William Joseph Posey (/ˈpoʊzi/ POH-zee; born December 18, 1947) is an American businessman and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 8th congressional district from 2009 to 2025.

His mother's family immigrated from Russia and is of Jewish heritage and his father is a Protestant of primarily English ancestry.

[1] Posey moved to Florida in 1956 when his father took a job in engineering with McDonnell Douglas, working on the Delta rocket.

"[17] Posey said his motivation was to "prevent something like this from happening in the future" by requiring "the birth certificate up front and take [the issue] off the table".

His initiative was strongly criticized by Florida Democrats, who accused him of trying to "fan the rumors on the extreme fringe of the Republican Party" and "pandering to the right wing".

[20] In 2016, Posey sponsored legislation to reauthorize and reprioritize funding to clean up America's estuaries signed into law by President Obama.

[24] Posey said, "I don't think anybody disputes that the Earth is getting warmer; I think what's not clear is the exact amount of who caused what, and getting to that is, I think, where we're trying to go with this committee.

[25][26] Posey was among 19 House Republicans to vote against the final passage of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.

[35] After the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, Posey expressed support for legislation that would ban bump stocks.

[36] Posey supported repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), calling it a "fiasco" that "was passed under a lot of misrepresentation.

The bill would also eliminate the Optional Practical Training program that allows foreign graduates to stay and work in the United States.