Vernon Gale Buchanan (/bjuːˈkænən/ bew-KAN-ən; born May 8, 1951)[1] is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 16th congressional district since 2013.

A member of the Republican Party, he first entered Congress in 2007, representing Florida's 13th congressional district until redistricting.

[2] Buchanan is the only Republican member from Florida on the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, international trade, health care and Social Security.

Buchanan grew up in Inkster, Michigan, a small town outside Detroit, the son of a factory foreman in a family of six children.

[citation needed] In his June 2007 financial disclosure filing, Buchanan reported over $100 million in assets, making him among the five wealthiest members of Congress.

[6] In May 1976, Buchanan convinced the owner of a Michigan printing company, Jim McDonald, that he could help the business grow.

After filing for bankruptcy, he was accused by a creditors' committee of taking excessive compensation and actions that resulted in overstated earnings for American Speedy Printing.

A dispute with the Internal Revenue Service over taxes on the money Buchanan received from Merrill Lynch stretched through the 1990s.

Buchanan, his business partner, and Merrill Lynch were sued for violating the Michigan Corporation Act.

In the November general election, Buchanan faced Democrat Christine Jennings, a banking executive.

[13] On November 20, 2006, the Florida Department of State certified the results of the recount, which showed Buchanan winning by 369 votes.

Jennings challenged the results of the election in court, citing "pervasive malfunctioning of electronic voting machines.

The U.S. House of Representatives had the right to make the final determination as to whether Buchanan would hold the seat for the remainder of the term or be replaced by Jennings.

[20] In early May, the task force voted along party lines to refer an investigation into Florida's 13th district House race to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

[21] On February 25, 2008, the committee and the House accepted the GAO's findings that no machine error was demonstrated as sufficient to have altered the outcome of the election.

"[30] In 2008, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint alleging "straw donors" to Buchanan's campaign (campaign contributions from Buchanan's employees for which they were then reimbursed); in 2011, CREW requested a U.S. Department of Justice investigation.

[32] By 2012, Buchanan was being investigated by the House Ethics Committee, the FEC, the Justice Department, and the Office of Congressional Ethics over two separate allegations of campaign finance misconduct: that he had violated federal law and House rules by coercing a former business partner to sign a false affidavit to the FEC, and that he had illegally reimbursed car-dealership employees for campaign contributions.

[36][37] In 2016, after a four-year inquiry, the House Ethics Committee ended its investigation, finding "insufficient evidence" of wrongdoing on Buchanan's part.

"[41] On June 23, 2016, the House Ethics Committee released this statement, concluding its investigation into Buchanan: "Because the evidence is insufficient to conclude that Representative Buchanan himself was aware of the unlawful reimbursements at the time they occurred, or had any role in directing or approving of them, and the evidence is insufficient to find that Representative Buchanan attempted to improperly influence the testimony of Mr. Kazran before the FEC, the Committee has determined to take no further action in this matter, and upon publication of this Report, considers the matter closed.

[43][44] Buchanan introduced a constitutional amendment in January 2007 that would require Congress to pass a balanced budget if ratified.

[46][47] He also introduced a bill to increase federal assistance for fighting gang crime and secured grant funding for local anti-gang efforts in Manatee County.

[55] In January 2011, Buchanan helped secure the construction of Sarasota National Cemetery through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The amendment, approved by a largely party-line vote of 246–173, would "require all foreign terrorism suspects to be tried only in military tribunals and never in civilian courts.

"[57] In October 2011, Buchanan "played a large role" in the passage of free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

"[59] In February 2012, Buchanan supported President Obama's proposal to lower the corporate tax rate from 35% to 28%.

The bill also includes a measure, created by Buchanan, to provide tax relief to citrus growers impacted by Hurricane Irma.

[70] Buchanan supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to bar entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries and also supported Trump's executive order to bar federal funding to so-called sanctuary cities, saying "LONG OVERDUE ... Time to protect Americans.

[74] Buchanan characterizes himself as "a strong defender of the Second Amendment, a Life Member of the NRA, and a gun owner and hunter.

"[80] After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Giffords, an organization helmed by Gabby Giffords, announced that Buchanan was on its "incumbent-defeat priority list" in response to the organization's perception that Republican Congress members are blocking efforts to reduce gun violence.

[81] In March 2021, Buchanan was one of eight Republicans to join the House majority in passing the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021.