Rob Portman

Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American lawyer and the junior United States Senator from Ohio, in office since 2011. Previously he served as a congressman, as the 14th United States Trade Representative, and as the 35th Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Portman graduated from Dartmouth College and the University of Michigan Law School. He worked briefly in the White House during the George H. W. Bush administration before entering the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the eastern half of Greater Cincinnati and neighboring counties along the Ohio River, and serving six consecutive terms. Portman resigned from Congress to serve as U.S. Trade Representative from May 2005 to May 2006. As Trade Representative, Portman is cited for initiating worldwide trade agreements between other countries and the United States, and pursuing claims against China and the European Union at the World Trade Organization. He later served in the George W. Bush administration from May 2006 to June 2007 as Director of the Office of Management and Budget, where he advocated a balanced budget. Portman is married and has three children. A center-right member of the Republican Party, Portman was elected U.S. Senator in 2010. He has been listed as a possible Republican vice presidential candidate in the past two presidential elections. In the Senate, Portman was a member of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. Throughout his time in Congress, the Cabinet, and the Senate, Portman has visited over thirty countries, including Israel, China, and Iraq. In 2013, Portman became the first incumbent statewide or national-level Republican to publicly support legal recognition of same-sex marriage since Lincoln Chafee in 2004.