John Allan Yarmuth (/ˈjɑːrmɪθ/ YAR-mith; born November 4, 1947) is a retired American politician and newspaper editor who served as the U.S. representative for Kentucky's 3rd congressional district from 2007 to 2023.

He left the party during Ronald Reagan's presidency, saying, "I saw this unmistakable move away from moderation when he started hosting Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and catering to the religious right".

[6] In 1990, Yarmuth founded the Louisville Eccentric Observer (LEO), a weekly newspaper for which he wrote a generally liberal political column that usually ran on page one.

Yarmuth remained on board as a columnist and consultant until January 2006, when he put his column on hiatus to run for Congress.

[7] On October 20, a Courier-Journal article stated that a WHAS11/SurveyUSA poll revealed the race had tightened dramatically, with Yarmuth leading Northup 48% to 47%.

[9] On October 26, Yarmuth told Courier-Journal reporter Kay Stewart that he would donate his congressional salary—which would be $168,500 in 2007—to local charity.

[citation needed] At a September 2009 town hall meeting, constituents were unhappy with Yarmuth's decision to support the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

"[28] In 2011, Yarmuth and Walter Jones introduced a bill to overturn key parts of the controversial court case Citizens United v. FEC.

The legislation would also give Congress the power to enact mandatory public financing for Congressional candidates and create a national holiday for voting purposes.

[29] In 2011, Yarmuth voted against the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 due to a controversial provision that allows the government and the military to indefinitely detain American citizens and others without trial.

[32][33] In 2015, Yarmuth once again made an attempt at removing "dark money" from the political sphere by proposing HR 2125, the Keeping our Campaigns Honest Act of 2015.

[36] For his tenure as the chairman of the House Budget Committee in the 116th Congress, Yarmuth earned an "A" grade from the nonpartisan Lugar Center's Congressional Oversight Hearing Index.

[37] In 2021, Yarmuth introduced to the House the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, President Joe Biden's first major piece of legislation.

Colbert called Yarmuth a real-life Bruce Wayne, and presented him with a framed print of his congressional photo with a Batman mask photoshopped over his face.

[59] Yarmuth has served on many boards, including the Bingham Child Guidance Center and Kentucky Country Day School.

[citation needed] Aaron was the owner of the Louisville Eccentric Observer, and along with a group of local investors purchased the publication in 2012.