Roy Dean Blunt[1] (born January 10, 1950) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from Missouri from 2011 to 2023.

Blunt, the Greene County Clerk, decided to run for the open seat and won the Republican primary, but lost the general election to State Representative Ken Rothman 56%–44%.

[16] In 1984, after incumbent Democratic Missouri Secretary of State James Kirkpatrick decided to retire, Blunt ran for the position and won the Republican primary with 79% of the vote.

[29] In August 2009, Blunt stated in two separate newspaper interviews that, because he was 59 years old, "In either Canada or Great Britain, if I broke my hip, I couldn't get it replaced."

He stated he had heard the statement in Congressional testimony by "some people who are supposed to be experts on Canadian health care.

[34] In 2005, Blunt supported President George W. Bush's proposal to partially privatize Social Security for those under the age of 55.

[36] Blunt served as Majority Leader on an acting basis starting in September 2005, after DeLay was indicted on felony charges involving campaign finance.

[46] While Blunt observed the deliberations over the objection to counting Arizona's votes, led by Ted Cruz, the Capitol was breached.

"[50] As master of ceremonies for the inauguration of Joe Biden as president, Blunt delivered a short speech expounding the Constitution's Preamble, noting that unlike the Articles of Confederation or the Magna Carta, it roots and establishes law and authority in "We the People".

[52] In 2013, Blunt worked with Monsanto to author a rider called the Farmer Assurance Provision,[53][54] which was added into the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013.

[58] According to progressive news magazine The Nation, the rider "curtailed already weak oversight over the handful of agro-giants that control the GMO market by allowing crops that a judge ruled were not properly approved to continue to be planted.

[62] In 2022, after the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, Blunt said that Trump "should have turned over all the documents" to the National Archives when he left office.

If signed into law, the bill would create a special fund to pay for infrastructure projects across the United States, according to Ripon Advance.

In 2015, he voted against a nonbinding Senate resolution stating that "climate change is real and caused by human activity and that Congress needs to take action to cut carbon pollution.

[70] According to The Springfield News-Leader, "Blunt has railed against the Obama administration's proposed rules to combat global warming, which could deal a blow to Missouri's coal-fired power plants.

"[69] In 2015, Blunt sponsored an unsuccessful amendment which "called on the Senate to nullify a climate change agreement in November between the United States and China in which both nations pledged to reduce their carbon emissions.

"[71] Blunt has worked to protect the coal industry and co-sponsored an amendment to urge President Obama to consult with the Senate before ratifying the Paris climate agreements.

[69] Citing his support for agriculture and energy production, Blunt "has aggressively pushed to block a rule that would allow the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate some streams, wetlands and other waters.

[81][82] In April 2013, Blunt was one of forty-six senators to vote against the passing of a bill which would have expanded background checks for all gun buyers.

The second bill, proposed by Chuck Grassley, would have expanded background checks and made it illegal for individuals with certain mental health disorders to purchase guns.

[85] In response to the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, Blunt said he was "saddened by the tragic loss of life" and offered his thoughts to the victims.

[86] In 2022, Blunt later became one of ten Republican Senators to support a bipartisan agreement on gun control, which involved a red flag provision, a support for state crisis intervention orders, funding for school safety resources, stronger background checks for buyers under the age of 21, and penalties for straw purchases.

[87] As a result of Blunt supporting the Safer Communities Act hunter safety and school archery programs have come under attack by the Department of Education.

[88] The Wall Street Journal reported in February 2012 that "Blunt introduced an amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that would allow an employer to deny health services if they conflict with their 'religious beliefs or moral convictions'.

"[90] In 2012, Blunt attempted to add an amendment to a highway funding bill that would allow employers to refuse to provide health insurance for birth control and contraceptives.

In an interview on MSNBC, he expressed his opinion that Obamacare is "destined to fail", but that raising the debt ceiling should not be "held hostage" to "any specific thing".

[citation needed] Blunt supported Trump's Supreme Court nominees, Brett Kavanaugh,[95] Neil Gorsuch,[96] and Amy Coney Barrett.

[97][98] In September 2020, less than two months before the next presidential election, Blunt supported an immediate Senate vote on Trump's nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy caused by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death.

"[99] Blunt supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail Muslim immigration until better screening methods are devised.

[108] The St. Louis Post-Dispatch published an editorial criticizing Blunt and Senator Josh Hawley for not distancing themselves from the January 6 United States Capitol attack and their continued support for Trump.