Josh Gottheimer

Gottheimer is a native of North Caldwell, and he currently resides in Tenafly. He is Jewish and a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. He married Marla Tusk in 2006. They have two children.

Social issues

Abortion

Gottheimer has been vocal for abortion rights, legislatively voting for Women's Health Protection Act, Ensuring Access to Abortion Act; voting against Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act; introducing Freedom to Decide Act; and cosponsoring Stop Anti-abortion Disinformation Act. Gottheimer condemned the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, stating, "We must always oppose any attempt...[to] stand between a woman, her doctor, and her faith, when making personal health care decisions..."

LGBTQ rights

Gottheimer supports same-sex marriage, saying, "I think that people should be able to love and marry whomever they want." Legislatively, Gottheimer voted for the Respect for Marriage Act and introduced the Freedom from Discrimination in Credit Act (which passed under the Equality Act) and the Elder Pride Protection Act.

Gun control

Gottheimer supports gun control measures like red flag laws and raising the age to purchase a semi-automatic rifle. Gottheimer has asked House Republicans to help pass multiple gun laws, saying there was "no reason" not to pass the laws. Gottheimer voted for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act; voted against the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act; introduced the ALYSSA act, which required silent panic alarms in schools and increased investment in School Resource Officers; and helped to pass a renewal of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban.

Drugs

In 2019, Gottheimer stated his opposition to the legalization of recreational marijuana. The statement came after he voted for a bill that would end the federal penalization of banks that serve the cannabis industry.

On December 4, 2020, Gottheimer voted for the MORE Act, which, "...removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances...and eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana". The bill passed in the House but did not advance in the Senate. After the bill was reintroduced, Gottheimer voted for it again on April 1, 2022; this time the bill included an amendment that he proposed, which allocated $10 million to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to perform a study on how to test drivers for marijuana impairment.

Food

On May 22, 2023, Gottheimer wrote to the Department of Agriculture, suggesting it revise expiration-date guidelines to reduce food waste. Gottheimer simultaneously supported the Food Date Labeling Act to "establish an easy-to-understand, uniform food date labeling system" that would also "allow food to be sold or donated after a 'best if used by' date," in order to support food pantries and the needy.

In July 2024, Gottheimer joined New Jersey state senators Brian Stack and Nicholas Scutari to promote the federal Stop SCAMS Act, a bill he introduced to protect food assistance beneficiaries from scammers. The senators, noting that such scams had affected 6,200 New Jerseyans over the past two years, announced corresponding state-level legislation — both bills mandating the modernization of benefit EBT cards by replacing magnetic strips with EMV.

Immigration

In March 2019, Gottheimer co-sponsored the Dream and Promise Act of 2019, joining, one week after the bill was introduced, more than 200 other congresspeople in doing so. According to The Record, the bill would have granted, "...permanent legal protection to more than 2 million undocumented immigrants," including Dreamers and those with temporarily protected status and DED protections. Speaking retrospectively in 2023, Gottheimer criticized the House Speaker's ability to unilaterally block a vote on any bill (arguing it "paralyzed" bipartisan progress), in part because, "That's what killed the immigration bill in 2019...[which] would have provided a path to citizenship for Dreamers," as, ultimately, "We had 300 co-sponsors but...Paul Ryan would not bring it to the floor".

In June 2019, Gottheimer supported a $4.6 billion emergency border aid package, which provided $1 billion for migrant shelter and food and $3 billion for childcare, because he did not want to "let the perfect be the enemy of the good". The bill especially angered progressives, in part because it set aside $280 million for ICE and $1 billion for Customs and Border Protection, resulting in 95 Democratic representatives voting against it.

In October 2023, Gottheimer backed a bill by Sen. Lindsey Graham that packaged together funds for increased domestic border security with funds for military assistance to Ukraine in its defense against Russia; Congress ended its session in December 2023 without voting on it. In February 2024, Gottheimer then co-sponsored Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick's Defending Borders, Defending Democracies Act, which would have reinstated President Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy and blocked the use of federal funds to transfer migrants "unless it is for adjudicating their immigration case."

In January 2025, Gottheimer voted for the Laken Riley Act (after it was amended by the Senate; he was absent for the original House vote); he was one of 46 House Democrats, and the only Democrat from New Jersey, to join all House Republicans in supporting the bill. He later expressed reservations at the idea of the government "go[ing] into churches and schools to round up innocent people". Gottheimer later declined to comment when asked about the bill applying to non-violent offenses and targeting migrants accused but not convicted of crimes.

In January 2026, following a surge of ICE agents in Minneapolis and the killings of Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, Gottheimer voted against a bill which would have funded the Department of Homeland Security, remarking "What we’re seeing in Minnesota is deeply disturbing. I believe in keeping out gang members, criminals and terrorists, but we certainly don’t need inadequately trained ICE agents, with zero guardrails, roaming the streets and Home Depots acting like vigilantes," and expressing hope for a future bill that included "accountability measures." On January 28, Gottheimer announced the ICE Standards Act, which would standardize initial and annual training for agents, require agents to prioritize de-escalation and risk minimization, mandate the use of body and dashboard cameras, and restrict enforcement at sensitive locations like schools or voting sites unless exigent circumstances exist. On February 3, Gottheimer voted for an appropriations bill that temporarily funded the DHS without any reforms to ICE. He was one of 21 Democrats and the only Democrat from New Jersey to join House Republicans in passing the bill.

In May 2026, protests erupted around the Delaney Hall immigrant detention center in Newark following detainees having launched a hunger and labor strike to call attention to the facility's conditions. In late May, Gottheimer along with minority leader Hakeem Jeffries and Reps. LaMonica McIver and Rob Menendez attended the facility for an oversight visit. In June 2026, Gottheimer praised Gov. Mikie Sherrill's decision to deploy state police to manage protestors, calling it "decisive action to protect the community from out-of-state, lawless protestors at Delaney Hall Detention Facility" and arguing that protestors crossed the line from peaceful demonstration into unlawful conduct. Other Democratic politicians, including Newark mayor Ras Baraka, criticized Sherril's response as unnecessary and escalatory.

Congestion pricing

Gottheimer has staunchly opposed congestion pricing in New York City, one of the most polluted and congested areas in the world. Gottheimer's rationales for opposing congestion pricing have been that the revenue is not directed to the PATH rail system or New Jersey Transit, that most opinions offered in the MTA's virtual hearings were by his analysis opposed to congestion pricing, or that increased emissions near the George Washington Bridge would cause cancer in New Jersey children.

Several times, Gottheimer introduced legislation, with either Rep. Jeff Van Drew or Rep. Mike Lawler, to withhold funding to New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority unless the pricing scheme introduced exemptions for drivers from New Jersey or from portions of New York City outside Manhattan.

In January 2024, Gottheimer produced a study estimating that the congestion pricing plan (as approved by the MTA) would generate $3.4 billion in revenue per year, exceeding New York City's $1 billion target; the study also projected that the plan would still raise about $1.5 billion yearly even if every eligible crossing from New Jersey into Manhattan was excluded. Gottheimer, furthermore, warned that the Port Authority could lose around $83 million in tolls collected per year from a decrease in Lincoln and Holland Tunnel crossings. Gottheimer ultimately argued these findings demonstrated that New Jersey crossings ought to be exempted from (what he called) the "congestion tax". John J. McCarthy, the MTA chief of policy and external relations, said of Gottheimer, "here he is again with yet another publicity stunt fighting for the status quo".

In April 2024, as the plan was set to begin on June 15, the MTA announced that New Jersey (especially Bergen and Hudson counties) would receive a cut of the funds generated from congestion pricing; Gottheimer rebuked the new measure as insufficient. The following week, Gottheimer visited the MTA headquarters to demand, unsuccessfully, that the agency provide financial documents that justified the congestion pricing fee; joined Rep. Nicole Malliotakis to introduce bipartisan legislation that would block the congestion pricing plan from taking effect; and wrote to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, requesting that they arrange a hearing on the MTA's plan and subpoena MTA CEO Janno Lieber to appear. In May 2024, Gottheimer and Rep. Anthony D’Esposito introduced legislation that, unless the congestion pricing plan was terminated, would bar Lieber from using federal funds to pay for work-related travel by car, which was to be exempt from congestion tolls; Gottheimer described the MTA funding car travel, in light of its support for congestion pricing, as a "for thee and not for me" attitude, saying that "Lieber seems to think he's above it all."

When New York Governor Kathy Hochul indefinitely paused Manhattan congestion pricing in June 2024, Gottheimer celebrated. Hochul resumed the implementation in January 2025, leading to a feud with the Trump administration; Gottheimer called the tolls "outrageous".

Law enforcement

Gottheimer cosponsored the Public Safety Officer Pandemic Response Act of 2020, voted for the Thin Blue Line Act, and supported the Never Forget the Heroes Act.

In January 2022, Gottheimer introduced the Invest to Protect Act, which aimed to provide $200 million in funds over five years to smaller police departments. The spending would be targeted at provisions such as officer safety and de-escalation training, body cameras, recruitment and retention, and mental health resources. Gottheimer led efforts to more quickly bring the bill to a vote (such as trying to package it with a July assault weapons ban); CNN linked Gottheimer's push to crime and policing being an election issue and, therefore, vulnerable Democrats hoping to pass police-funding legislation before the 2022 midterms. The Invest to Protect Act passed the House in September 2022 but failed to advance further than a unanimous consent passage in the Senate. In May 2023, Gottheimer reintroduced the bill in the 118th Congress.

In June 2024, Gottheimer announced an amendment to the package funding the Department of Homeland Security through 2025 that would set aside $620 million for additional security at the 2026 World Cup games—eight matches of which, including the final, would be held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. The funds would pay for increased fire, medical, and law enforcement personnel locally and at affected transit facilities.

Climate change

In September 2022, Gottheimer touted that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 (which he helped develop and push through Congress) and Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (which he voted for) were "seismic progress" in fighting climate change. Gottheimer argued that the infrastructure bill funded environmental projects such coastal resiliency, ecosystem repairs, and electric-vehicle infrastructure, while the Inflation Reduction Act provided "serious long-term investments in alternative energy" and incentives for states, communities, and individuals to "rethink how they approach energy."

Artificial intelligence

In February 2025, Gottheimer and Rep. Darin LaHood introduced a bill that would ban DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence app, from federal government devices.

In his 2025 bid to be the Democratic nominee for governor of New Jersey, Gottheimer released a campaign ad that used AI to portray the congressman as a shirtless boxer sparring with Donald Trump in a boxing ring.

In August 2025, Gottheimer introduced the Unleashing AI Innovation in Financial Services Act, which "would direct the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other federal financial agencies to create in-house AI innovation labs," that would act as sandboxes to test AI projects "without unnecessary or unduly burdensome regulation or expectation of enforcement actions."

In December 2025, Gottheimer, Rep. Ted Lieu, and Rep. Valerie Foushee were chosen by leadership to chair the House Democratic Commission on AI and the Innovation Economy, which aimed to "work with AI companies, stakeholders and congressional committees that oversee aspects of the sector to help develop policy expertise." Sludge criticized Gottheimer and the committee leadership as having "[deep] ties to Big Tech and AI, from holding millions of dollars in tech stock to the contributions they’ve raised for their campaigns and the Republican-backed deregulation bills they've signed onto."

In February 2026, Gottheimer introduced The AI Workforce Training Act, which would create a federal tax credit for companies that train their employees in AI skills. Businesses could claim a credit for 30% of AI training expenses, up to $2,500 per employee per year.

In the lead up to the 2026 midterm elections, Anthropic ran ads supporting Gottheimer while Leading the Future, a pro-AI SuperPAC, endorsed him.

In September 2026, Gottheimer announced three new bills focused on AI security. He and Republican Rep. Mike Lawler introduced the Stop Rogue AI Act, which would task the National Institute of Standards and Technology with developing national standards for the control of AI agents, and The American AI Security Act, which would require developers of certain advanced AI models to provide the National Security Agency with access to evaluate the programs prior to their release. Gottheimer also introduced The China FIREWALL Act with Republican Rep. Nick LaLota, which would expand on a DeepSeek ban to prohibit all Chinese-developed AI models from government-issued devices and bar federal agencies from purchasing software that relies on those models. At the time, Gottheimer argued AI offers positive opportunities but must be handled appropriately, lest the threats outweigh the benefits, saying: "This can't be the Wild West...We gotta win the race, but in the right way."

Economy

Labor

Seeking to stave off a strike during the 2022 railroad labor dispute, Gottheimer, along with 79 House Republicans and all but 8 House Democrats, voted for a measure that forced rail companies and their unions to agree to a tentative agreement reached in September, which included "a 24-percent increase in wages over five years, more schedule flexibility and one additional paid day off". The deal had been rejected by several rail unions because it lacked paid sick leave.

In December 2023, Gottheimer pushed for bipartisan legislation to fund the FAA so they could hire and train more air traffic controllers, citing a 3,000-staffer national shortage and only 54% of essential tristate-area positions being filled. To this end, Gottheimer signed a bipartisan letter "demanding" that any bill to fund the FAA must stipulate (and include money for) the hiring of air traffic personnel to capacity, then he introduced it to leaders of the House Transportation and Senate Commerce committees. He also sponsored legislation that would begin a Government Accountability Office investigation into flight delays at airports in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.

Cryptocurrency

In February 2022, Gottheimer drafted legislation to define digital currencies as stablecoins if they could be backed one-for-one by U.S. dollars. Later, in July 2023, Gottheimer voted in the House Financial Services committee to advance a Republican-led bill that would establish regulations for stablecoins by authorizing the SEC to oversee digital assets while also installing new restrictions on the agency. Gottheimer and five other Democratic committee members approved the bill, bucking Democratic chairwoman Maxine Waters who argued it had loopholes and was "a wish list of Big Crypto."

Gottheimer helped push the Republican-led Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century (FIT21) Act through the House Financial Services Committee in May 2024; the bill eventually passed in the House later that month. The bill simplified digital currency regulation and was purported to enhance investor protections while encouraging cryptocurrency companies to establish themselves in the United States rather than abroad; in a press release, Gottheimer described the bill as establishing rules to guide entrepreneurs and protect consumers. Later the same week, Gottheimer led a bipartisan group of congresspeople in writing to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler pushing for the approval of spot Ethereum ETFs, which they argued provided investors with a transparent and regulated entryway into cryptocurrency trading.

Taxes

On April 15, 2017, Gottheimer announced that he would be introducing the "Anti-Moocher Bill", under which states receiving more federal dollars than they contribute to the national treasury would pay their "fair share", asking: "Why should Alabama get our federal tax dollars and get a free ride, while we're left holding the bag with higher property taxes? It just doesn't make sense." In October 2017, Gottheimer and Rep. Leonard Lance introduced the Return on Investment Accountability Act, which they wrote would, "...give tax credits to individuals whose states get less fu