Who Is Josh Hawley? U.S. Senator From Missouri

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has represented Missouri in the U.S. Senate since 2019 (Kansas City Star).

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Before his election to the Senate, Hawley served as the 42nd attorney general of Missouri from 2017 to 2019 and worked as an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Law (Wikipedia).

Where Josh Hawley Is Now

Hawley represents Missouri in the U.S. Senate, a seat he has held since 2019 (Kansas City Star). He recently became the first Republican senator to back a federal moratorium on data centers (UpNorthLive).

• Current role: Republican Sen., representing Missouri in the U.S. Senate
• Organization: U.S. Senate
• Known for: Being the first senator to announce plans to object to the certification of Joe Biden's 2020 election victory
• Recent news: Calling on the GOP to pass a federal data center moratorium during the lame duck session over a six-week period

Education and Legal Career

Hawley graduated from Rockhurst High School as valedictorian in 1998 (Wikipedia). He interned at The Heritage Foundation in the summer of 2000 and graduated from Stanford University in 2002 (Wikipedia).

Hawley taught at St Paul's School in London from 2002 to 2003 (Wikipedia). He earned a law degree from Yale Law School in 2006, where he served as president of the school's Federalist Society chapter (Wikipedia).

Hawley worked as an appellate litigator at the law firm Hogan & Hartson from 2008 to 2011 and was an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Law (Wikipedia).

Tenure as Missouri Attorney General

Hawley launched his campaign for Missouri attorney general on July 23, 2015, and was sworn in on January 9, 2017 (Wikipedia). He served as the 42nd attorney general of Missouri from 2017 to 2019 (Wikipedia).

In June 2017, Hawley announced that Missouri filed suit against three pharmaceutical companies regarding prescription painkillers (Wikipedia). In August 2017, he opened an investigation into seven opioid distributors (Wikipedia).

Senate Tenure and Recent Actions

Hawley has represented Missouri in the U.S. Senate since 2019 and was the first senator to announce plans to object to the certification of Joe Biden's 2020 election victory (Kansas City Star). During a Senate Republican leadership meeting, he questioned the rush to re-elect existing leadership, and he shut down speculation regarding a potential presidential run in 2028 (Roll Call, Kansas City Star).

In a May 2025 opinion column in The New York Times, Hawley characterized cutting health coverage for working people as morally wrong and politically suicidal (KCUR). He voted in July 2025 to approve President Donald Trump's tax and spending law (KCUR). Two weeks after voting for the bill, Hawley introduced legislation to reverse some Medicaid reductions and expand a rural health fund to $100 billion (KCUR).

Hawley called on the GOP to pass a federal data center moratorium during the lame duck session over the next six weeks, becoming the first Republican senator to back the policy (UpNorthLive). He previously introduced or supported legislation to restrict tax breaks for companies building in low-income communities (UpNorthLive).

Hawley initiated 72 hours of prayer in support of Missouri's Amendment 3 on Halloween and announced plans to host an event of fasting and prayer at the Capitol on Tuesday, December 15 (Kansas City Star).

Sources

• en.wikipedia.org
• rollcall.com
• upnorthlive.com
• kansascity.com
• kansascity.com
• kcur.org

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