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Jim Risch

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U.S. Senator

The Resume

    (May 3, 1943- )
    Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Lieutenant Governor of Idaho (2003-06, 2007-09)
    Governor of Idaho (2006-07)
    US Senator from Idaho (assumed office January 3, 2009)
    Republican

Why he might be annoying:

    He was one of eight Senators to vote against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (2013).
    He voted against blocking the sale of guns to people on the terrorist watch list (2016).
    He threatened to hold up a spending bill needed to prevent a government shutdown because of a provision renaming a National Wilderness Area after a political rival, former Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus (2018).
    He said that people who do not support Donald Trump are 'naive.'
    He responded to bipartisan criticism of Trump's indifference to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi by falsely announcing that the administration had complied with federal law (the Magnitsky Act) by sending a report determining who was responsible for the killing to Congress. (In reality, an administration had announced that they would ignore Congressional demands for such a report.)
    He was the first Senator to fall asleep during Trump's first impeachment trial, nodding off during the opening arguments (January 21, 2020).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He has been married to Vicki Risch for over 50 years.
    While serving as a prosecuting attorney, he also taught criminal justice at Boise State College.
    He supports geothermal power.
    He did not pretend there was a principle behind Republican Senators' refusal to hold confirmation hearings for Merrick Garland: 'You say, 'Yeah, but that's political.' Well, duh.'
    He criticized Tucker Carlson's pro-Putin rhetoric during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying 'We side always with countries that are democracies.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 18 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 40 Votes: 35.00% Annoying