John Edward James (born June 8, 1981[1]) is an American politician, businessman, and former military officer serving as the U.S. representative from Michigan's 10th congressional district since 2023.

James was born in Southfield, Michigan, in 1981 and grew up Baptist[5] in the Palmer Woods neighborhood of Detroit.

[6] He graduated from the United States Military Academy (West Point) in 2004,[6][7] and served eight years in the Army, participating in multiple tours of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom as an AH-64 Apache pilot.

[15][7] Renaissance Global, based in Detroit, was the recipient of a $1–2 million Paycheck Protection Program loan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite musician and Michigan native Kid Rock publicly toying with the idea of running for the seat for months, the primary came down to James and Grosse Pointe businessman and former Wayne County commissioner Sandy Pensler.

[20] James was endorsed via Twitter by President Donald Trump on July 27, 2018, eleven days before the primary.

[23] In late November 2018, Bloomberg News reported that Trump was considering nominating James to become the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, to replace Ambassador Nikki Haley, who previously announced that she was planning to leave the Trump administration by the end of 2018.

[26] After Nauert's withdrawal, Trump again considered James for the ambassadorship,[27] but eventually nominated United States ambassador to Canada Kelly Knight Craft for the post.

"[44] He emphasized his desire to defund Planned Parenthood[44] and compared Roe v. Wade, the United States Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, to "genocide.

[46] James says he wants to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which he has called "a monstrosity.

"[47] According to The Detroit Free Press, James was careful not to take a position on the Trump administration's lawsuit seeking to immediately strike down the entire ACA as unconstitutional.

"[54] In a leaked audio recording of a meeting with African American leaders in Michigan, James was asked why he hadn't publicly criticized Trump.

[44] During his 2020 campaign, James declined to take specific positions on a number of policy questions, including how the Social Security Trust Fund would be protected from the impact of a payroll tax cut, whether the Senate should vote to confirm a new Supreme Court justice to fill the vacancy created by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg before or after the 2020 presidential election, and whether he thinks military bases named for Confederate generals should be renamed.