Tom Malinowski

Malinowski received a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1987 and an M.Phil. from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, in 1991. Malinowski was a senior director on the National Security Council during the Clinton administration, a chief advocate for Human Rights Watch, and an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of State during the Obama administration. Malinowski immigrated from Poland to the U.S. at age six.[2][3]

Tom Malinowski did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign websiteMalinowski's campaign website stated the following:Lower CostsLowering the high cost of living — from health care, to housing, to food, to energy — is where Donald Trump has failed and we must succeed. Trump raised costs with his tariff tax, and his attacks on health care and energy subsidies. Here’s my top ten list of what Congress should do to make our lives more affordable:REPEAL TRUMP’S MINDLESS TARIFFS.Congress can and must revoke the “emergency” authority Trump has used to impose a massive tariff tax on American consumers and companies, and reclaim its authority to regulate tariffs under the U.S. Constitution.RESTORE CLEAN ENERGY INVESTMENTS AND TAX CREDITS.To lower the price of electricity, we must generate more of it. And virtually all recent additions to the supply of electricity have come from renewables — including solar, wind, and nuclear power — spurred by incentives created by the Inflation Reduction Act, which I helped pass in 2022. Yet Republicans have repealed parts of this law, driving the cost of electricity up. Congress must restore them while passing reasonable permitting reform. This will lower costs, slow climate change, and ensure that America leads the world to clean energy.MAKE DATA CENTERS AND THE CRYPTO INDUSTRY PAY THE REAL COST OF THE ENERGY THEY USE. Most of the increased demand driving electricity prices up is coming from big AI data centers (with crypto “mining” also contributing). They should either generate their own power, or pay a price that mitigates the higher rates they’ve caused ordinary Americans to pay. Any subsidies for the AI industry should be tied to such steps, and Congress should prohibit states from engaging in a race-to-the-bottom contest to subsidize these industries.PROTECT AMERICANS FROM SKYROCKETING HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS.Congress must restore Affordable Care Act tax credits that keep health insurance premiums down for everyone, reverse the Republicans’ cruel cuts to Medicaid, and crack down on insurance company practices that wrongly deny claims or coverage or make care unaffordable.ADDRESS THE UNDERLYING COST OF HEALTH CARE.Health care is a human right, and access must be guaranteed. But simply subsidizing a health care system that costs us two or three times more than in any other advanced country will bankrupt America. To spur competition, Congress should give all Americans the freedom to buy into a public health care plan like Medicare. It should lower prescription drug costs by expanding the number of drugs subject to Medicare negotiation, and cut out middlemen that drive up costs without improving health. It should require the digitization of health records — all Americans should have a portable record of all their interactions with the health care system. And it should incentivize new ways of paying for treatments based on outcomes not volume.ENFORCE ANTI-TRUST LAWS.Truly free markets keep costs down. But monopolies make everything more expensive. And today, a corrupt Trump administration is gutting anti-trust enforcement on behalf of its billionaire friends. For example, corporations like Union Pacific (which wants to monopolize freight rail supply chains in the U.S.) are seeking approval for mergers while contributing millions to Trump’s White House ballroom. Congress must strengthen pro-competition laws and conduct vigorous oversight of enforcement.MAKE IT EASIER TO BUILD HOUSING.Congress should create incentives to reward state and local governments that enact reforms to increase supply, and decrease the cost, of housing, such as scaling back single family zoning, up-zoning near transit, ending minimum parking requirements, and legalizing accessory dwelling units, eliminate unnecessary red tape, stop private equity firms from buying up apartments, and protect renters from predatory fees and algorithmic pricing.BAN SURVEILLANCE PRICING AND OTHER BIG TECH “INNOVATIONS” THAT DRIVE UP COSTS WHILE MAKING OUR LIVES MORE ANXIOUS.Congress should prohibit companies from using our personal data to set different prices for different people, or to offer different salaries to employees seeking the same job based on factors like personal debt.RESUME THE WAR ON JUNK FEES.The Trump administration has revoked President Biden’s rules capping bank overdraft and credit card late fees and making it easier for customers to cancel unwanted subscriptions. Congress should codify them into law.ENACT RIGHT TO REPAIR.Big companies are making it harder for customers and independent repair shops to get the tools, parts, and manuals needed to fix products people legally own — forcing them to buy new ones or to use expensive services controlled by the original manufacturer. Comprehensive legislation is needed to change this.Protect DemocracyOn January 6, 2021, President Trump tried to overturn a democratic election — I was there. In his second term, he is asserting unlimited power — by defying Congress and the courts, and building a government in which everyone, including law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and members of the military, swear an oath not to the Constitution but to him. Some of what we must do to fight back is described in the sections on corruption and technology. Here are some steps I’ll pursue in Congress to shore up our democratic institutions and curb abuse of power:ENACT DEMOCRACY REFORMS.During my first stint in Congress, I was a leading champion of non-partisan redistricting, reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act, disclosing contributions to all groups trying to influence our elections, and repealing the Supreme Court decision that allows billionaires like Elon Musk to buy elections. I’ll continue to champion these reforms.ASSERT CONGRESSIONAL POWERS.The Constitution grants Congress the power of the purse,  to set tariffs, and to oversee the use of our military. Congress must fight to preserve these powers, and give courts greater authority to police presidential overreach. We must also  elect representatives to Congress with the experience to use these powers effectively, including in foreign policy and national security.DEFEND FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND THE PRESS.We need more effective legal prohibitions against a president wielding the powers of the federal government to punish speech by private individuals and institutions, whether by threatening to sue journalists, deny federal funding to universities, or regulatory approvals to corporations, or visas to students or visitors to the United States. And we must limit corporate consolidation of the news media.CODIFY JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INDEPENDENCE.No laws against abuse of power or corruption can function if the president can order the Justice Department to prosecute his political enemies while ignoring criminality by his administration and its friends. Congress must codify the longstanding but unwritten rules prohibiting presidents from trying to influence prosecutorial and investigative decisions at the Justice Department. It should also fund and protect the entities in the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies charged with investigating corruption, domestic terrorism, and foreign interference in our democracy.STOP CORRUPT PARDONS.Congress should limit the president’s pardon powers to the extent possible under the Constitution, by increasing reporting requirements, creating a non-partisan pardon commission, enacting mandatory minimum sentences for anyone convicted and then pardoned for serious crimes if that person commits a federal crime again, and prohibiting such pardon recipients from obtaining federal employment. Congress should also strengthen criminal laws against seeking to buy pardons with campaign contributions or with payments to a president’s businesses.KEEP FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE MILITARY ACCOUNTABLE TO THE COUNTRY AND THE LAW.Congress should prohibit federal agents from wearing masks, restrict overbearing military tactics and equipment in routine law enforcement operations, and defund any agency that defies court orders or allows politicization of its ranks. It should require the Pentagon to respect the laws of war, restore the functions of its Judge Advocates General, and stay away from domestic law enforcement and immigration operations.Fight CorruptionDonald Trump is running the most brazenly corrupt administration in modern American history. He has put our foreign and domestic policies up for sale, as wealthy Americans, large corporations, and foreign governments learn that the best way to get what they want from the U.S. government is to pay business controlled by the president and his family. And he has ended executive branch enforcement of ethics and anti-corruption laws.INVESTIGATE THE FULL RANGE OF TRUMP PAY TO PLAY SCHEMES.When Democrats regain our majority, we should investigate everything from the administration’s shakedowns of foreign actors to buy Trump bitcoin, to its special favors to donors seeking relief from export controls, tariffs, and anti-trust rules, to the purchase of pardons. Investigative committees should prepare a list of the administration’s corrupt foreign enablers to be sanctioned by a future administration. House Democrats should warn the enablers of these schemes now of what is to come, to deter further corruption.CODIFY THE CONSTITUTION’S EMOLUMENTS CLAUSE.Congress should pass Rep. Jamie Raskin’s bill codifying the Constitution’s provision prohibiting presidents from accepting payments from foreign governments while in office and for two years after. It should impose a 100% tax on emoluments currently being received by the president.PROTECT INSPECTORS GENERAL.Congress should seek to reinstate and strengthen the independence of the inspectors general charged with rooting out corruption and waste at executive branch agencies, as well as of the Office of Government Ethics.ENFORCE ANTI-CORRUPTION LAWS.Congress should earmark funds for and protect the independence of the Justice Department’s public corruption unit, and compel renewed enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.APPLY ETHICS RULES TO THE SUPREME COURT.Congress should pass Senator Whitehouse’s legislation establishing a binding ethics code for the Supreme Court.BAN STOCK TRADING.Members of Congress and senior executive branch officials should be prohibited from trading stocks, or required to place any stock investments in a blind trust.PASS THE ENABLERS ACT.Congress should enact bipartisan legislation that I got through the House in 2022 that would make it harder for foreign kleptocrats to hide their money in the United States and to influence our political system.TURN TRUMP’S BALLROOM INTO A MUSEUM OF THE CONSTITUTION.Congress should turn the ballroom Trump is building with money extorted from corporations seeking his favor into a museum exploring the meaning and history of the American Constitution and its checks on abuse of power. Future visitors would see it as part of any White House tour and be reminded that America’s founding ideals and laws are larger than the presidency.Regulate TechnologyMost of the information we get about the world is filtered through social media platforms that keep us engaged by amplifying our fear and anger. This has allowed lies to take over our politics, fueled extremism and bigotry, and increased loneliness and depression, especially among children. The rise of artificial intelligence poses even greater challenges. While AI can help humanity, it can also deepen inequality, empower authoritarians, and make it harder to know what is real. The Trump administration is giving Big Tech companies and billionaires whatever they want, and so far Congress is failing to protect us. Here is what I would work to do.HOLD SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES ACCOUNTABLE.Thanks to a law Congress passed in the 1990s, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, Big Tech platforms cannot be sued for the harm they do, even when there is evidence that their products have driven teens to commit suicide, or helped terrorist groups recruit members. Congress should repeal Section 230 for all online content that is amplified by social media algorithms.TREAT ALGORITHMS AS AN ADDICTIVE PRODUCT.The U.S. Surgeon General has said social media can be as harmful to young people as smoking or alcohol. Congress should require social media companies to turn off addictive features for users under 18, without exception.LET PEOPLE CONTROL THEIR DATA.Congress should give people the power to control how social media companies use and store their personal data, and to delete whatever information about us that is held and traded by data brokers.SAFEGUARD ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.America should lead the world to safe AI, instead of engaging in a race for dominance at any cost. Congress should:Require all AI systems to undergo thorough safety testing before they are released.Require all content generated by AI and released on public platforms to be labeled as AI, so that we are not deceived by fakes.Require AI companies to compensate the human beings — artists, writers, journalists, and researchers — who create the content AI systems train on to generate their outputs.Ensure that critical decisions that affect our lives, from what health care treatments are covered by insurance, to hiring, firing, and how we are treated in the workplace, are made with an accountable human being in the loop.Tax AI companies to create a fund to retrain people displaced by AI.Ensure that democracies lead in the development of AI through strict controls on the export of advanced chips to dictatorships like China and the Persian Gulf states.Require AI data centers to generate their own power or pay a price for the utilities they use that protects consumers from rate increases.Until the federal government enacts adequate national AI safeguards, there should be no restrictions on regulation by state governments.— Tom Malinowski's campaign website (February 5, 2026)Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

Tom Malinowski did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Tom Malinowski did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign website

Malinowski’s campaign website stated the following:

Navigating the Crisis and Preparing for Tomorrow

"My first responsibility — today and tomorrow — is to make sure that every single person who’s hurting in my congressional district gets help. That’s number one. But I would be betraying their trust in me if I wasn’t also thinking about tomorrow and next year and the next decade.”

Congress promised the American people that we would see them through this crisis. I’m fighting every day to ensure that promise is kept--not just to the rich and well-connected, but to every American. We need to stand by our front-line workers, support small businesses, and aid the most vulnerable in our community. We need to be guided by science. And as we navigate and rebuild from this crisis, we need to take steps to make sure we’re better prepared for the next one.

None of this is partisan here in New Jersey, but unfortunately Mitch McConnell is playing politics with this critical aid in Washington, blocking what he calls a “blue state bailout.” It’s unacceptable. That’s why I’m working across the aisle with local and state leaders to break through the gridlock and ensure we get the relief we need.

Fixing the Supply Chain

Since day one I’ve led the effort to surge resources to our hospitals and first responders. I secured emergency relief for medical providers across our district, and I worked around the clock with county and state officials to open the first public testing site for Somerset and Hunterdon County residents. I won’t rest until we have the resources and tests needed to diagnose cases, track outbreaks, and safely get back to work.

We can never allow ourselves to be caught unprepared again. I’m working to ensure the federal government properly stockpiles masks, ventilators, and other necessary medical supplies so we’re prepared for future emergencies. And I’m pushing to produce these supplies here in the United States, to ensure our national security and create jobs.

Supporting Small Businesses

We asked businesses to close; it’s our responsibility to ensure they can make it through this crisis, keep their employees on, and safely reopen. Through the Paycheck Protection Program, I’ve helped secure loans for more than 90,000 businesses across New Jersey. And I’m leading the fight to ensure this money goes where it’s needed most: through local banks to mom-and-pop stores in need, not to wealthy corporations like Ruth’s Steakhouse or the LA Lakers.

Protecting our Care

In the middle of this health crisis, Washington Republicans are suing to throw out the Affordable Care Act and tear health coverage away from millions of Americans. It’s not just cruel -- it makes us all less safe.

I’ll use every ounce of my power to defend the Affordable Care Act and lower the costs of healthcare for every New Jerseyan, so no one is bankrupted getting the care they need during this pandemic. I’m pushing to open a special enrollment period so everyone has access to health insurance, and to guarantee coverage for COVID-19 tests and treatment. I’ll continue to fight for reforms to make healthcare more affordable, like more generics, price caps on life-saving drugs like Insulin, and allowing anyone to buy into Medicare.

Standing up for Small Towns

Small towns across New Jersey are facing unprecedented budget shortfalls as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and are struggling to pay first responders, police officers and teachers. I’m working with our local leaders, Democrats and Republicans, to make this Congress’s top priority. Under our pressure, the House voted in May to send $1.1 trillion of direct relief to our state and local governments.

Unfortunately, Mitch McConnell has blocked all efforts for further relief in the Senate, calling this critical program a “blue state bailout.” It’s wrong, and the peak of hypocrisy from someone whose state is subsidized by New Jersey taxpayers. I won’t stop fighting until our small towns have the support they need, and New Jersey gets its fair share.

Restoring Tax Fairness for the Middle Class

The tax law that Mitch McConnell passed in 2017 — eliminating our state and local property tax deduction — was a deliberate attack on New Jersey’s middle class.

It crushed New Jerseyans already struggling to make ends meet and blew a $2 trillion hole in our national debt, all to pay for tax giveaways to the wealthiest Americans and corporations. Then McConnell used it as his latest excuse to slash funding for Social Security and Medicare. For New Jersey and the country, it was an act of economic malpractice.

Since day one I’ve been pushing relentlessly to fully restore our SALT deduction, and under my pressure we’ve seen real progress. Last December I led a bipartisan effort in the House and we voted to restore every cent of the deduction. Mitch McConnell has blocked progress in the Senate and Trump has threatened to veto our legislation, but I won’t rest until our SALT deduction is fully restored.

I’ll also continue to fight for responsible tax reform that works for the middle class, not just corporations or the mega-wealthy. We need to close special interest loopholes, bring home money stashed in foreign tax shelters, and tackle the ballooning deficit left to us by the last Republican Congress. And I’ll never allow Republicans to use the fiscal crisis they manufactured as an excuse to cut a cent from Social Security or Medicare.

Modernizing Commuter Infrastructure

The bridges and tunnels that millions of New Jersey commuters depend on to get to and from New York are unreliable and cause more delays every day. It’s a direct result of Trenton politicians like my opponent, who slashed funding for transportation projects, cancelled the ARC Tunnel, and left our infrastructure to crumble.

In Washington I’m standing up for New Jersey commuters--securing the funding that’s long overdue for our transportation infrastructure and tearing down the Trump administration's regulatory roadblocks.

The first bill I introduced in Congress helps New Jersey pay for transportation projects by allowing us to count federal loans as part of our joint funding share, a policy that has now been implemented in two consecutive federal budgets. And earlier this year my continued pressure won tangible progress when the new Portal North Bridge finally received federal approval to move forward, replacing the existing 110-year-old structure that is a major cause of delays for New Jersey Transit and Amtrak.

Still, there’s more work to be done. I’ll keep fighting to secure the federal funding we need to finally build the Gateway Project, and the resources and political commitments to allow direct one-seat ride into New York. I won’t stop pushing until our tunnel gets built and we have the reliable commute we deserve.

Standing up to the NRA

Last June, a lone gunman from Delaware was arrested outside Tamaques Elementary School in Westfield, NJ with a .45 caliber handgun and more than 100 rounds of ammunition. I’m thankful that the Westfield Police Department was able to avert this potential tragedy. But I refuse to accept that parents must send their children to school in fear, and I’m outraged that so many of us have become numb to this daily violence.

As long as a would-be gunman can bypass gun safety measures just by driving across state lines, our communities will be at risk. That’s why I’ve been fighting tirelessly for common-sense federal reforms that are long overdue--universal background checks, an assault weapons ban, and laws to keep guns out of the hands of violent criminals and domestic abusers. I’ve also cracked down on domestic extremism and the hate-filled ideologies that fuel violent acts. Under my relentless pressure, Congress restored every cent of funding for programs to combat white supremacy that the Trump administration cut in 2017.

Unfortunately, despite the overwhelming popularity of these common sense gun policies, the NRA’s stranglehold on Mitch McConnell continues to bring progress to a halt. My opponent has received an A+ rating from the NRA, and has made it clear over his decades-long career in Trenton that he stands with the gun lobby, not with ordinary Americans.

I’ll never accept campaign donations from the NRA or any corporate PACS, and I’ll work to limit the influence of their dark money in our politics so we can make the real reforms we desperately need.

Affordable Healthcare

Healthcare is a human right, and we need to treat it that way. Instead, President Trump is suing in federal court to undermine the Affordable Care Act, and has openly admitted he plans to slash funding for Medicare. Just like in 2018 when we stopped GOP efforts to “repeal and replace,” 2020 is critical for defending the progress we’ve won on affordable healthcare.

The ACA isn’t perfect, but it’s a critical first step. It lowers costs, ensures coverage for essential health benefits like maternity care and hospitalization, and protects coverage for the nearly 4 million New Jerseyans living with pre-existing conditions. As long as I’m in Congress, I’ll never allow these protections to be taken away.

We need to move forward on healthcare, not backward. That’s why I’ve continued to build on the ACA, and fought to lower prescription drug costs and allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Ultimately, we should give every American freedom to choose a public option like Medicare, which would increase competition and lower prices for everyone.

I introduced the bipartisan Know the Price Act, which would prohibit insurance gag clauses so patients understand the full price of their procedures or services and aren’t stuck with surprise bills after the fact. And I’ve been a leading voice to expand Medicare to retired first responders at age 50, so our police officers, firefighters and EMTs have access to the quality care they deserve.

Taking on Special Interests

Dark money is twisting our politics, empowering special interests like the NRA to drown out the will of the people. I led the effort to root out corruption and safeguard democracy around the world as Assistant Secretary of State; in Congress, I’m continuing that work here at home.

Unlike my opponent, I don’t accept a single cent of campaign contributions from corporate PACs.

I’ve championed comprehensive reforms to limit the role of money in politics and increase transparency to ensure regular people--not corporations or special interests--have the strongest voices in Washington. And I support a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizen United decision and prevent corporations from spending unlimited amounts of money in our elections.

To make our politics work again we need to give power back to the people. I’ve been a leading voice to expand voting rights and crack down on partisan gerrymandering. And I’ve fought and won for key bipartisan reforms to protect our elections from foreign interference.

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—Tom Malinowski’s campaign website (2020)[5]

Campaign website

Malinowski’s campaign website stated the following:

Affordable Healthcare for All

I have fought for human rights all my life, and I believe that every American has a right to affordable healthcare.

It is cruel to force families to choose between life saving treatment for their children and avoiding bankruptcy, as we did before passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). There’s no reason for America to remain the only country in the world where people know – and dread – the term “pre-existing condition.” And we can’t build an innovation economy if people feel they can’t leave a job to start a new business or pursue an invention without losing healthcare.

DEFEND THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

The ACA was not perfect, but it made things better. The uninsured rate decreased by half; essential benefits like maternity care were guaranteed; mental health coverage vastly expanded; children could stay on their parents’ insurance plans until they were 26; and no American could be denied health care because of a pre-existing condition.

My opponent, Congressman Lance, voted to repeal affordable healthcare 19 different times. He voted to another 45 times to take out essential elements of the ACA. That is an undeniable pattern of partisan behavior in which Lance turned his back on the families he is supposed to represent.

And now, the Trump administration and Republican leadership in Congress are sabotaging the ACA: by repealing the individual mandate, which ensures that the costs of insurance are widely and equitably shared; by ending payments to insurance companies that keep the cost of insurance down; by promoting junk insurance plans that leave out essential health services and attacking protections for those with pre-existing conditions.

We’re already seeing the consequences: insurance companies are leaving ACA exchanges due to uncertainty about the marketplace and the expectation that fewer healthy people will be covered, and the cost of healthcare for everyone – especially seniors and those who need it most – is going up. In New Jersey, monthly premiums for a Silver Plan are up 16% since 2016, and will rise even more without the individual mandate. Meanwhile, the sabotage of the ACA has not saved taxpayers money – in fact, the increase in direct-to-consumer subsidies by the federal government (a result of ending cost-sharing subsidies to insurance companies) is predicted to increase the deficit by $194 billion.

I will work to stop the assault on healthcare in America. We need to move forward, not backward – fixing what was wrong with the Affordable Care Act, and building on its advances to achieve, once and for all, universal and affordable healthcare.

EVERYONE SHOULD BE COVERED

We would not accept a system that forces only bad drivers to have car insurance or only irresponsible homeowners to have fire insurance – because everyone suffers misfortunes, and the only way to keep costs down is to ask everyone to pay into the pool. Health insurance is no different. I would support restoring the health insurance mandate nationally, just as we are doing in New Jersey; that will encourage younger and healthier people to get preventive care, and stop insurance rates from skyrocketing for older Americans and for those with serious health conditions. I also would support paying the cost-sharing subsidies that allow insurance companies to provide affordable coverage to those in need while saving taxpayers money.

STOP DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN’S HEALTHCARE NEEDS

I will work to ensure we fund reproductive health programs, for the sake of women, men, and families. I support and am proud to be endorsed by Planned Parenthood, which provides basic healthcare to millions of women in New Jersey, and has contributed to historic reductions in teen pregnancies and the spread of infectious disease. I will support access to contraceptives, and defend the progress the Affordable Care Act made by requiring insurers to provide women contraceptive coverage. I believe in a woman’s right to choose when, if, and how to start a family.

I also oppose the Trump administration’s effort to push through junk insurance plans, which won’t cover basic services like maternity care, mental health, and prescription drugs. It will create two parallel insurance markets in America, with substandard care for one group of Americans, and unaffordable care for another.

NO ONE SHOULD BE PUN