Scott William Taylor (born June 27, 1979) is an American politician and former Navy SEAL who served as the United States representative for Virginia's 2nd congressional district from 2017 to 2019.

[9] In 2012, Taylor founded and served as chairman for the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund, a 501(c) Political Action Committee formed in 2012 accusing the Obama Administration of security leaks and taking too much credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011.

[16] In 2016, after the incumbent Scott Rigell, a Republican, announced he would not seek re-election, Taylor won the Republican Party nomination for Virginia's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, defeating Randy Forbes in the primary,[17][18] then defeated Democrat Shaun Brown, 61.3% to 38.5%, to win the general election on November 8, 2016.

"[27] A Freedom of Information Act request made by WHRO-TV found that four paid workers on Taylor's campaign had collected signatures to put Shaun Brown on the ballot as an independent candidate in the 2nd district race.

[31] The special prosecutor found no evidence of wrongdoing on Taylor's part, but said that "what actually happened within the campaign headquarters is still a subject of investigation due primarily to the lack of cooperation of key individuals.

[1] On July 8, 2019, Taylor announced that he was running for the United States Senate against two-term incumbent Mark Warner in the 2020 election.

He accused Warner of moving away from centrist pro-business policies that he embraced as governor and focusing too heavily on fostering the "illusion" that Donald Trump colluded with Russia.

[40] In April 2018, Taylor praised President Trump for the "measured" and "calculated" military action carried out under his direction in Syria in conjunction with the French and British.

Taylor said that he was "torn" in regard to taking international military action, but in the case of Syria he felt that Trump "listened to his advisers".

Heterosexual relationships are not permitted to take place while our men and women serve their country, so I believe this to be a completely political move.

"[4] In March 2017, the first bill Taylor introduced as a congressman was to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity when renting or selling housing.

[44] Taylor supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries.

He stated that "While I do not agree with some of the rhetoric, taking a pause, figuring out if we are properly vetting people, and making changes if necessary to continue our American principles is prudent and needed.

[40] During Taylor's unsuccessful congressional primary campaign in 2010, he voiced support for offshore oil drilling along Virginia's coast.

He came under criticism for this from his 2018 Democratic challenger, Elaine Luria, who argued that most of the benefits of the bill went to the wealthiest people, and that 98% of families only saw an average tax cut of $688.

[53] He published a book in February 2015, Trust Betrayed: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and The Selling Out of America's National Security.

[54] In his book, he criticized Vice President Joe Biden for revealing that it was SEAL Team Six that killed Osama bin Laden.

He blamed the poor diplomatic security that led to the Benghazi fiasco on the Obama administration's desire for a "light footprint" in Libya, which he argues was caused by a foreign-policy doctrine that placed U.S. interests underneath partisan politics.