Max Baucus

Max Sieben Baucus (b. December 11, 1941, in Helena, MT) is the current U.S. Ambassador to China. Baucus was confirmed by the Senate on February 6, 2014, by a vote of 96-0.^[1] Baucus then resigned his seat in the U.S. Senate. He served as a Democratic member of the U.S. Senate from 1978-2014, representing Montana.^[2]

Biography

Baucus was born in Helena, Montana. He attended Carleton College in Minnesota for a year before transferring to Stanford University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics in 1964. After earning his undergraduate degree, he attended Stanford Law School, graduating with a Juris Doctor in 1967.^[3]

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of Baucus' academic, professional and political career:^[4]

• 1973-1974: Served in the Montana House of Representatives
• 1975-1978:U.S. Representative from Montana
• 1978-2014:U.S. Senator from Montana
• 2014-Present: United States Ambassador to China

Committee assignments

U.S. Senate

2013-2014

Baucus served on the following committees before his appointment to the Ambassadorship to China:^[5]

• United States Senate Committee on Finance Chairman
  • The Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth
  • The Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
  • The Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight
• United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
  • Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, Poultry, Marketing and Agriculture Security
  • Subcommittee on Conservation, Forestry and Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Commodities, Markets, Trade and Risk Management
• United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
  • Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health
  • Subcommittee on Oversight
  • Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety

2011-2012

Baucus served on the following committees:

• United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
  • Subcommittee on Domestic and Foreign Marketing, Inspection, and Plant and Animal Health
  • Subcommittee on Production, Income Protection and Price Support
  • Subcommittee on Hunger, Nutrition and Family Farms

• United States Senate Committee on Finance (Chairman)
  • As Chairman of the full committee, Sen. Baucus served as an ex-officio member of all subcommittees of which he was not already a full member.
  • Subcommittee on Taxation, IRS Oversight, and Long-term Growth

• United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
  • Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
  • Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health
  • Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Chairman)

• United States Congress Joint Committee on Taxation (Chairman)

• United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction^[6]

Confirmation Vote

Baucus was confirmed as the U.S. Ambassador to China on February 6, 2014, by a vote of 96-0.^[1]

Max Baucus confirmation vote, February 6, 2014
Party	Votes for a	Votes against d	Total votes
Democrats	52	0	52
Republicans	42	0	42
Independents	2	0	2
Total Votes	96	0	96

Key votes

113th Congress

The second session of the 113th Congress enacted into law 224 out of the 3215 introduced bills (7 percent). Comparatively, the 112th Congress had 4.2 percent of introduced bills enacted into law in the second session.^[7] The Senate confirmed 13,949 out of 18,323 executive nominations received (76.1 percent). For more information pertaining to Baucus's voting record in the 113th Congress, please see the below sections.^[8]

National security

John Brennan CIA nomination

Baucus voted for the confirmation of John Brennan as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The nomination was confirmed by the Senate on March 7, 2013, with a vote of 63 - 34. Most Democrats supported the nomination, while Republicans were somewhat divided with roughly one-third supporting the nomination.^[9]

Economy

No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013

Baucus voted for H.R.325 -- No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013. The bill passed the Senate on January 31, 2013, with a vote of 64 - 34. The purpose of the bill was to temporarily suspend the debt ceiling and withhold the pay of members of Congress until a budget could be passed. The vote largely followed party lines with Democrats overwhelmingly supporting it and many Republicans in opposition to the bill.^[10]

Government shutdown

See also: United States budget debate, 2013

During the shutdown in October 2013, the Senate rejected, down party lines, every House-originated bill that stripped the budget of funding for the Affordable Care Act. A deal was reached late on October 16, 2013, just hours before the debt ceiling deadline. The bill to reopen the government, H.R. 2775, lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by Senate Democrats was to require income verification for Obamacare subsidies.^[11] The final vote on H.R. 2775 was 81-18, with all 18 votes against the bill from Republican members. Baucus voted with the Democratic Party for the bill.^[12]

Immigration

Mexico-U.S. border

Baucus voted against Senate Amendment 1197 -- Requires the Completion of the Fence Along the United States-Mexico Border. The amendment was rejected by the Senate on June 18, 2013, with a vote of 39 - 54. The purpose of the amendment was to require the completion of 350 miles of fence described in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 before registered provisional immigrant status may be granted. It would also require 700 miles of fence be completed before the status of registered provisional immigrants may be changed to permanent resident status. The vote followed party lines.^[13]

Healthcare

Obamacare

Baucus said if Healthcare.gov can't be fixed in a timely fashion, then Congress needs to consider delaying penalties for not having insurance. He said, "It’s not right to penalize people because of mistakes that the government has made because the exchange isn’t working. So the better approach is making sure the exchange is working so we don’t have to worry about the penalty problem." He expressed frustration with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius saying, "I’m a little, frankly, concerned and a little disappointed that earlier discussions have not been as forthcoming as I’d like them to have been. Maybe she and others didn’t know themselves — that in and of itself raises a question: Why in the world didn’t she know? That’s her job to know."^[14]

Social issues

Violence Against Women (2013)

Baucus voted for S.47 -- Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. The bill was passed by the Senate on February 12, 2013, with a vote of 78 - 22. The purpose of the bill was to combat violence against women, from domestic violence to international trafficking in persons. All 22 dissenting votes were cast by Republicans.^[15]

Background checks on gun sales

On April 17, 2013, the U.S. Senate took a vote on and defeated a measure that would have expanded federal background checks for firearms purchases.^[16] The vote was 54-46, with supporters falling six votes short of the required 60-vote threshold.^[17] Baucus was one of the four Democratic Senators who voted against the amendment.^[18]

Previous congressional sessions

Fiscal Cliff

Baucus voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. The bill was passed in the Senate by an 89 - 8 vote on January 1, 2013.^[19]

Issues

On The Issues Vote Match

See also: On The Issues Vote Match

On The Issues conducts a VoteMatch analysis of elected officials based on 20 issue areas. Rather than relying on incumbents to complete the quiz themselves, the VoteMatch analysis is conducted using voting records, statements to the media, debate transcripts, or citations from books authored by or about the candidate.^[20]

The table below contains the results of analysis compiled by staff at On The Issues.

On The Issues Vote Quiz[21]
Economic Issues		Social Issues
Issue	Stance	Issue	Stance
Legally require hiring women & minorities	Strongly Favors	Abortion is a woman's unrestricted right	Strongly Favors
Expand Obamacare	Favors	Comfortable with same-sex marriage	Favors
Vouchers for school choice	Strongly Opposes	Keep God in the public sphere	Opposes
Absolute right to gun ownership	Strongly Favors	No "rights" to clean air and water	Opposes
Higher taxes on the wealthy	Favors	Stricter punishment reduces crime	Unknown
Support & expand free trade	Favors	Pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens	Favors
More enforcement of the right to vote	Strongly Favors	Maintain U.S. sovereignty from UN	Strongly Opposes
Prioritize green energy	Favors	Expand the military	Favors
Stimulus better than market-led recovery	Favors	Stay out of Iran	Opposes
Privatize Social Security	Favors	Never legalize marijuana	Favors
Note: Information last updated: May 20, 2015.[20] If you notice the rating has changed, email us.

IRS targeting

On May 10, 2013, news broke that various branches of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had specifically targeted conservative groups' applications for tax-exempt status. This began during the tea party surge in 2010. The agency was separating tax-exempt applications by searching for political terms such as "tea party" and "patriot." In June 2011, an IRS official was briefed on these transgressions and asked that this practice end. The flagging continued, however, when the criteria was changed in January 2012 to look out for groups educating on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.^[22]

The targeting included allegations that tea party groups were forced to provide information not asked of other tax exempt groups. Examples of this included requests for donor information, Facebook posts, resumes and political intentions of group officials and connections to other groups.^[23][24]

On May 16, IRS Commissioner Steven Miller announced his resignation. He still testified at the hearings the next day.^[25]

As a result of this scandal, Republicans and many Democratic members of Congress, including Baucus, publicly called for a deeper investigation into these matters. The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on May 17 during which it was disclosed that the Obama administration was made aware of the targeting on June 4, 2012.^[26]

On May 20, Senators Max Baucus and Orrin Hatch sent a written inquiry regarding the process for how the agency reviewed applications for tax exempt status. The letter also requested any correspondence between White House officials and the IRS mentioning 501(c) organizations.^[27]

During the May 22 House committee hearing on the issue, Lois Lerner, head of the IRS tax-exempt organizations office, declined to answer questions citing her Fifth Amendment right.^[28] The next day, May 23, Lerner was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation after Senators John McCain and Carl Levin called on IRS officials to place her on suspension.^[29] Lerner retired on September 23, 2013.^[30]

Fundraiser for Walsh

Jon Tester and Max Baucus held a fundraiser in November 2013 for Democratic candidate John Walsh, who was running for Montana's U.S. Senate seat in 2014 before dropping out of the race due to a plagiarism scandal. Baucus was appointed U.S. Ambassador to China and did not seek re-election. The fundraiser featured Democrat Chuck Schumer from New York. This fundraiser angered Democrat John Bohlinger, who challenged Walsh in the primary. He said, "I am really troubled by the involvement of the Washington insiders in a Montana Democratic senatorial primary race. They should have no business of trying to influence an outcome of an election here." Bohlinger continued to blast D.C. donors saying, "I’ll be raising money, but it will be far lesser amounts than the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (of Washington, D.C.) will pour into Walsh’s campaign fund. Mine will be money that comes from Montanans. I’m really offended by the DSCC and their interest in this (primary)."^[31]

Elections

2014

See also: United States Senate elections in Montana, 2014

On April 23, 2013, Baucus announced that he would not be seeking re-election in 2014.^[32] On February 6, 2014, the Senate voted 96-0 to confirm Baucus as U.S. Ambassador to China.^[33] The appointment set off a chain reaction in the Senate, as Baucus' vacancy opened up the chairmanship of the high profile Senate Finance Committee. Ron Wyden of Oregon assumed the chairmanship and in turn, gave up his position as chairman of the Energy Committee.^[34] Mary Landrieu took Wyden's spot on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. She was previously the chairwoman of the Small Business Committee, so Maria Cantwell stepped in to fill Landrieu's position on the Small Business Committee. Jon Tester from Montana moved into Cantwell's previous position as the chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.^[35]

In Montana, Democratic Governor Steve Bullock appointed Lt. Governor John Walsh to finish out Baucus' term.^[36][37]

2008

On November 4, 2008, Baucus won re-election to the United States Senate. He defeated Bob Kelleher (R).^[38]

U.S. Senate, Montana General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Max Baucus Incumbent	72.9%	348,289
	Republican	Bob Kelleher	27.1%	129,369
Total Votes				477,658

Full history

To view the full congressional electoral history for Max Baucus, click [show] to expand the section.

2002 On November 5, 2002, Max Baucus won re-election to the United States Senate. He defeated Mike Taylor (R), Stan Jones (L) and Bob Kelleher (G) in the general election.[39] U.S. Senate, Montana General Election, 2002 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Max Baucus 62.7% 204,853      Republican Mike Taylor 31.7% 103,611      Libertarian Stan Jones 3.2% 10,420      Green Bob Kelleher 2.3% 7,653 Total Votes 326,537 1996 On November 5, 1996, Max Baucus won re-election to the United States Senate. He defeated Dennis Rehberg (R), Becky Shaw (T) and Stephen Heaton (T) in the general election.[40] U.S. Senate, Montana General Election, 1996 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Max Baucus 49.6% 201,935      Republican Dennis Rehberg 44.7% 182,111      Reform Becky Shaw 4.7% 19,276      Natural Law Stephen Heaton 1% 4,168 Total Votes 407,490 1990 On November 5, 1996, Max Baucus won re-election to the United States Senate. He defeated Allen Kolstad (R) and Westley Deitchler (L) in the general election.[41] U.S. Senate, Montana General Election, 1996 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Max Baucus 68.1% 217,563      Republican Allen Kolstad 29.4% 93,836      Libertarian Westley Deitchler 2.5% 7,937 Total Votes 319,336 1984 On November 6, 1984, Max Baucus won re-election to the United States Senate. He defeated Chuck Cozzens (R) and Neil Halprin (L) in the general election.[42] U.S. Senate, Montana General Election, 1984 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Max Baucus 56.9% 215,704      Republican Chuck Cozzens 40.7% 154,308      Libertarian Neil Halprin 2.4% 9,143 Total Votes 379,155 1978 On November 7, 1978, Max Baucus won election to the United States Senate. He defeated Larry Williams (R) in the general election.[43] U.S. Senate, Montana General Election, 1978 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Max Baucus 55.7% 160,353      Republican Larry Williams 44.3% 127,589 Total Votes 287,942

Campaign donors

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.
Why is that? While candidates and parties must file detailed expenditure reports, independent organizations and unions are not required to file reports in every case. Outside groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer.

Comprehensive donor information for Baucus is available dating back to 2002. Based on available campaign finance records, Baucus raised a total of $6,719,728 during that time period. This information was last updated on April 24, 2013.^[44][45]

Max Baucus Campaign Contribution History
Year	Office	Result	Contributions
2002	U.S. Senate (Montana)		$6,719,728
Grand Total Raised			$6,719,728

2014

Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with the Federal Election Commission during the 2014 elections season. Below are Baucus' reports.^[46]

Max Baucus Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
April Quarterly[47]	6/26/2013	$3,594,923.91	$1,572,599.80	$(300,872.93)	$4,866,650.78
July Quarterly[48]	7/15/2013	$4,866,650.78	$174,305.74	$(1,617,560.80)	$3,423,395.72
October Quarterly[49]	October 15, 2013	$3,423,395.72	$18,128.15	$(160,575.78)	$3,280,948.09
			Running totals
			$1,765,033.69	$(2,079,009.51)

Top recipients of lobbyist contributions

On a list of Top 10 Recipients of Contributions from Lobbyists in 2013 from OpenSecrets.org, Baucus ranked second on the list with $125,094 in lobbyist contributions.^[50]

2010

Baucus won re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2008. During that re-election cycle, Baucus' campaign committee raised a total of $11,602,479 and spent $9,305,359.^[51]

U.S. Senate, Montana, 2008 - Max Baucus Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$11,602,479
Total Spent	$9,305,359
Total Raised by General Election Opponent	$0
Total Spent by General Election Opponent	$0
Top contributors to Max Baucus's campaign committee
Aetna Inc	$70,750
Express Scripts	$55,048
Akin, Gump et al	$51,036
KKR & Co	$47,000
Schering-Plough Corp	$44,200
Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee
Securities & Investment	$749,669
Lawyers/Law Firms	$594,047
Health Professionals	$494,679
Insurance	$476,650
Lobbyists	$469,619

Personal Gain Index

See also: Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress)

The Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress) is a two-part measurement that illustrates the extent to which members of the U.S. Congress have prospered during their tenure as public servants.
It consists of two different metrics:

• Changes in Net Worth
• The Donation Concentration Metric

PGI: Change in net worth

See also: Changes in Net Worth of U.S. Senators and Representatives (Personal Gain Index) and Net worth of United States Senators and Representatives

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Baucus' net worth as of 2012 was estimated between $151,003 and $887,998. That averages to $519,500.50, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic senators in 2012 of $13,566,333.90. Baucus ranked as the 81st most wealthy senator in 2012.^[52] Between 2004 and 2012, Baucus' calculated net worth^[53] increased by an average of 20 percent per year. Between 2004 and 2012, the average annual percentage increase for a member of Congress was 15.4 percent.^[54]

Max Baucus Yearly Net Worth
Year	Average Net Worth
2004	$196,909
2012	$519,500
Growth from 2004 to 2012:	164%
Average annual growth:	20%[55]
Comparatively, the American citizen experienced a median yearly decline in net worth of -0.94%.[56]

The data used to calculate changes in net worth may include changes resulting from assets gained through marriage, inheritance, changes in family estates and/or trusts, changes in family business ownership, and many other variables unrelated to a member's behavior in Congress.

PGI: Donation Concentration Metric

See also: The Donation Concentration Metric (U.S. Congress Personal Gain Index)

Filings required by the Federal Election Commission report on the industries that give to each candidate. Using campaign filings and information calculated by OpenSecrets.org, Ballotpedia calculated the percentage of donations by industry received by each incumbent over the course of his or her career (or 1989 and later, if elected prior to 1988). In the 113th Congress, Baucus was the chair of the United States Senate Committee on Finance before retiring from the U.S. Senate. Baucus received the most donations from individuals and PACs employed by the Lawyers/Law Firms industry.

From 1989-2014, 25.35 percent of Baucus' career contributions came from the top five industries as listed below.^[57]

Max Baucus Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$30,470,947
Total Spent	$25,913,653
Former chair of the United States Senate Committee on Finance
Top five industries that contributed to campaign committee
Lawyers/Law Firms	$1,876,429
Securities & Investment	$1,857,771
Insurance	$1,610,346
Health Professionals	$1,294,986
Lobbyists	$1,085,293
% total in top industry	6.16%
% total in top two industries	12.25%
% total in top five industries	25.35%

Analysis

Ideology and leadership

See also: GovTrack's Political Spectrum & Legislative Leadership ranking

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Baucus was a "centrist Democrat" as of July 2014.^[58] This was the same rating Baucus received in May 2013.

Like-minded colleagues

The website OpenCongress tracks the voting records of each member to determine with whom he or she votes most and least often. The results include a member from each party.^[59]

Baucus most often voted with: Jon Tester Susan Collins

Baucus least often voted with: Joe Manchin Mike Lee (Utah)

Lifetime voting record

See also: Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives

According to the website GovTrack, Baucus missed 278 of 12,429 roll call votes from February 1979 to February 2014. This amounts to 2.2 percent, which is worse than the median of 2.0 percent among current senators as of July 2014.^[60]

Congressional staff salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

2011

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Baucus paid his congressional staff a total of $2,616,259 in 2011. He ranked 19th on the list of the lowest paid Democratic senatorial staff salaries and ranked 54th overall of the lowest paid senatorial staff salaries in 2011. Overall, Montana ranked 28th in average salary for senatorial staff. The average U.S. Senate congressional staff was paid $2,529,141.70 in fiscal year 2011.^[61]

National Journal vote ratings

See also: National Journal vote ratings

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Click the link above for the full ratings of all members of Congress.

2013

Baucus ranked 45th in the liberal rankings in 2013.^[62]

2012

Baucus ranked 45th in the liberal rankings in 2012.^[63]

2011

Baucus ranked 45th in the liberal rankings in 2011.^[64]

Voting with party

The website OpenCongress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus.

2013

Baucus voted with the Democratic Party 77.8 percent of the time, which ranked 50th among the 52 Senate Democratic members as of June 2013.^[65]

Personal

Baucus has one son, Zeno, by his first wife, Ann Geracimos. Baucus and Geracimos divorced in 1982.^[66] He was married to Wanda Minge from 1984-2009, and married Melodee Hanes in 2011.

2013 worst year

Baucus was named by The Hill as a member of Congress who had one of the worst years in 2013.^[67]

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Max + Baucus + Montana + Senate

See also

• Montana
• U.S. Senate delegation from Montana
• United States Senate

External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Gary Locke	U.S. Ambassador to China 2014–Present	Succeeded by John Walsh
Preceded by Paul G. Hatfield	United States Senate - Montana 1978–2014	Succeeded by -
Preceded by Richard Shoup	United States House of Representatives - District 1 1975-1978	Succeeded by John Patrick Williams
Preceded by '	Montana House of Representatives 1973-1974	Succeeded by '

v • e Montana's current delegation to the United States Congress Senators Jon Tester (D) • Steve Daines (R) Representatives Ryan Zinke (R) Other states' delegations Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming

	v • e State of Montana Helena (capital)
Ballot Measures	List of Montana ballot measures | Local measures | School bond issues | Ballot measure laws | Initiative laws | History of I&R | History of direct democracy | Campaign Finance Requirements | Recall process |
Government	Montana State Constitution | House of Representatives | Senate | Commissioner of Political Practices | Legislative Services Division | Legislative Auditor |
State executive officers	Governor | Lieutenant Governor | Attorney General | Secretary of State | Director of the Department of Revenue | State Auditor | Superintendent of Public Instruction | Commissioner of Securities and Insurance | Director of Agriculture | Director of Natural Resources and Conservation | Commissioner of Labor and Industry | Public Service Commission |
School boards	Montana Office of Public Instruction | Montana school districts |
Judiciary	Montana Supreme Court | District Courts | City Courts | Justice Courts | Water Court | Workers' Compensation Court | Judicial selection in Montana |
Transparency Topics	Public Records Act | Open Records procedures | Transparency Advocates | Transparency blogs | State budget | Taxpayer-funded lobbying associations |
Divisions	State | List of Counties | List of Cities | List of School Districts | Evaluation of county websites | Evaluation of city websites | Evaluation of school district websites |