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This is part of a recurring series on what former members of Congress are doing in their post-congressional careers.<\/p>\n
On the night that the House passed the Affordable Care Act in March 2010, Democratic Rep. Earl Pomeroy, then the lone House member from North Dakota, was escorted by his staff to the House floor, where he cast the 218th out of 219 votes to pass the bill.<\/p>\n
There was glee among Democrats that night, but Pomeroy saw the writing on the wall. He understood that his future was \u201cprobably going to change as a result,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It did. That November, Pomeroy was one of 63 Democrats who lost their seats because of his support for the 2010 health care law, sometimes known as Obamacare.<\/p>\n
But 15 years later, he regrets nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing in Congress is not about tenure,\u201d said Pomeroy, 73. \u201cIt\u2019s about moving public policy. And if, while you\u2019re there, you get a chance to be part of a big public policy initiative for which you have strong feelings, well, that\u2019s the greatest experience, greatest professional experience ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pomeroy, who came to Congress in 1993, is mostly retired now. He splits his time between North Dakota, Florida and Washington, though he acknowledges the time spent in D.C. is becoming more scant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He joined the law firm Alston & Bird as senior counsel and a registered lobbyist after leaving the House in 2011, and he retired from that job at the end of 2024. Pomeroy continues to represent a single client, Allsup Inc., a privately held company that assists people applying for Social Security Disability benefits and those capable and interested in returning to work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s not to love?\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a logical career arc for Pomeroy, who served as North Dakota state insurance commissioner from 1985 through 1992 and who also served as president of the National Association of State Insurance Commissioners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned that there were two reasons people didn\u2019t have coverage: They were sick and couldn\u2019t get medically underwritten, or, even more prevalent, they couldn\u2019t afford it,\u201d he said. \u201cSo at its essence, the Affordable Care Act created a way to get people with health conditions covered, preexisting conditions taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n
But until Congress later expanded health care subsidies during the COVID-19 pandemic, the law was less effective at helping modest-income households afford health care. \u201cThere was a tier of modest-earning households, a big tier that didn\u2019t receive help from this,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was that group, he said, that was most outraged by his vote.<\/p>\n
Pomeroy paid the price. By the time the 2010 general election rolled around, he had only had time to write one Election Night speech. He chose to write the concession speech. \u201cI kind of knew how this was going,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t personal,\u201d he said. \u201cWe passed a very big bill, and I\u2019m told millions were spent telling people this bill is going to hurt your health care, your family\u2019s health care. And of course, all that was not true, but that took a while to sort out.\u201d<\/p>\n
After he lost, he had a decision to make.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI had an opportunity to run a small insurance company in North Dakota. I had an opportunity to work for one of several law firms in Washington, D.C.,\u201d he said. \u201cI decided to stay in Washington, D.C., for the reason that I really like the legislative process. I\u2019d been doing it for 18 years. I knew some things.\u201d<\/p>\n
He joined Alston & Bird. One of his closest colleagues was former Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, a Republican.<\/p>\n
At the firm, Pomeroy abided by a few basic rules.<\/p>\n
Rule No. 1: Don\u2019t lobby for something you don\u2019t believe in, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public policy issues that I worked on, I aligned with 100 percent,\u201d he said. \u201cI would have never cast a vote differently than something that I was advocating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rule No. 2: Hang up the partisan jersey.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI could play politics as hard as anybody,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I have very close friends and working associates, people I respect deeply that are Republican. \u2026 In this post-partisan environment, you\u2019ll find a door opens to a whole new group of friends that you couldn\u2019t be too close to before because you were clobbering each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s outside of the Capitol. Under the Dome, he acknowledges, it\u2019s tougher.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople say to me, \u2018Boy, you wouldn\u2019t like it now,\u2019 And from what I\u2019m seeing on the news, I tend to think, yeah, this really is, it\u2019s awful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to find a path forward for a very diverse nation,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s always going to be rough and tumble. Always has been, and always will be. But we\u2019re kind of in unprecedented times.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he\u2019s concerned about the separation of powers, the continuing growth of the executive branch and the lockstep partisanship driving parties either far right or farl eft.\u00a0<\/p>\n