There are few members of Congress as critical about Washington politics as Rep. Justin Amash, the Libertarian from Michigan.
In fact, he thinks both sides of Congress place more emphasis on theatrical “performance” than the quality of their legislation.
In the last year, he left the Republican Party, considered a run for president as the Libertarian candidate and on July 16 announced he would not seek reelection.
While the 40-year-old has not publicly announced his plans for 2021 and beyond, he hinted in an interview his professional future may involve trying to educate voters and defend the Constitution from outside Washington.
“I want to do what I can to work from the outside to change things because I’ve tried the inside and right now I can’t get much traction,” Amash said. “I want to engage in opportunities that will teach people about Congress, politics and our constitutional system.”
Amash entered the political arena in 2008 when he was elected to Michigan’s state House of Representatives. As the child of Palestinian and Syrian immigrants, he said he was running to preserve the idea of the American dream.
“When I first ran for the state House, I wanted to show people that someone can go into the legislature and be independent, successful and have the support of the people,” Amash said. “I saw two parties that were working together to hurt Americans and working against each other to hurt Americans. I wanted to go in and make an impact.”
Amash has built his career around stressing small government, independent thought and a love for America. But after 10 years of serving in the House of Representatives, he’s frustrated by what he sees as the theatrics of Congress and partisanship of the national media.
“The machinery of Congress is a lot more complicated [than the state legislature] because there is so much entertainment value,” Amash said, noting members of Congress typically “perform” for specific media outlets. “Most members of Congress are pretty kind to each other in private, but in public, they’re performative. It’s very much theater.”
Amash cited similar concerns when he announced he was leaving the Republican Party in a 2019 Washington Post op-ed. His message came after months of conflict between Amash, the GOP and the president, a consequence of the congressman’s call for President Donald Trump’s impeachment.
Members of the GOP spoke out against Amash’s accusations — most notably, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
“What he wants is attention in this process,” said McCarthy in an interview with Fox News. “He’s not a criminal attorney. He’s never met Mueller. He’s never met Barr. Now he’s coming forward with this because this is what he wants.”
Trump also retaliated against Amash on Twitter, calling Amash “a loser who sadly plays right into our opponents’ hands.”
“If he actually read the biased Mueller Report… he would see that it was nevertheless strong on NO COLLUSION and, ultimately, NO OBSTRUCTION,” the president said on Twitter following Amash’s determination that, based on the report, the president had obstructed justice.
Later, Trump also cited speculation that Amash was falling behind in his district. Amash would have faced a strong field of GOP candidates in the solidly Republican district had he chosen to run.
But despite the backlash, the congressman remains outspoken about his opposition to America’s two-party political system. He said many of the federal government’s problems are symptoms of a greater issue. Politicians in the national spotlight used to focus on legislation, he said, but now prioritize the media’s perception of their party.
“The actual process of legislating is all but forgotten,” Amash said. “The most important part of the process is not that the law is passed, but that everyone was brought into the process. If [a bill] had technical problems, we could go back to the drawing board to amend it.”
He also said the two presidential candidates haven’t emphasized the role of Congress and adhering to the laws it has passed.
“If (Joe) Biden wants to win people over, he should be saying he won’t abuse his authority or write laws on his own,” Amash said.
Amash said Biden should say “he will follow the laws Congress has written, but he’s not focused on that, and Donald Trump is certainly not focused on that. These are the symptoms of the underlying problem: the two-party system’s dysfunction and that the process is not followed.”
James Wallner is a political expert from R Street, a conservative and libertarian think tank. He said because the quality of legislation is determined by the voters, trying to increase voter engagement – and supporting political candidates who want change – is a viable strategy to change Congress.
“If the process isn’t working, and the current members won’t fix it, the only solution is to get the current membership of Congress to change its behavior or to [elect] new members who will act differently,” Wallner said in an email.
Amash wants to take his message about the need for new approaches in Washington and teach young people how they can change politics.
“You have to convince young people to value open-mindedness, independence and critical thinking to change culture over time,” Amash said. “I want young people to focus on the process and think about who’s going to address the structure of government.”
Christian Fong, assistant professor of political science at the University of Michigan, admires Amash’s approach to appealing to young voters on social media and through his ideology. While Amash has not publicly shared what’s next in his political career, Fong predicts he could be successful at a think tank, in a classroom or on talk shows.
“I could imagine him teaching, he’d make a fantastic university lecturer as he has a lot of interesting perspectives to share,” Fong said. “He could do that at a university level or teach at a high school, which is where you can really get people while they’re still at a very formative age and figuring out their political identities.”
Because Amash is younger than most members of Congress, Fong said he could have a career for 10 to 15 years and still return to politics — depending on how the parties evolve over time.
Amash said being a child of immigrants is what continues to drive his career in public service. He still thinks America is a “welcoming and beautiful place” and wants to preserve that sentiment for future generations.
“My dad, having come here at 16 as a refugee, was given the opportunity to start a new life,” Amash said. “I’m confident there’s basically no other place in the world where he could have gone and had the kind of success he’s had.”
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