[1] In December 2020, Hern signed 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.

The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution.

During the October 2023 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election Hern initially announced he would seek the nomination, before withdrawing from the race against Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan.

Born on an Air Force base in western Missouri, Hern moved to Pope County with his mother, Freda Flansburg,[5] and younger brother after his parents separated.

[6] He graduated from Dover High School in 1980 and Arkansas Tech University in 1986 before working at Rockwell International while pursuing a PhD in astronautical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

[12] In addition to his restaurant holdings, Hern started a number of other business enterprises in Oklahoma, including a hog farm, a community bank, and several high-school sports publications.

The loan was seen as notable since Hern is a vocal opponent of deficit spending; in 2018, discussing a balanced budget, he said, "While there is no easy fix to this, the first step is clear: stop adding to it."

[18][19] After Jim Bridenstine resigned from the United States House of Representatives in 2018 to become administrator of NASA, Hern ran to succeed him in Oklahoma's 1st congressional district in the 2018 elections.

[24][25] Hern defeated Democratic nominee Kojo Asamoa-Caesar and Independent Evelyn L. Rogers in the November 2020 general election.

[26] Hern ran for a third term in 2022, despite speculation that he might run for the open Senate seat being vacated by Jim Inhofe.

[27] Hern defeated Democratic nominee Adam Martin and Independent Evelyn L. Rogers in the November general election.

[31][32] In December 2020, Hern 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 prevailed[33] over 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.

[1] In 2022, Hern was one of 39 Republicans to vote for the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.

[45] On October 4, 2023, Hern announced his campaign for Speaker of the United States House of Representatives after McCarthy was removed by a motion to vacate.

[56] During his political career Hern has positioned himself as close to Donald Trump and emphasized his own business experience.