Path to Power
Raised by divorced parents in a military family, Hoyer moved to Maryland when he was in high school after his stepfather was transferred to Andrews Air Force Base. He graduated with honors from the University of Maryland and interned one summer — with Pelosi — for Sen. Daniel Brewster (D-Md.). He was elected to the Maryland Senate in 1966, at age 27, immediately after graduating from Georgetown Law School.
From the start, Hoyer had leadership ambitions and he became the youngest president of the Maryland Senate in 1975. After three years as Senate president, he decided to run for lieutenant governor on a ticket with acting Gov. Blair Lee III (D) and lost in the primary.
Three years later, Hoyer returned to politics when Rep. Gladys Noon Spellman (D-Md.) fell into a coma. He edged out Spellman’s husband in a special election and has been easily re-elected since then. He was deputy Majority Whip from 1987 to 1989, and served as chairman of the Democratic Caucus from 1989 until 1994.
When he first ran for Majority Leader in 1991, Hoyer lost to David Bonior (D-Mich.). It would not be the last time Hoyer came out on the losing end of a intraparty contest. He and Pelosi first butted heads in 2000 when, wrongly expecting that the Democrats would win a majority in that election, both Democrats campaigned for Majority Whip. Since Democrats did not win a majority, that election never happened, but it set the stage for a heated battle for Minority Whip when Bonior stepped down in 2001, with Pelosi coming out on top.
After Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) stepped aside following the 2002 elections, Pelosi succeeded Gephardt, and Hoyer was unanimously elected Minority Whip. A moderate Democrat, Hoyer has split with his party to vote for balanced budget amendments and to authorize military action in Iraq in 2002. But Hoyer’s tactical prowess is unquestioned; he earned praise for effectively corralling votes as Minority Whip, leading to greater party unity in 2003 than in any year since 1960.
In 2006, Hoyer had no Republican opponent, allowing him to travel the country campaigning for Democrats and to raise large amounts of money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. After Democrats reclaimed the majority in 2006, Hoyer expected to move into the role of Majority Leader as Pelosi became Speaker. But he was challenged for that post by Murtha, a Pelosi ally, behind whom the new Speaker threw her considerable weight. Despite Pelosi’s opposition, Hoyer won that race by a large margin and he and Pelosi have been forced to work together.
The Issues
Hoyer voted with the Democratic Party 98 percent of the time during the 110th Congress, but has nevertheless been labeled a moderate, in part because of the contrast with the more progressive Pelosi. A bridge to the fiscally-conservative Blue Dog Caucus, Hoyer is a proponent of reducing the budget deficit, and was criticized heavily by liberals during his campaign for Majority Leader because of his support for the Iraq war.
Hoyer has championed many Democratic causes, including the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified employees or candidates because of a disability. He was considered an effective Minority Whip, admonishing House Democrats who voted against the party on procedural matters.
Iraq and FISA
Hoyer is not afraid to vote for what he believes in, something that has gotten him into hot water with Democrats. The biggest point of contention with his colleagues was his initial support for the Iraq war.
In October 2002, Hoyer voted to authorize military action in Iraq with the goal of starting an independent democracy in the region, and he has consistently taken a more moderate view than his Democratic colleagues on the war. In May 2007, he opposed much of his party in voting to provide funding for the war without requiring a timeline for withdrawal. He was also the lead Democratic negotiator for the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, empowering the Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence to authorize electronic surveillance of terrorist suspects. Hoyer said he did not support giving immunity to telecommunications companies, a provision that was ultimately included in the final bill. But he argued that Democrats needed to cut a deal to avoid being accused of being weak on national security during the 2008 elections.
Despite Hoyer's reputation as a pro-war moderate, he worked with both Pelosi and Murtha to get Democrats to oppose President Bush’s proposed troop surge in 2007 while continuing funding for the war. Hoyer has become a more aggressive advocate of redeployment to begin bringing troops home and transfer more responsibility to Iraqi forces in recent years.
The Economy
Hoyer supported President Obama's first major legislative victory in February 2009 with the passage of an $800 billion economic stimulus package, despite the spending and tax cuts being scaled back by Senate leaders. But he reportedly urged Speaker Pelosi to stand up to Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) in future legislative battles and force those opposed to legislation to follow through on threats to filibuster.
In fall 2008, Hoyer’s moderate views and fiscal conservatism put him in a difficult position. He reluctantly supported the Bush administration’s $700 billion bailout package, saying he and other fiscally conservative Democrats were angry about provisions to extend an array of tax breaks worth $100 billion. "Frankly, we really don't have much flexibility, and this is important to do," he said. Hoyer worked hard to make sure the bill passed and criticized the Republican leadership for not contributing enough votes. He described the bill as “essential” while saying he had reservations about the magnitude of it.
The Budget and Trade
Hoyer is a staunch advocate of reducing the budget deficit and has called the Bush administration "the most fiscally irresponsible administration in history," because of its tax policies. "We have undermined our ability to invest in things that have a big payoff," he said.
Hoyer broke with most Democrats in 1995 to vote for President Clinton’s balanced budget amendment and again in 2007 to vote against a patch for the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), which taxes wealthy individuals but has increasingly included more of the middle class. Hoyer voted against the patch, which would have raised the income level at which people were taxed to help the upper middle class, because the patch did not determine how to pay for the loss in income for the government. “It is a loss for the country if we don't pay for it,” Hoyer told The Washington Post at the time. “I think you are right to rake us over the coals for passing an unpaid-for AMT.”
Locally, Hoyer has pushed for funding for the Chesapeake Bay cleanup, dredging of the bay for Baltimore harbor and more spending for the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., as a member of the appropriations committee.
As a believer in free trade, he supported the North American Free Trade Agreement, and has been an advocate of normal trade relations with China. He has also supported trade agreements with Chile, Singapore, Australia and Bahrain.
Health Care Reform
Hoyer has been a bit coy about his positions on health care reform, but at a town hall in the beginning of September, he came out forcefully in favor of the public option.
The Network
During his 1981 election to the House, Hoyer became close with then-DCCC Chairman Tony Coelho. He is a longtime friend of Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.), of whom Hoyer was an early backer during the 2006 primary when Cardin ran against Hoyer’s former House colleague and ex-president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.). Hoyer avoided endorsing a candidate in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary until late in the process, saying he thought superdelegates had a responsibility to look at the entire arc of the election. Hoyer endorsed Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on June 4, 2008, after the primary season concluded.
