey. He was elected to the

in 1991, and was re-elected five times, serving from 1992 to 2003, representing the 24th legislative district, which covered all of Sussex County and several municipalities in

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia * St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Man ...

and Hunterdon counties.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

Garrett unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Congresswoman

Marge Roukema Margaret "Marge" Ellen Roukema (née Scafati; September 19, 1929 – November 12, 2014) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician who represented New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 200 ...

in the 1998 and 2000 Republican primaries, on both occasions running well to the right of Roukema, a leading moderate Republican. In 2002, Roukema retired and Garrett won a contested five-way primary with 46% of the vote over State Assemblyman David C. Russo and

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Gerald Cardinale. Of the three major candidates, Garrett was the only one from the more rural western portion of the district, while Russo and Cardinale were both from

Bergen County Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Democratic candidate Anne Sumers, an

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

and former Republican. Garrett beat Sumers with 60% of the vote. Garrett was reelected in 2004 with 58% of the vote. 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 ...

, Garrett defeated Republican primary opponent Michael Cino. In the November 2006 general election, Garrett defeated Paul Aronsohn, a former employee of the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

during the

Clinton Administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...

, to win a third term. Garrett defeated Democrat Dennis Shulman 56%–42% in the 2008 general election. In

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, Garrett defeated Tod Theise, receiving 65% of the vote. 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 ...

, Garrett defeated Democrat Adam Gussen with 55% of the vote. In

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, Garrett defeated Democratic nominee Roy Cho with 55% of the vote. Redistricting after the 2010 census made the 5th slightly more Democratic, as it gained heavily Democratic Hackensack and Teaneck.

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

carried the old 5th with 54 percent of the vote in 2008, but would have only won the new 5th with 50.5 percent of the vote.

2016

Garrett ran for re-election in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

as the Republican candidate, besting Michael Cino and Peter Vallorosi in the primary. He faced former Clinton administration speechwriter

, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary. In an article published by

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

, Garrett was revealed to be heavily reliant on the financial sector to fund his campaign. In 2015, it was reported that Garrett stated he would not pay dues to the NRCC because they had supported openly gay candidates. Gottheimer and national Democratic groups used these comments to attack Garrett as too socially conservative for the district, while Wall Street firms that had donated to Garrett for years reduced their contributions. Gottheimer won the general election on November 8, 2016, with 50.5% of the vote to Garrett's 47.2%. While Garrett carried three of the four counties in the district, he could not overcome a 33,800-vote deficit in the district's share of Bergen County; he lost overall by 14,900 votes.

Committee assignments

* Committee on the Budget *

Committee on Financial Services The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the United States congressional committee, committee of the United States ...

** Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises (chairman) ** Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity

Caucus memberships

* Congressional Constitution Caucus (chairman)

Legislation

On May 8, 2013, Garrett introduced the Budget and Accounting Transparency Act of 2014 (H.R. 1872; 113th Congress), a bill that would modify the budgetary treatment of federal credit programs. The bill would require that the cost of direct loans or loan guarantees be recognized in the federal budget on a fair-value basis using guidelines set forth by the

Financial Accounting Standards Board The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is a private standard-setting body whose primary purpose is to establish and improve Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) within the United States in the public's interest. The Secur ...

. The bill would also require the federal budget to reflect the net impact of programs administered by

Fannie Mae The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the New ...

and

Freddie Mac The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), commonly known as Freddie Mac, is an American publicly traded, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), headquartered in Tysons, Virginia. The changes made by the bill would mean that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were counted on the budget instead of considered separately and would mean that the debt of those two programs would be included in the national debt. These programs themselves would not be changed, but how they are accounted for in the

United States federal budget The United States budget comprises the spending and revenues of the U.S. federal government. The budget is the financial representation of the priorities of the government, reflecting historical debates and competing economic philosophies. Th ...

would be. The goal of the bill is to improve the accuracy of how some programs are accounted for in the federal budget.

Tenure

Garrett compiled an unshakably conservative voting record. This was unusual for New Jersey, historically a bastion of moderate Republicanism. He held a lifetime rating of 99.3 from the

American Conservative Union The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for Conservatism in the United States, conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Poli ...

, making him easily the most conservative member of the New Jersey delegation. He was one of the most conservative lawmakers ever to represent New Jersey in Congress, and was considered one of the most conservative members of the House. While in Congress, he founded and led the House Constitution Caucus. During his time in Congress, Garrett was a member of the Liberty Caucus. He was a founding member of the

Freedom Caucus The Freedom Caucus, also known as the House Freedom Caucus, is a congressional caucus consisting of Republican Party (United States), Republican members of the United States House of Representatives. It is generally considered to be the most Cons ...

, which serves as a policy alternative to the

Republican Study Committee The Republican Study Committee (RSC) is a congressional caucus of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. In November 2024, Representative August Pfluger was elected as the chair of the RSC, ...

, and is the only New Jersey representative to have been a member of the Freedom Caucus.

Foreign policy

In 2007, Garrett led nineteen U.S. lawmakers to introduce a bill in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

backing

United Nations membership The United Nations comprise sovereign states and the world's largest intergovernmental organization. All members have equal representation in the UN General Assembly. The Charter of the United Nations defines the rules for admission of ...

for

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Economic policy

In 2006, Garrett supported H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte- Leach Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Garrett voted to allow oil and gas drilling off the shore of New Jersey. He voted against making "

price gouging Price gouging is the practice of increasing the prices of goods, services, or commodities to a level much higher than is considered reasonable or fair by some. This commonly applies to price increases of basic necessities after natural disaste ...

" by

oil companies The following is a list of notable companies in the petroleum industry that are engaged in petroleum exploration and production. The list is in alphabetical order by continent and then by country. This list does not include companies only involved ...

a crime, and against the Further Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for

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. ...

Act of 2005. He was one of four members of the House of Representatives to vote against an extension of

unemployment benefits Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work d ...

. Garrett voted against the

Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 (; ) is a law used to resolve both the United States federal government shutdown of 2013 and the United States debt-ceiling crisis of 2013. After the Republican-led House of Representatives could not ag ...

during the

United States federal government shutdown of 2013 From October 1 to October 17, 2013, the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government entered a Government shutdown in the United States, shutdown and curtailed most routine operations because neither Appropriations b ...

. When opponents criticized Garrett for not signing a letter urging the House to provide prompt aid to victims of

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

, Garrett responded by saying he had signed nine other letters seeking aid and had helped sponsor a final bill authorizing money.

Education

As a state legislator in 2005, he proposed public schools include lessons on

intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins".#Numbers 2006, Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for it ...

alongside

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

. Garrett said he would not advocate for a law mandating changes to the state curriculum. In July 2007, Garrett proposed an amendment to strike earmarked money in a spending bill for native

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

n and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

an educational programs.North to Alaska
''

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 ...

'' dated July 17, 2007. Congressman

Don Young Donald Edwin Young (June 9, 1933 – March 18, 2022) was an American politician from Alaska. He is the List of members of the United States Congress by longevity of service, longest-serving Republican Party (United States), Republican in House ...

of Alaska defended the funds on the floor of the House, saying, "You want my money, my money." Young went on to suggest that Republicans had lost their majority in the 2006 election because some Republicans had challenged spending earmarks. While Garrett did not ask for an official reprimand, other conservative Republicans took exception to Young's remarks that the funds in question represented his money. Members of the

gave Garrett a standing ovation later in the day during the group's weekly meeting.

LGBT rights

Following the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States by the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

in 2015, Garrett supported the

First Amendment Defense Act The First Amendment Defense Act (often abbreviated FADA) () was a bill introduced into the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate on June 17, 2015. The Senate sponsor of the bill was Mike Lee (R-Utah), and the House spons ...

, a bill allowing companies to deny service to same-sex weddings due to religious objections. Also in 2015, Garrett refused to pay GOP campaign arm dues to the

National Republican Congressional Committee The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the United States Republican Party, Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives. The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Repub ...

because he said they were "actively recruiting homosexual candidates and had supported gay candidates in the past." Garrett later clarified his remarks, saying that he is opposed to same-sex marriage due to his faith, but that he does not "have malice" toward any group of people. Regarding his stance opposing gay Republican political candidates, he said that political opponents in the media distorted his views; while he affirmed that it was "everybody's right" to run for office, he reiterated his opposition to funding the campaigns of candidates who support same-sex marriage.

Suffrage

In 2006, Garrett was the only congressman from New Jersey to vote against the reauthorization of the

Voting Rights Act The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movem ...

, citing his opposition to requirements to print non-English ballots.

Export-Import Bank nomination

On April 14, 2017,

announced that he would nominate Garrett to become chairman and president of the

. While in the House of Representatives, Garrett was a critic of the bank's existence. On June 19, 2017, Trump formally nominated Garrett to the post, which requires confirmation by the

. Senator

Sherrod Brown Sherrod Campbell Brown ( ; born November 9, 1952) is an American politician who served from 2007 to 2025 as a United States senator from Ohio. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for from 1993 to 2007 and the 47t ...

, the

ranking member In United States politics, a ranking member is the most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the minority party. On many committees the ranking minority member, along with the Chair, serve as ''ex officio'' members ...

of the

, was surprised by the nomination, saying that he had been led to believe that Trump would not go ahead with choosing Garrett in light of the opposition. Brown predicted that no Democrats would vote for Garrett, and that some

Republicans 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 ...

would also be "unhappy with he nomination" The nomination drew opposition from a number of national business organizations, such as the

Aerospace Industries Association The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) – originally the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce (1922-1945), then Aircraft Industries Association (1945-1960)

, the

National Association of Manufacturers The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is an advocacy group headquartered in Washington, D.C., with additional offices across the United States. It is the nation's largest manufacturing industrial trade association, representing 14,000 s ...

, and the

Business Roundtable The Business Roundtable (BRT) is a nonprofit lobbyist association based in Washington, D.C. whose members are chief executive officers of major U.S. companies. Unlike the United States Chamber of Commerce, whose members are entire businesses, ...

. Senator

Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (; born July 9, 1955) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A membe ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

was one of the Republicans reported to have concerns with the nomination. The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce opposed Garrett, and Graham said he would "try to get the administration to give us a better nominee." The New Jersey Business and Industry Association, the largest business group in Garrett's home state, called on him to withdraw from consideration for the post. In August 2017, ''Politico'' reported that Trump would give Garrett a chance to rescue his nomination after privately questioning whether the nomination should proceed. Conservatives opposed to the Ex-Im Bank "have ratcheted up pressure on the administration to stick with Garrett’s nomination." Republican U.S. Senator

Pat Toomey Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator from Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. represen ...

said: "I can tell you there will be Republican senators including myself who will put up quite a fight if his nomination doesn't go forward." On December 19, 2017, the

voted by a margin of 10-13 not to advance Garrett's nomination to the full U.S. Senate. Republican U.S. Senators

Mike Rounds Marion Michael Rounds (born October 24, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator from South Dakota since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 31st governor of South Dakota ...

and

Tim Scott Timothy Eugene Scott (born September 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2013 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from South Carolina. A member of the Re ...

joined all of the Democrats on the committee in voting against Garrett. Trump did not formally withdraw the nomination; rather it was returned to Trump unconfirmed on January 3, 2018, under

Standing Rules of the United States Senate, Rule XXXI The Standing Rules of the Senate are the parliamentary procedures adopted by the United States Senate that govern its procedure. The Senate's power to establish rules derives from Article One, Section5 of the United States Constitution: "Each ...

, paragraph 6.

Personal life

Garrett is married and has two adult daughters. They

homeschooled Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

their daughters because there was "no high school offering a Christian education" in their area.

Electoral history

Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 2004,

Socialist Party USA The Socialist Party of the United States of America (also Socialist Party USA or SPUSA) is a socialist political party in the United States. SPUSA formed in 1973, one year after the Socialist Party of America splintered into three: Social De ...

candidate Gregory Pason received 574 votes. In 2010, James Radigan received 336 votes.

References

External links

* * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett, Scott 1959 births Living people Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Montclair State University alumni Politicians from Englewood, New Jersey People from Wantage Township, New Jersey Rutgers School of Law–Camden alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey 21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature