About Max
From the frontlines of providing healthcare to the underserved and a combat tour in Afghanistan, to the halls of Congress and the Pentagon, Max Rose has spent his life fighting to build a better New York City and America, no matter the cost.
Rose, who earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan, first ran for Congress in 2018. Winning a seat no one thought was possible, Rose vowed to bridge the partisan divide, and get things done for his constituents who had felt like they’d been ignored or ripped off by politicians for years.
Over the course of two years, Max was rated as one of the most bipartisan members of Congress in the country. He kept his promise to reject all Corporate PAC and federal lobbyist donations, and secured an impressive list of wins including, but not limited to: permanently funding healthcare for our 9/11 heroes, securing millions of dollars for the opioid epidemic, cutting red tape to kickstart the East Shore Seawall, enacting split-tolling and other key measures to reduce traffic at no extra cost to his constituents, protecting toll discounts, and pioneering an effort to reunite families torn apart by President Trump’s Muslim ban.
As Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism, Rose warned about the rising threat of social media radicalization and violent white supremacist organizations. He led the fight to expand the Foreign Terrorist Organization Designation List to include international white supremacist organizations, and led the succesful push for social media companies to establish the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism.
When the Pandemic struck, Max ensured that Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn took a back seat to no one. In March 2020, while serving as a member of Congress, Rose successfully advocated for one of New York City’s first drive through testing sites to be placed in his congressional district. He also deployed with the U.S. Army National Guard to assist New York City's coronavirus pandemic response. He is credited with turning a Staten Island psychiatric center into an emergency hospital for patients with COVID-19, successfully leading the advocacy effort to deploy the Comfort Naval Hospital to New York City, and he stood up to both parties in order to bring home billions of dollars in desperately needed COVID relief.
Following the 2020 elections, Max served in the Biden Administration as the Senior Advisor on COVID to the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, responsible for coordinating the Department of Defense’s internal COVID response as well as its support to the national and global effort. For his service in the Pentagon, Max received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service, which is the second highest award presented by the Secretary of Defense to non-career Federal employees.
Prior to his election to Congress, Rose served as a decorated Army Infantry Officer, deploying to Afghanistan as a Stryker platoon leader. After leaving full-time military service, Rose served as Director of Public Engagement for Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson. Rose led an initiative known as "Begin Again," helping thousands of New Yorkers erase outstanding warrants for minor offenses that were concentrated in underserved areas. Max also served as Chief of Staff at Brightpoint Health, now a member of Sun River Health, providing medical services to the poor and homeless at one of the largest Federally Qualified Health Center systems in New York State. Rose continues his military service today as an Infantry Officer in the New York National Guard.
Max Rose graduated from Wesleyan University with a Bachelor's degree in history and earned a Master of Social Science from the London School of Economics. His decorations include the Ranger tab, the Combat Infantryman Badge, a Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart.
Max is married to Leigh Byrne, and they are the loving parents of their son, Miles.
