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During his second term in office, John Katko was one of only three Republicans who opposed repealing the Affordable Care Act. At the beginning of his fourth term Katko again broke from his party, becoming the first Republican lawmaker to declare that he would vote to impeach then-President Donald Trump.

Katko, first elected to New York state’s 24th congressional district in 2014 following a 20-year career as a federal prosecutor, announced in January 2022 that he would not be running for a fifth term in November’s midterm elections. Katko will give his farewell address on Monday at Syracuse University’s National Veterans Resource Center. Here’s what you should know about the Congressman:

Katko and civil rights

During his first term, Katko made a series of notable votes opposing abortion.

In 2015, Katko voted to defund Planned Parenthood. In his decision, Katko cited a video – later determined to be false – showing the organization selling fetal tissue. At the time, he said he could not support providing additional funding while Planned Parenthood was being investigated.

In 2021, Katko was only one of three Republicans to support the Equality Act. The act would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act—which prohibits discrimination based on identities such as sexual orientation and gender in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, federal funded programs, credit and jury selection—to ensure the LGBTQ community could not be discriminated against. The act passed in the House with a vote of 224 to 206.

Katko deviated from the Republican Party during his first term. In 2016, Katko opposed a Republican-proposed amendment that, if passed, would have terminated the suspension of the deportation of young undocumented immigrants, The Daily Orange reported at the time. The bill ultimately failed.

This past summer, Katko was one of 47 Republicans to vote for a bill that would protect marriage equality. Passing with a vote of 267 to 157 in the house, the bill repealed the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as strictly between a man and a woman, and codified protections for same-sex relationships.

Relationship with Trump

Though Katko voted to not impeach Trump for obstruction of justice in 2019, he was the first Republican to support Trump’s second impeachment after the events of Jan. 6, 2021, according to a press release.

“In the same politically unclouded process I used as a Federal Prosecutor, I came to the conclusion that the President’s role in the insurrection was undeniable,” Katko wrote in the release.

During the 2016 presidential election, Katko told The D.O. in an email that he did not support or endorse either candidate vying for the presidency.

“I cannot support Hillary Clinton, but Donald Trump has not and will never earn my vote,” he wrote at the time.

After a video was released of Trump making comments about non-consensual interactions with women, Katko called for Trump to drop out of the race entirely.

Despite remaining neutral in 2016, Katko endorsed Trump for reelection in 2020. During a meeting with syracuse.com, he said he supported Trump’s economic policies because they were shown to lower the unemployment rate in central New York. Katko said he did not want the endorsement to be seen as an approval of Trump’s conduct while in office, The D.O. reported.

At the time, Katko said Biden had gone “too far left” despite having been a good candidate in the past.

In a Facebook post, Katko wrote he would not run for re-election, saying that he wanted to spend more time with his family.

“It is with profound gratitude for my colleagues, staff, supporters, team, and the people of New York’s 24th Congressional District that I am thrilled to begin this next and best chapter of my life alongside Robin and our family,” he wrote.

Published on November 27, 2022 at 9:51 pm