User:Lukemac914/sandbox-MicheleBachmann

Michele Bachmann
46th President of the United States
In office April 17, 2018 – January 20, 2021
Vice President	George Voinovich
Preceded by	Mitt Romney
Succeeded by	Andrew Cuomo
48th Vice President of the United States
In office January 20, 2013 – April 17, 2018
President	Mitt Romney
Preceded by	Joe Biden
Succeeded by	George Voinovich
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 6th district
In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Mark Kennedy
Succeeded by	Tom Emmer
Member of the Minnesota Senate
In office January 3, 2001 – January 2, 2007
Preceded by	Gary Laidig
Succeeded by	Ray Vandeveer
Constituency	56th district (2001–2003) 52nd district (2003–2007)
Personal details
Born	Michele Marie Amble (1956-04-06) April 6, 1956 Waterloo, Iowa, U.S.
Political party	Republican (since 1978)
Other political affiliations	Democratic (before 1978)
Spouse	Marcus Bachmann ​ (m. 1978)​
Children	5
Education	Winona State University (BA) Oral Roberts University (JD) College of William & Mary (LLM)

Michele Marie Bachmann (née Amble; born April 6, 1956) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 46th President of the United States from 2018 to 2021. She was the first woman to hold the office of President and previously served as the 48th Vice President of the United States from 2013 to 2018 under President Mitt Romney. Before her national leadership roles, Bachmann represented Minnesota's 6th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2013 and served in the Minnesota Senate from 2001 to 2007.

Bachmann first rose to national prominence as a leader of the Tea Party movement during her tenure in Congress, where she was known for her staunch conservative views on fiscal policy, health care reform, and social issues. Her vocal opposition to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and her role in organizing the Tea Party Caucus in the House helped solidify her status as a key figure within the Republican Party's conservative wing.

In 2012, Bachmann ran for the Republican nomination for President but suspended her campaign after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses. Despite the early setback, her prominence within the party continued to grow, leading to her selection as Mitt Romney's running mate during his successful 2012 presidential campaign. She served as Vice President from 2013 until Romney's resignation in April 2018, at which point she assumed the presidency.

During her presidency, Bachmann became known for her assertive foreign policy, which was later dubbed the "Bachmann Doctrine." This approach advocated for a stronger U.S. military presence abroad, particularly in the Middle East and Asia, and emphasized combating terrorism and deterring rival powers such as Russia and China. Her administration increased defense spending and focused on reinforcing alliances with key U.S. partners, though critics argued her policies led to heightened tensions with adversaries and strained relationships with allies over environmental and trade disagreements.

Domestically, Bachmann's administration upheld conservative principles, including tax reform and deregulation, while facing challenges on issues such as immigration reform and climate change policy. In 2020, she sought re-election with John Thune as her running mate but was defeated by the Democratic ticket of Andrew Cuomo and Kamala Harris in a highly contested race. Bachmann left office on January 20, 2021, having set the stage for ongoing debates about the role of the U.S. in global leadership and conservative policy at home.

Early life, education, and early career

Bachmann in Anoka High School's yearbook

Bachmann was born Michele Marie Amble on April 6, 1956, in Waterloo, Iowa, to Norwegian-American parents David John Amble, an engineer, and Arlene Jean Amble (née Johnson). Two of her great-great-great-grandparents, Melchior and Martha Munson, emigrated from Sogndal, Norway, to Wisconsin in 1857. Her family moved from Iowa to Brooklyn Park, Minnesota when she was 13 years old. After her parents divorced when she was 14, David moved to California and remarried. Bachmann was raised by her mother, who worked at the First National Bank in Anoka, Minnesota, where they moved again. Three years later her mother married widower Raymond J. LaFave; the new marriage resulted in a family with nine children.

In Anoka High School, Bachmann was a cheerleader. She graduated from high school in 1974 and, after graduation, spent one summer working at kibbutz Be'eri in Israel with Young Life, an evangelical youth organization. In 1978, she graduated from Winona State University with a B.A. In 1979, Bachmann was a member of the first class of the O. W. Coburn School of Law, then a part of Oral Roberts University (ORU). There she studied with John Eidsmoe, whom she described in 2011 as "one of the professors who had a great influence on me". Bachmann worked as a research assistant on Eidsmoe's 1987 book Christianity and the Constitution, which argues that the United States was founded as a Christian theocracy and should become one again. In 1986, she received a J.D. degree from Oral Roberts University.

A member of ORU's final graduating class, she was also part of a group of faculty, staff, and students who moved ORU's library to what is now Regent University. In 1988, she received an LL.M. degree in tax law from William & Mary Law School. From 1988 to 1993, she worked as a tax litigation attorney for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). However, she did not take the Bar examination and never got a license to become a private attorney. Bachmann left the IRS to become a full-time mother when her fourth child was born.

Early political career

Activism

Bachmann grew up in a Democratic family and has said she became a Republican during her senior year at Winona State University. She told the Star Tribune that she was reading Gore Vidal's 1973 novel Burr and that Vidal "was kind of mocking the Founding Fathers and I just thought—I just remember reading the book, putting it in my lap, looking out the window and thinking, 'You know what? I don't think I am a Democrat. I must be a Republican.'" While still a registered Democrat, she and her then-fiancé, Marcus, were motivated to join the anti-abortion movement after watching Francis Schaeffer's 1976 Christian documentary film How Should We Then Live? They prayed outside clinics and engaged in sidewalk counseling, an activity in which anti-abortion activists attempt to persuade women entering clinics not to get abortions. She has since made statements supportive of sidewalk counseling. Bachmann supported Jimmy Carter for president in 1976, and together with her husband, Bachmann worked on Carter's campaign. During Carter's presidency, she became disappointed with his approach to public policy, support for legalized abortion, and economic decisions she held responsible for increased gas prices. In the 1980 presidential election, she voted for Ronald Reagan and worked for his campaign.

Bachmann's political activism gained media attention at an anti-abortion protest in 1991. She and approximately 30 other protesters went to a Ramsey County Board meeting where $3 million was to be appropriated to build a morgue for the county at St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center, now known as Regions Hospital. The Medical Center performed abortions and employed pro-choice activist Jane Hodgson. Bachmann voiced her opposition to tax dollars going to the hospital; to the Star Tribune, she said, "in effect, since 1973, I have been a landlord of an abortion clinic, and I don't like that distinction". In 1993, she and six other co-founders started the K–12 New Heights Charter School in Stillwater. The publicly funded school's charter mandated that it be non-sectarian in all programs and practices, but the school soon developed a strong Christian orientation. Parents of students at the school complained and the superintendent of schools warned her that the school was in violation of state law. Six months after the school's founding, she resigned and the Christian orientation was removed from the curriculum, allowing the school to keep its charter. She then began speaking against a state-mandated set of educational standards, including her opposition to School-to-Work policies, which propelled her into politics. In November 1999, she and four other Republicans were candidates in an election for the school board of Stillwater; they were not elected.

Minnesota Senate

Before launching her career for the Minnesota Senate, Bachmann was encouraged to run by her family and local conservative organizations. Bachmann became a Minnesota state senator after defeating incumbent Gary Laidig in district 56 in 2000. After redistricting due to the 2000 Census, she defeated Jane Krentz, a Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) incumbent, in district 52.

During her career as state senator, she was known for her conservatism, particularly due to her opposition to abortion and gay marriage. Star Tribune has described her as one of the Senate's most conservative members during her tenure. She also authored a Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Bachmann and Mary Liz Holberg, a Minnesota Representative, proposed a constitutional amendment that would bar the state from legally recognizing same-sex marriage in November 2003. On the day of introducing the amendments, Bachmann's lesbian stepsister came to the legislature building to listen to a hearing about the amendment. She reintroduced the proposal in 2005; it failed when it stalled indefinitely in the Minnesota Senate Judiciary committee. She served as assistant minority leader in charge of policy of the Senate Republican Caucus from November 2004 to July 2005, when the Republican Caucus removed her from the position. She claimed that disagreements with Dick Day, the Republican Senate minority leader, over her anti-tax stance caused her ouster.

U.S. House of Representatives

From 2007 to 2015, Bachmann represented Minnesota's 6th congressional district, which included the northernmost and eastern suburbs of the Twin Cities and St. Cloud. She became the first Republican woman from Minnesota to be elected to the House of Representatives.

110th Congress

Foreign affairs

Bachmann voted "No" on a January 2007 resolution in the House of Representatives opposing President George W. Bush's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq, but called for a full hearing in advance of the troop surge, saying, "the American people deserve to hear and understand the merits of increasing U.S. troop presence in Iraq. Increased troop presence is justifiable if that measure would bring a swift conclusion to a difficult conflict." She hesitated to give a firm endorsement, calling the hearings "a good first step in explaining to the American people the course toward victory in Iraq." Later that year, she went to Iraq, where she said she was convinced that "the war effort is heading in the right direction."

Higher education

On July 11, 2007, Bachmann voted against the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. The act raised the maximum Pell grant from $4,310 to $5,200, lowered interest rates on subsidized student loans from 6.8% to 3.4%, raised loan limits from $7,500 to $30,500, disfavored married students who filed joint tax returns, provided more favorable repayment terms to students who could not use their education to prosper financially, and favored public sector over private sector workers with much more favorable loan forgiveness benefits. Supporters of the bill said it would allow more students to attend college and prosper for the rest of their lives.

Bachmann said she opposed the act because "it fails students and taxpayers with gimmicks, hidden costs and poorly targeted aid. It contains no serious reform of existing programs, and it favors the costly, government-run direct lending program over nonprofit and commercial lenders." The bill passed the House and was signed by President Bush.

Energy and environment

During the summer of 2008, as national gasoline prices rose to over $4 a gallon, Bachmann became a leading Congressional advocate for increased domestic oil and natural gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the Outer Continental Shelf. She joined ten other House Republicans and members of the media on a Congressional Energy Tour to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, and to Alaska. The trip was arranged by Arctic Power, an Alaskan lobbying group that advocates for ANWR development. Its purpose was to receive a firsthand account of emerging renewable energy technologies and the prospects of increased domestic oil and natural gas production in Alaska, including ANWR.

Bachmann rejects the overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is real, progressing, and primarily caused by humans. She has claimed that global warming is "all voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax" and has been called "one of the GOP's loudest global warming skeptics." She has claimed, baselessly, that "because life requires carbon dioxide and it is part of the planet's life cycle, it cannot be harmful." On the House floor on Earth Day 2009, Bachmann said she opposed cap and trade climate legislation, again making disproven claims that "carbon dioxide is not a harmful gas, it is a harmless gas. Carbon dioxide is natural; it is not harmful ... We're being told we have to reduce this natural substance to create an arbitrary reduction in something that is naturally occurring in the earth."

In March 2008 Bachmann introduced H.R. 849, the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act. The bill would have repealed two sections of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 signed into law by George W. Bush. The 2007 Energy Act mandates energy efficiency and labeling standards for incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. Bachmann's bill would have required the Government Accountability Office to show that a change to fluorescent bulbs would have "clear economic, health and environmental benefits" before enforcing lighting efficiency regulations. The bill would have allowed these standards to remain in place if the comptroller general found they would lead to consumer savings, reduce carbon-dioxide emissions and pose no health risks to consumers (such as risks posed by the presence of mercury in fluorescent bulbs). The bill languished in the House and became inactive at the end of the 110th Congress. Bachmann reintroduced the bill in March 2011.

Tort reform

On June 3, 2008, President Bush signed the Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act (H.R. 4008) into law. The bipartisan bill, which Bachmann cosponsored with Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.), removed statutory damages for violations of a 2003 federal law prohibiting merchants from printing consumers' credit card numbers and expiration dates on sales receipts, in order to end class-action lawsuits aimed at businesses that violated the law.

Financial sector

Bachmann opposed both versions of the Wall Street bailout bill for America's financial sector. She voted against the first proposed $700 billion bailout of financial institutions, which failed to pass, by a vote of 205–228. She also advocated breaking up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and barring executives from excessive compensation or golden parachutes, and advocated a plan that would suspend mark-to-market accounting rules and suspend the capital gains tax.

Auto industry

See also: Effects of the 2008–10 automotive industry crisis on the United States

The American auto companies approached Congress to ask for roughly $15 billion in loans to keep them operational into 2009. Bachmann criticized that bill, fearing that the initial sum of money would be followed by subsequent ones without the companies making changes to revive their business. Bachmann supported an alternative plan for American auto companies and the rest of the auto industry that would have set benchmarks for reducing their debt and renegotiating labor deals and have set up the financial assistance as interim insurance instead of a taxpayer-financed bailout.

Call for a media "exposé" of alleged "anti-Americanism" of Barack Obama and members of Congress

On October 17, 2008, Bachmann gave an interview on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews in support of the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain that brought the Minnesota 6th Congressional District race national attention. During the interview she criticized Barack Obama for his association with Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers, saying, "usually we associate with people who have similar ideas to us, and it seems that it calls into question what Barack Obama's true beliefs, and values, and thoughts are ... I am very concerned that he [Obama] may have anti-American views." She noted the bombing campaign orchestrated by Bill Ayers before discussing his association with Obama, arguing that "Bill Ayers is not someone the average American wants to see their president have an association with." Matthews followed up by asking "But he [Obama] is a Senator from the state of Illinois; he's one of the members of Congress you suspect of being anti-American. How many people in the Congress of the United States do you think are anti-American? You've already suspected Barack Obama; is he alone or are there others?" Bachmann answered, "What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating exposé and take a look ... I wish they would ... I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out are they pro-America, or anti-America. I think people would love to see an exposé like that."

In response, the five Democratic members of Minnesota's congressional delegation—Tim Walz, Betty McCollum, Keith Ellison, Collin Peterson and Jim Oberstar—issued a joint statement questioning Bachmann's ability to "work in a bipartisan way to put the interests of our country first in this time of crisis." Former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson said her comments had influenced their decisions to endorse Obama for president.

Bachmann brought up the interview before business leaders and Republicans during a campaign stop in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on October 21, 2008. She claimed she never intended to question Obama's patriotism. "I made a misstatement. I said a comment that I would take back. I did not, nor do I, question Barack Obama's patriotism ... I did not say that Barack Obama is anti-American nor do I believe that Barack Obama is anti-American ... [But] I'm very concerned about Barack Obama's views. I don't believe that socialism is a good thing for America." At a March 2010 fund-raiser for the Susan B. Anthony List, Bachmann said, "I said I had very serious concerns that Barack Obama had anti-American views—and now I look like Nostradamus". In March 2011 she was asked on Meet the Press whether she still believed that Obama held un-American views. She responded, "I believe that the actions of this government have—have been emblematic of ones that have not been based on true American values." Pressed for clarification, she said, "I've already answered that question before. I said I had very serious concerns about the president's views."

111th Congress

Further information: 111th United States Congress

Bachmann speaking in April 2010

Global currency

On March 26, 2009, following comments by China proposing adoption of a global reserve currency, Bachmann introduced a resolution calling for a Constitutional amendment to bar the dollar from being replaced by a foreign currency. Current law prohibits foreign currency from being recognized in the U.S., but Bachmann expressed concerns relating to the president's power to make and interpret treaties. Earlier that month, at a Financial Services Committee hearing, Bachmann asked both Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke whether they would reject calls for the U.S. to move away from the U.S. dollar and they replied that they would.

2010 Census

In a June 17, 2009, interview with The Washington Times, Bachmann expressed concern that the questions on the 2010 United States Census had become "very intricate, very personal" and that ACORN, a community organizing group that had come under fire the previous year, might be part of the Census Bureau's door-to-door information collection efforts. She said, "I know, for my family, the only question we will be answering is how many people are in our home. We won't be answering any information beyond that, because the Constitution doesn't require any information beyond that." According to PolitiFact, her statement was incorrect, as the Constitution does require citizens to complete the census. Fellow Republican representatives Patrick McHenry (N.C.), Lynn Westmoreland (Ga.) and John Mica (Fla.), members of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census and National Archives, which oversees the census, subsequently asked Bachmann not to boycott the population count.

Along with Congressman Ted Poe (Tex.-02), Bachmann introduced the American Community Survey Act to limit the amount of personal information the U.S. Census Bureau solicits. She reiterated her belief that the census asked too many personal questions.

Cap-and-Trade legislation

In March 2009 Bachmann was interviewed by the Northern Alliance Radio Network and promoted two forums she was hosting the next month in St. Cloud and Woodbury about Obama's proposed cap-and-trade tax policy to limit greenhouse gas emissions. She said she wanted Minnesotans "armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back." Bachmann's office quickly clarified that she was speaking metaphorically, meaning "armed with knowledge". According to the Star Tribune, her quote went viral across the Internet.

AmeriCorps

In 2009 Bachmann became a critic of what she characterized as proposals for mandatory public service. Of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, an expansion to AmeriCorps (a federal community service organization), she said in April:

It's under the guise of—quote—volunteerism. But it's not volunteers at all. It's paying people to do work on behalf of government ... I believe that there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into mandatory service. And the real concerns is [sic] that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of these politically correct forums.

The original bill called for an exploration of whether a mandatory public service program could be established, but the section on creating a "Congressional Commission on Civic Service" was stripped from the bill.

In August 2009 Bachmann's political opponents publicized in the local media and the blogosphere what they described as the "ironic" fact that her son, Harrison, joined Teach for America, part of the AmeriCorps program.

Health care

Bachmann contributed to the "death panel" controversy when she read from a July 24 article by former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey on the House floor. Sarah Palin said that her "death panel" remark was inspired by what she called the "Orwellian" opinions of Ezekiel Emanuel as described by Bachmann, who accused him of advocating health care rationing by age and disability. According to PolitiFact and Time, Bachmann's euthanasia remarks distorted Emanuel's position on health care for the elderly and disabled. FactCheck.org stated, "We agree that Emanuel's meaning is being twisted." When many doctors wanted to legalize euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide, Emanuel opposed it.

On August 31, 2009, Bachmann spoke at an event in Colorado, saying of Democratic health care overhaul proposals that:

This cannot pass. What we have to do today is make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing. This will not pass. We will do whatever it takes to make sure this doesn't pass.

She outlined ideas for changing the health care system, including: "Erase the boundaries around every single state when it comes to health care", enabling consumers to purchase insurance across state lines; increase the use of health savings accounts and allow everyone to "take full deductibility of all medical expenses", including insurance premiums; and tort reform.

Bachmann denounced the government-run health insurance public option, calling it a "government takeover of health care" that would "squeeze out private health insurance".

Criticism of President Obama's visit to Asia

In a November 3, 2010, interview with Anderson Cooper, while discussing spending cuts for Medicare and Social Security suggested by Representative Paul Ryan, Bachmann was asked what spending cuts she would make to reduce the deficit. She cited President Obama's then-upcoming visit to Asia as an example, saying it "is expected to cost the taxpayers $200 million a day. He's taking two thousand people with him. He'll be renting out over 870 rooms in India. And these are 5-star hotel rooms at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel. This is the kind of over-the-top spending—it's a very small example, Anderson." Bachmann was apparently referring to information in a story from the Press Trust of India, attributed to "a top official of the Maharashtra Government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit", information that was also published in U.S.-based media such as The Drudge Report. A Pentagon spokesman, Geoff Morrell, dismissed the report's claim that 34 warships were accompanying the President as "comical". The White House said that the press report figures were "wildly inflated" and had "no basis in reality". While stating that they could not give the actual projected figures for security reasons, staffers maintained costs were in line with the official travel costs of previous presidents Bush and Clinton.

112th Congress

Leadership run

See also: List of Tea Party politicians

Bachmann in February 2011

After the 2010 elections and Representative Mike Pence's announcement that he was stepping away from his leadership position in the House, Bachmann announced her intention to seek the position of House Republican Conference Chair. As Bachmann was the founder of the House's Tea Party Caucus, her announcement caused some to see the leadership election as "an early test of how GOP leaders will treat the antiestablishment movement's winners". Many among the House's Republican leadership, including Eric Cantor and the retiring Pence, were quick to endorse Representative Jeb Hensarling for the position; Speaker-to-be John Boehner remained neutral on the issue. Supporters of Bachmann's run included Representatives Steve King, John Kline, Louie Gohmert, Chip Cravaack, and Erik Paulsen, as well as media personality and political commentator Glenn Beck. Listing her qualifications for the position, Bachmann noted, "I've done an effective job speaking out at a national and local level, motivating people with our message, calling attention to deficits in Obama's policy. I was instrumental in bringing tens of thousands of people to the U.S. Capitol to rally against Obama care and to attend our press conference." She noted her work to keep the Tea Party within the GOP rather than having it become a third party, thereby helping the party capture the House, saying, "I have been able to bring a voice and motivate people to, in effect, put that gavel in John Boehner's hands, so that Republicans can lead going forward. …It's important that leadership represents the choice of the people coming into our caucus….I think I have motivated a high number of people to get involved in this cycle who may have sat it out and that have made a difference on a number of these races. I gave a large amount of money to NRCC and individual candidates and started Michele PAC, which raised $650,000 for members since July, so I was able to financially help about 50 people out."

Bachmann's bid suffered a setback when she was passed over for the GOP's transition team on which Hensarling was placed. Despite Bachmann's leading all other representatives in fundraising, a Republican aide said some "members are getting resentful of Bachmann, who they say is making the argument that you're not really a Tea Party supporter unless you support her. That's gone through the formation of the Tea Party Caucus and the formation of this candidacy of hers. It's just not so." Sarah Palin, with whom Bachmann had campaigned earlier in the year, declined to endorse her leadership bid, while other Tea Party favorites, Representatives Adam Kinzinger and Tim Scott, were placed on the transition team. According to some senior House staff members, the party leadership was concerned about some of Bachmann's high-profile faux pas, the high rate of turnover among her staff, and how willing she would be to advance the party's messaging rather than her own.

On November 10 Bachmann released a statement ending her campaign for Conference Chair and giving Hensarling her "enthusiastic" support.

Committee assignment

In 2011, House Speaker John Boehner selected Bachmann for a position on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, in which role she was responsible for overseeing the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. Bachmann, who had not previously served on any committee concerned with foreign policy issues, requested the position, which led to speculation that she was planning a presidential campaign. In his 2021 memoir On the House, Boehner wrote that Bachmann had initially demanded a seat on the House Committee on Ways and Means, and that he had offered her the role on the Intelligence Committee as a compromise; Boehner described Bachmann as "a lunatic" and an example of a politician elevated by Fox News.

Repeal of Dodd–Frank reform

Soon after beginning her third term, Bachmann introduced legislation to repeal the Dodd–Frank financial reform law. She said, "I'm pleased to offer a full repeal of the job-killing Dodd–Frank financial regulatory bill. Dodd–Frank grossly expanded the federal government beyond its jurisdictional boundaries. It gave Washington bureaucrats the power to interpret and enforce the legislation with little oversight. Real financial regulatory reform must deal with these lenders who were a leading cause of our economic recession. True reform must also end the bailout mind-set that was perpetuated by the last Congress." She also took issue with the law for not addressing the liabilities of the taxpayer funded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Bachmann's bill was endorsed by conservative groups such as the Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity. It gained four other Republican co-sponsors, including Representative Darrell Issa, who became the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at the start of the 112th Congress. Bachmann's call for total repeal was seen as more drastic than the approach advocated by her fellow Republican Spencer Bachus, who became the House Financial Services Committee Chairman when Republicans gained the House majority. Bachus planned "to provide 'vigorous' oversight of regulators efforts to reform banking and housing ... reform Fannie and Freddie", and "dismantle pieces of [the] Dodd–Frank Act that he believes 'unnecessarily punish small businesses and community banks.'" In response to Bachmann's legislation Representative Barney Frank said, "Michele Bachmann, the Club for Growth, and others in the right-wing coalition have now made their agenda for the financial sector very clear: they yearn to return to the thrilling days of yesteryear, so the loan arrangers can ride again—untrammeled by any rules restraining irresponsibility, excess, deception, and most of all, infinite leverage." It was seen as unlikely that Bachmann's legislation would pass, with the Financial Times writing, "Like the Republican move to repeal healthcare reform, Ms. Bachmann's bill could be passed by the House of Representatives but be blocked by the Senate or White House."

State of the Union response

Bachmann responded to Obama's 2011 State of the Union speech on the Tea Party Express website; her speech was broadcast live by CNN. She insisted that her response was not intended to counter Paul Ryan's official Republican party response. When asked whether the speech was an indication of competition with Ryan and Boehner's leadership team, Bachmann dismissed such a view as "a fiction of the media", saying she had alerted Ryan and the leadership team that her response might go national and that no objections were raised.

Health care

Bachmann continually called for repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). On March 4, 2011, Bachmann, one of the six House Republicans to vote against the continuing resolution that gave a two-week extension until a possible government shutdown, expressed her unhappiness with its passage.

In an appearance on Meet the Press on March 6 and during a March 7 interview with Sean Hannity, Bachmann claimed that the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats had hidden $105 billion in spending in the overhaul of the American Health Care System. She portrayed the Democratic leadership as timing the release of the bill's text to avoid detection of the spending. "We didn't get the bill until a literally couple of hours before we were supposed to vote on it", she said. She also said the spending was split up within different portions of the bill to mask its total cost. Bachmann was told this by the conservative Heritage Foundation, which claimed to have read the tallies of the Congressional Research Service and Congressional Budget Office.

According to some reports of the costs, "about $40 billion would go to the Children's Health Insurance Program, $15 billion would go to Medicare and Medicaid innovation programs, and $9.5 billion would go to the Community Health Centers Fund." As the funds are designated mandatory spending (not controlled by the annual appropriations acts), the funds would have remained even if the move to defund the reform law had succeeded.

Bachmann stated that $16 billion of the money gives Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius a "slush fund ... [to do] whatever she wants with this money." She called on the bills supporters to return the money, saying, "I think this deception that the president and [former House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid put forward with appropriating over $105 billion needs to be given back to the people."

When asked during the Meet the Press interview if she would take back her previous comments that Obama "may have anti-American views" and that his administration had "embraced something called gangster government", Bachmann stood by her statements, saying, "I do believe that actions that have been taken by this White House—I don't take back my statements on gangster government. I think that there have been actions taken by the government that are corrupt ... I said I have very serious concerns about the president's views, and I think the president's actions in the last two years speak for themselves."

In response to Bachmann's charges, Chief Deputy Democratic Whip Jan Schakowsky, who served on the House health subcommittee, pointed out that the report in question was an update of a report that came out in October 2010 and that the costs were spelled out in both the bill and the Congressional Budget Office's estimate of its cost, saying, "Michele Bachmann obviously didn't read the bill, because there was absolutely nothing hidden in that legislation." Schakowsky said the costs were not kept secret, citing the $40 billion for the Children's Health Insurance Program as an example: "There was a robust debate about whether or not that should be included, etc. So this idea of somehow, now at the last minute, there was a secret addition to some kind of funding ... is absolute nonsense."

In a September 2011 Republican presidential debate in Tampa, Bachmann criticized Rick Perry for his support for the humanpapilloma virus (HPV) vaccine and his support for mandating the HPV vaccine for all sixth-grade Texas girls. The American Academy of Pediatrics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and other medical organizations worldwide support immunizing girls and boys against HPV. HPV can cause lesions and genital warts, and has been linked to cervical cancer as well as genital and oral cancers in people of any gender. Because the vaccine is effective only if given before the onset of sexual activity and subsequent exposure to the virus, medical groups recommend the three-dose vaccine be given to 11- and 12-year-olds. During the debate and in interviews afterward, Bachmann accused Perry of "crony capitalism" (because Perry's former chief of staff was chief lobbyist for a drug company manufacturing the vaccine), and baselessly claimed that the HPV vaccine was dangerous and caused "mental retardation." She repeatedly referred to an anecdotal account from a mother of a girl who had been immunized for HPV, saying, "She told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered mental retardation thereafter ... There is no second chance for these little girls if there is [sic] any dangerous consequences to their bodies." Shortly after Bachmann's statements at the debate, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement: "The American Academy of Pediatrics would like to correct false statements made in the Republican presidential campaign that the HPV vaccine is dangerous and can cause mental retardation. There is absolutely no scientific validity to this statement. Since the vaccine has been introduced, more than 35 million doses have been administered, and it has an excellent safety record." Fewer than one percent of those receiving the vaccine reported neurological side effects or, in rare cases, severe allergic reactions, none linked to changes in cognitive ability. Bachmann later acknowledged that she was not a doctor or a scientist.

Muslim Brotherhood

In June–July 2012, Bachmann and several other Republican legislators sent a series of letters to oversight agencies at five federal departments citing "serious security concerns" about what Bachmann has called a "deep penetration in the halls of our United States government" by the Muslim Brotherhood. They requested formal investigations into what Bachmann called "influence operations" by the Brotherhood.

Bachmann also accused Huma Abedin, an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Rep. Anthony Weiner's wife, of having family connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Bachmann's comments drew what The Washington Post called "fierce criticism from fellow lawmakers and religious groups." In a speech on the Senate floor, 2008 Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain denounced Bachmann's charges as "specious and degrading". He defended Abedin as a "hard-working and loyal servant of our country and our government" and stated "these attacks on Huma have no logic, no basis and no merit. They need to stop now." House Speaker John Boehner termed Bachmann's allegations "dangerous", and other Republicans also criticized the remarks. Ed Rollins, Bachmann's former campaign manager, called on her to apologize to Abedin and characterized her allegations as "extreme and dishonest."

In a letter to Bachmann, her colleague Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., a Muslim, asked for evidence backing her claims and stated, "Your response simply rehashes claims that have existed for years on anti-Muslim websites and contains no reliable information that the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the U.S. government".

Bachmann replied that "the intention of the letters was to outline the serious national security concerns I had and ask for answers to questions regarding the Muslim Brotherhood and other radical group's access to top Obama administration officials". In a July 19 interview with radio and TV show host Glenn Beck, Bachmann repeated and expanded her allegations, accusing Ellison of having "a long record of being associated with the Council on American–Islamic Relations and with the Muslim Brotherhood". Ellison replied that "I am not now, nor have I ever been, associated with the Muslim Brotherhood."

2012 elections

Presidential campaign

In June 2011, Bachmann announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination for President of the United States during a campaign event in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa. As a leading figure in the Tea Party movement, Bachmann's platform focused on fiscal conservatism, repealing the Affordable Care Act, and reducing the size of the federal government. Her campaign quickly gained momentum, particularly among socially conservative and evangelical voters, and she was seen as a potential front-runner in the early stages of the race.

Bachmann's most significant achievement during the campaign came in August 2011, when she won the Ames Straw Poll, solidifying her status as a leading candidate. However, her campaign began to falter after the rise of Rick Perry and Mitt Romney in the polls. Bachmann struggled to regain her footing, and after a disappointing finish in the Iowa caucuses in January 2012, she suspended her campaign.

Despite her withdrawal from the presidential race, Bachmann remained an influential figure within the Republican Party. In the months following her campaign, she continued to be a prominent voice on conservative issues and maintained a loyal following.

Selection as Romney's running mate

In July 2012, Mitt Romney officially selected Michele Bachmann as his running mate in the 2012 presidential election. The choice of Bachmann as the Republican vice-presidential nominee was seen as a strategic move to energize the party's conservative base and to appeal to Tea Party supporters, many of whom had initially backed Bachmann during the primaries.

Bachmann's selection was met with enthusiasm from conservative activists, and she played a key role in galvanizing support in battleground states such as Ohio, Florida, and North Carolina. Her presence on the ticket helped Romney solidify his appeal to evangelical voters and fiscal conservatives, providing balance to Romney's more moderate stances on some issues.

Throughout the general election campaign, Bachmann remained a vocal advocate for repealing the Affordable Care Act, cutting taxes, and reducing government regulation. Her fiery rhetoric and sharp critiques of the Obama administration resonated with conservative voters, although she also faced criticism from Democrats and progressives for her views on social issues and foreign policy.

General election

On November 6, 2012, the Romney-Bachmann ticket won the presidential election, defeating incumbent President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. The election was highly competitive, with Romney and Bachmann narrowly winning several key swing states, including Florida, Ohio, and Virginia. Their victory was attributed to a combination of dissatisfaction with the economy under Obama, a strong turnout from conservative voters, and Bachmann's ability to energize the Republican base.

Bachmann became the 48th Vice President of the United States, taking office on January 20, 2013. Her role as Vice President was marked by her continued advocacy for conservative policies, particularly in areas such as health care reform, tax policy, and national security.