Meet the Utah congressman balancing family prayers with legislative duties
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It’s been a long day. Homework stuffed into backpacks, dinner plates thrown in the sink, teeth half-brushed.
“OK, time for family prayers,” mom tells her boys, pulling out a phone so dad can join over FaceTime from his Washington, D.C., office.
So repeats the end-of-day ritual Rep. Blake Moore has developed with his young family since his election three years ago. With four boys under 11, including one with autism, Moore’s service in the U.S. House has been defined by sacrifice in the home — for him; his wife, Jane; and their children.
“We just celebrated Frankie’s birthday,” Moore said of his youngest son in an interview with the Deseret News. “He’s 2. I missed his birth and both birthdays. Those are the tough sides.”
Anyone running for a seat on Capitol Hill knows this is what they’ve signed up for, said Moore, a Republican. But Utah’s 1st District representative stands out among fellow members of Congress for his rapid rise to conference leadership — he was elected party vice chair in November; his youth — at 43 Moore is 15 years younger than the average House lawmaker; and his school-aged children — an attribute shared by less than a third of his colleagues, according to one report.
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The strain the job places on family life, including the travel, late nights and unpredictable time off, has been noted by some as one reason why lawmakers like Moore are a rarity and has been cited by multiple congressional retirees in recent months as their reason for throwing in the towel.
But, through a combination of modern technology, perseverance and a sense of mission, Moore says they’ve found a way to sustain his congressional ambitions — which he insists will remain viable only as long as he feels he can make a difference for the future that his kids will grow up to inherit.
As any of her friends will tell you, Jane doesn’t sugarcoat the difficulty of being a stay-at-home mom with a federal lawmaker husband.
“That’s just the feeling: ‘OK, why am I doing this alone? Why am I alone?’” she said in an interview with the Deseret News.
Some aspects of Blake being gone — usually Monday through Thursday or Friday — have gotten easier with time, Jane said. But others haven’t, like driving home from a sports game where one of the boys performed well.
“And after I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is so sad, he’s not watching them grow up,’” Jane said.
While she had moments of feeling resentful during Blake’s first term in office, particularly during her pregnancy which featured heavy bouts of morning sickness, Jane said witnessing her husband’s work ethic has blessed their boys.
There’s the oldest, Max, age 11, whose passion for sports connects him to his dad, who coaches his little league football team when he’s home on Saturdays.
Next come the twins, George and Winston, both 8 years old. Jane calls George, who’s even more athletic than his older brother, “a mini-Blake,” with his confidence and prodigy-like playing. And Winston, who has autism, stuns with his self-taught ability to read “more chapter books than I do,” Jane said.
The “caboose” of the family is Franklin, who just turned 2 and has an inexplicable dash of red hair just like his brother Winston.
“He just wakes up every day so happy, running around trying to keep up with the brothers,” Jane said. “He’s kind of like our puppy dog that brings everybody together at the end of the day.”
Franklin, to Jane’s chagrin, has a preference for Blake. But this fact helps to remind Rep. Moore of his real reason for serving, which he often says is a fear that without substantive change to Washington, his boys will grow up in a world of economic and global instability.
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Moore’s second term has seen the congressman secure positions on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax policy, and the Budget committee. These roles have allowed Moore to lead out on issues of spending reduction, welfare reform and a bipartisan focus on addressing the country’s debt.
“There’s a lot that makes it very, very difficult,” Moore said. “That’s why you have to believe in what you’re doing and try to be productive back here. I’m not back here for messaging, I’m back here to produce results. And I feel like what I can control, we’re doing that.”
Moore’s ability to focus and succeed with this mission comes from his “dynamite wife, who is a complete rock star and the most forgiving person on the entire face of the Earth,” he said.
The family has recently hired a nanny to help Jane with things like dishes and laundry during the day, and homework, sports and bedtime at night.
“It’s changed my life,” Jane said, explaining how the extra hands have made it easier to envision a longer-term future for Blake in Congress, particularly now that he’s serving in House leadership.
Rep. Moore, for his part, makes sure to maintain frequent communication with the boys when he’s gone during the week through a family text thread and he often joins the family virtually for nightly prayers. And when he’s home on the weekends, he takes at least one boy everywhere he goes, according to Jane, even if it’s to an official congressional proceeding.
But there are reforms that could make Congress a more family-friendly environment, Rep. Moore said.
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One such change would be to extend work weeks to include Fridays more often. According to Moore, this would open up additional days in the session to spend “in district” without having to waste as much time traveling to and from D.C.
Being back in Utah doesn’t mean vacation time, Moore clarified — lawmakers’ district days are filled with constituency service and outreach. Additionally, much of the committee work and policy negotiations typically done on Capitol Hill could be done just as effectively remotely, Moore said, if such reforms were implemented.
But when it comes down to it, Moore said, the biggest change that would make the job more predictable and conducive to family life is increasing the legislature’s ability to work together by enforcing statutory deadlines and resurrecting the norm of bipartisan compromise.
The last few months have seen Republican infighting, resulting in several weeks spent removing and replacing the House speaker and legislative inaction, leading lawmakers to punt budget talks to next year. This gridlock kept House members away from home, except for weekends, for more than a dozen weeks in a row, with the exception of Thanksgiving, Moore said.
However, the Moores agree that for now the congressman is best able to serve their children through his sacrifice for their country.
“I think that this is a higher purpose for us right now,” Jane said. “And we’re going to try to see how long Blake can do this while making a difference.”
