He has been serving as Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Schoof cabinet since July 2024 on behalf of New Social Contract (NSC).

In 1995, he obtained his PhD degree in mathematics and physics from Utrecht University with a thesis entitled The magnetic form factor of the neutron.

[4] On 2 December 2015, he became member of the House of Representatives, when he replaced former party leader Arie Slob who had resigned as a parliamentarian.

[2] Bruins opposed the opening of an expanded Lelystad Airport, and he advocated for the reintroduction of a basic grant for students.

[2][7] In 2023, following the resignation of then party leader Gert-Jan Segers as a parliamentarian, a seat in Parliament was proposed to Bruins, who declined to return.

Bruins headed the committee that determined the party list of the Christian Union in the November 2023 general election.

[7] After the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB formed the Schoof cabinet, Bruins was sworn in as Minister of Education, Culture and Science on 2 July 2024, succeeding Robbert Dijkgraaf.

[2][11] The Schoof cabinet's governing agreement prioritized reading, writing, and arithmetic abilities, as well as addressing the teacher shortage.

The coalition agreement included a plan to terminate 1,200 recently created academic positions, but this measure was replaced in the budget proposal by the elimination of research grants.

The bill would limit the proportion of English-taught content to one third within each bachelor's degree program, with the remainder to be taught in Dutch.