Daniel Alan Webster (born April 27, 1949) is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 11th congressional district since 2017.

After receiving his engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Webster worked in the family air conditioning and heating business he now owns and operates.

[2] He attended the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he was student government chaplain from 1970 to 1971 and a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

[6] Upon graduation, Webster's Vietnam War student deferment expired, and he became eligible for conscription into the U.S. military, but was not drafted because he failed the physical exam due to lifelong foot problems that prevent him from standing for long periods.

[7] Since college, Webster has worked in the family air conditioning and heating business; he presently owns and operates it.

[9][citation needed][failed verification] Webster said he and his wife faced health issues in 2021, which forced him to miss some votes.

He had been working on a project with his church to convert a residential house into a place for Sunday school to be conducted.

Seeking to rectify what he thought was an injustice, Webster ran for public office after finding no politician who shared his displeasure with local and statewide government.

[15][16] After defeating Batchelor in 1984, Webster never had another opponent in the State House of Representatives and was reelected unopposed every two years.

[6] Webster's first bill to become law was the 1985 Home Education Program Act, which legalized homeschooling in Florida.

[19][20][21] He also sponsored 1998 legislation to improve and streamline pre-kindergarten education and provide training for parents who homeschooled their children.

[2] In addition, the largest committee room in the Florida House was named "Speaker Daniel Webster Hall" in his honor in 2008.

[27] In 2008, Webster sponsored SB 2400 in the Florida Senate, requiring that all women planning to undergo an abortion receive an ultrasound, but giving them a choice of whether to see the live images of the fetus.

"[32] Webster was a central figure in the Terri Schiavo case, which involved a dispute between relatives on whether to remove the feeding tube of an unconscious woman who had been in a persistent vegetative state for years.

[35] His name recognition and an endorsement from former Governor of Florida Jeb Bush quickly made him the front-runner.

[37] On August 24, 2010, Webster defeated six other candidates in the Republican primary, winning nomination with 40% of the vote, to the runner-up's 23%.

[32] In July 2010, Webster signed a pledge sponsored by Americans for Prosperity promising to "oppose legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue.

[44] Due to a series of court-ordered re-drawings that made the 10th substantially more Democratic, Webster announced he would run in the 11th district instead.

He opted to maintain his residence in Clermont, within the borders of the 10th; members of Congress are required only to live in the state they wish to represent.

No Republican candidates opposed Webster, so he advanced to the general election, again defeating Cottrell by a similar margin (67%–33%).

For the 118th Congress:[52] Webster briefly ran for the United States Senate in 2004 when he attempted to collect the 93,000 signatures necessary to place his name on the ballot without paying the filing fee.

Webster claimed that he sought to be the first Senate candidate to ever qualify by this method as a symbolic gesture and a way to build an early network of voters.

[61] Webster has an "A" rating from the NRA, generally indicating a voting record that supports gun rights.

He says the 2017 act "allows Americans to keep more money in their pockets, ends lobbyist loopholes and special-interest exemptions, and makes everyone play by the same rules."

[66] In December 2020, Webster was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated[67] incumbent Donald Trump.

The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.

[68][69][70] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement that called signing the amicus brief an act of "election subversion."

"[71][72] New Jersey Representative Bill Pascrell, citing section three of the 14th Amendment, called for Pelosi to not seat Webster and the other Republicans who signed the brief supporting the suit, arguing that "the text of the 14th Amendment expressly forbids Members of Congress from engaging in rebellion against the United States.

"[73] Webster did not cast a vote regarding the second impeachment of Donald Trump on January 13, 2021, due to a "family medical obligation".

[2] The Websters home-schooled their children using the curriculum of the Advanced Training Institute, founded by Bill Gothard.