Donald John Bacon (born August 16, 1963) is an American politician and retired military officer who has served as the U.S. representative for Nebraska's 2nd congressional district since 2017. During his 29 years in the United States Air Force, he commanded wings at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and Offutt Air Force Base south of Omaha, Nebraska, before retiring as a brigadier general in 2014. A member of the Republican Party, his district includes all of Omaha and the areas surrounding the Offutt base.
Bacon is often considered a centrist or moderate Republican. He is a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus and represents a district carried by Democratic presidential candidates in 2020 and 2024. He is a vocal critic of Donald Trump, who has derided him as a "rebel", and has repeatedly sparred with members of the House Freedom Caucus. Bacon self-identifies as a Reagan Republican.
While in Congress, Bacon was an original sponsor of the Naming Commission, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, and voted for the Respect for Marriage Act. He was one of 37 Republicans who rejected attempts to overturn the 2020 election, and one of 35 who supported the committee to investigate the January 6th attack. As an active voice on foreign policy, Bacon is one of a slate of U.S. representatives sanctioned by the Russian government and was the first member of Congress to be hacked by the Chinese government.
After Trump's efforts to pass his "Big Beautiful Bill", Bacon announced he would not be seeking re-election in 2026, citing a desire to spend more time with his grandchildren. He ultimately voted for the legislation.
Early life, education, and military career Donald John Bacon was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois, on August 16, 1963, the son of Donald and Joan Bacon of Bourbonnais.Lee Provost, Momence native elected congressman in Nebraska , Daily Journal (November 23, 2016). He grew up on a family farm in Momence, Illinois,Nebraska Rep. Bacon to serve on House Agriculture Committee , Associated Press (January 11, 2017). and graduated from Grace Baptist Academy in Kankakee in 1980.
Bacon attended Northern Illinois University and interned in Representative Ed Madigan's Washington, D.C., office during his senior year in 1984. He entered the Air Force in 1985, commissioning through the Air Force Officer Training School at Lackland AFB, Texas. In his military career he specialized in electronic warfare, intelligence, reconnaissance and public affairs, and also qualified as a master navigator. He served as a wing commander at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, as a group commander and squadron commander at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona and an expeditionary squadron commander in Iraq. Bacon has earned master's degrees from the National War College and the University of Phoenix. At the Pentagon, he served as a public affairs aide for General David Petraeus, before his final assignment as the Air Force's director of ISR strategy, plans, doctrine and force development from July 2012. In 2014, Bacon retired from the U.S. Air Force. During his 29 years in the Air Force, he was awarded the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, two Legion of Merits and two Bronze Star Medals; he was selected as Europe's top Air Force wing commander in 2009. He served as an aide to U.S. representative Jeff Fortenberry and assistant professor at Bellevue University before running for office.
Political career
Elections 2016
In the 2016 elections, Bacon won the Republican primary for the U.S. House of Representatives in , a primarily urban and suburban district in metro Omaha, covering parts of Douglas and Sarpy counties.Official Report of the Board of State Canvassers: Primary Election May 10, 2016 , Compiled by John A. Gale, Nebraska Secretary of State
The general election race was considered a tossup, with Democratic incumbent Brad Ashford seen as having a slight edge. After a 2005 videotape showing Donald Trump making lewd remarks to Billy Bush surfaced in October 2016, Bacon said that Trump could not win the presidency and should withdraw from the race in favor of "a strong conservative candidate, like Mike Pence." But Bacon did not say that he would not vote for Donald Trump, since he did not "believe Hillary is the right person. I'm in a quandary."Tysver, Robynn, Don Bacon says Trump should step down, but he won't rule out voting for him , Omaha World Herald (October 8, 2016).
Bacon narrowly defeated Ashford in the general election on November 8, 2016, with 48.9% of the vote to Ashford's 47.7%. He was the only Republican to defeat an incumbent Democrat in the 2016 House elections.Gilchrist, Logan, Don Bacon spoke at UNL seminar, students skeptical about his motivations , The Daily Nebraskan (October 19, 2017).
2018
Bacon was reelected in 2018, narrowly defeating progressive Democrat Kara Eastman with 51.0% of the vote to her 49.0%.
2020
Bacon and Eastman faced off again in the 2020 general election. Bacon was reelected by a larger margin than in 2018, winning 51.0% of the vote to Eastman's 46.2%, even as Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden won the district by 6.5 points. He was endorsed by his predecessor, Democrat Brad Ashford, whom he defeated in 2016.
2022
Bacon sought re-election in 2022. He won the Republican primary 77.14%–22.86% against challenger Steve Kuehl, and went on to defeat Democratic candidate and state Senator Tony Vargas in the general election by 51.3% to 48.7%.
2024
Bacon sought re-election in 2024. He was challenged by conservative populist Dan Frei for the Republican nomination, who was backed by the Nebraska Republican Party. Bacon won the primary 61.96%–38.04%.
In the general election, Bacon faced Democrat Tony Vargas in a rematch of 2022 by 50.93% to 49.07% as the district also supported Kamala Harris for President.
Tenure Bacon was sworn in to the 115th Congress in January 2017. During Donald Trump's first term as president, Bacon voted in line with Trump's position 89.4% of the time.
Bacon was reelected in 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024. During the first year of Joe Biden's presidency, Bacon voted in line with Biden's position 29.5% of the time.
Following the 2022 midterm elections and announcements by Freedom Caucus members that they would oppose or demand concessions of presumptive House speaker Kevin McCarthy, Bacon announced he was willing to work with Democrats to elect a moderate Republican.
In August 2023, the FBI revealed that Bacon was the first US lawmaker to be targeted in a cyberespionage intrusion by Chinese government hackers. When asked about the intrusion, which Bacon said largely compromised campaign and personal email data, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. called the incident a "smear" and part of a "groundless narrative." The embassy denial included a complaint that the U.S. government had undercut China's sovereignty with recent arms sales to Taiwan, an effort which Bacon had vocally supported. A spokeswoman for Bacon's office said it was likely a reason for the attack.
Following failed House votes on bills to avoid a government shutdown beginning on October 1, 2023, Bacon said of Republicans in the Freedom Caucus who sought major concessions or pushed for a shutdown "some of these folks would vote against the Bible because there's not enough Jesus in it."
Bacon voted against the October 2023 removal of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, calling it a vote "for chaos", and "a good day for Russia and China". He supported Steve Scalise in his initial bid for the October 2023 House Speaker election, but voted against the subsequent unsuccessful bid by Freedom Caucus founder Jim Jordan, Trump's preferred candidate. Following the first round of voting on Jordan's nomination, Bacon revealed that his wife and staff were being harassed and threatened by phone and in public to push him to support Jordan, saying "there's been a bullying campaign...they're being told on certain cable channels that the world's falling apart...and they feel like approved to cross these boundaries and to be wrong." He ultimately supported Mike Johnson's successful bid for the role.
In the 117th United States Congress, Bacon was ranked the most effective Republican lawmaker (and fourth most effective as a whole) by the Center for Effective Lawmaking.
119th Congress Bacon was seated in the 119th United States Congress in January 2025, just before the start of the second Trump administration.
Since Trump's return to office, Bacon has been one of the most vocal Republican critics of the administration's aggressive moves to reshape the U.S. government and America's role in the world. He has consistently rebuked Trump's handling of the War in Ukraine, saying, "he's been very weak... he's been a bit of an appeaser to Russia." He criticized cuts made by DOGE, such as the elimination of AmeriCorps, as "haphazardly eliminating every program a software engineer fails to appreciate." He pushed back against efforts to cut Medicaid, telling the White House that he would not accept more than $500 billion in cuts. Bacon joined a coalition that avoided a government shutdown by passing a continuing resolution, angering Trump allies that preferred to force budget cuts through a shutdown. Bacon called for the firing of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, whom he called "an amateur", following reports of Hegseth's repeated unauthorized use of Signal to discuss military plans. He later criticized Trump's decision to fire National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Timothy D. Haugh, director of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, after Trump fired them and others on the advice of conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer. Following President Trump's Liberation Day tariffs package which implemented severe import duties against nearly every country in the world, Bacon introduced a bill to curtail presidential tariff powers and warned of a recession. Trump responded that he would veto the bill. Bacon was the lone Republican "nay" vote on the bill to codify President Trump's executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico in U.S. federal documents to the "Gulf of America."
Committee assignments For the 119th Congress: Committee on Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation (Chairman) Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Caucus memberships
Autism Caucus Baltic Caucus, co-chair Caucus on Hellenic Issues Caucus on U.S.-Turkey Relations Congressional Taiwan Caucus Civility and Respect Caucus Climate Solutions Caucus Law Enforcement Caucus Motorcycle Caucus Congressional Coalition on Adoption Problem Solvers Caucus Republican Study Committee Soccer Caucus, co-chair Rare Disease Caucus Uzbekistan Caucus Western Caucus Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth (co-chair) Congressional FFA Caucus National Service Congressional Caucus
Political positions Bacon has been frequently described as a moderate centrist within the Republican Party. Bacon was ranked 8th in bipartisanship among members of the House in the year 2023 by the Lugar Center.
Foreign policy
Bacon has been a member of the Armed Services Committee since taking office in 2017. He is known to be hawkish in his foreign policy.
Bacon supported airstrikes in Syria in retaliation for the Assad government's use of chemical weapons. In 2019, Bacon voted for a resolution opposing Trump's move to withdraw U.S. support for the Kurds in Syria, which exposed Kurdish militias to attacks from Turkey.Griffin Connolly, House Republicans break 2-to-1 against Trump on withdrawal of Kurd support , Roll Call (October 16, 2019).