Cory Mills

Cory Lee Mills (born July 13, 1980) is an American politician, businessman, and Army veteran who has served as the U.S. representative from since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a Trump appointee on the Defense Business Board from 2020 to 2021.

Born and raised in Central Florida, Mills joined the United States Army in 1999 and received the Bronze Star while serving as a U.S. Army sniper during a deployment to Iraq in 2003. After working as a military contractor and graduating from American Military University, he co-founded Pacem Solutions International LLC in 2014. In December 2020, Mills was appointed to the Defense Business Board by President Donald Trump. In February 2021, he resigned from the board upon the request of President Joe Biden.

In 2022, Mills defeated state representative Anthony Sabatini and six others in the Republican primary for Florida's 7th congressional district. He went on to defeat Vice Chair of the Florida Democratic Party Karen Green in the general election. After facing minimal opposition in the Republican primary, Mills was re-elected in the 2024 general election. Mills lost renomination in the 2026 primary election in part due to him facing multiple investigations involving sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations.

Early life and education Cory Lee Mills was born on July 13, 1980 He earned an associate's degree from Florida State College at Jacksonville, followed by a bachelor's and master's degree from American Military University.

Military service

After graduating from high school, Mills enlisted in the United States Army. Mills was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and received the Bronze Star Medal for saving the lives of two fellow soldiers and other acts.

After leaving the Army, he earned an associate's degree from Florida State College at Jacksonville. before working as a maritime security specialist and anti-piracy adviser for Special Tactical Services. He then worked for federal contractors Chemonics International and Pax Mondial Ltd. In 2015, the United States Department of Defense facilitated a $228 million arms deal between Pacem and the government of Iraq. In February 2021, President Joe Biden ordered Secretary Lloyd Austin to suspend all members of the Pentagon's advisory boards (including the DBB) and to ask that all Trump appointees step down.

U.S. House of Representatives Elections 2022

Mills announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in in April 2021, challenging incumbent Democratic representative Stephanie Murphy. Murphy's seat was a target for the National Republican Congressional Committee in the 2022 elections, but she announced her retirement in December 2021. Redistricting made the 7th significantly more Republican than its predecessor, cutting out its share of Orlando (including Murphy's home) while adding a slice of increasingly Republican Volusia County.

Mills faced a crowded primary, with his strongest opponent being state representative Anthony Sabatini. Mills won the primary election in August 2022, earning over a third of the vote and beating Sabatini by over 10,000 votes. Mills defeated Democratic nominee Karen Green in the November general election with 58.5% of the vote.

Evacuation of an American family from Afghanistan Mills, as a congressional candidate, in September 2021, evacuated a woman and her three children from Afghanistan during the 2021 American withdrawal. Initially, he was going to attempt to perform an airlift, but U.S. Central Command and the State Department denied the request. Instead, he had to evacuate the family by land.

Mills had initially planned to travel to Afghanistan as part of a larger group. However, three members of the group later claimed that they saw Mills with a group of sex workers during a stopover in Tbilisi, Georgia. This led to Mills being ejected from the group, and he subsequently traveled to Afghanistan alone.

2024

In 2024, Mills was challenged in the Republican primary by former state senate candidate Mike Johnson (no relation to Speaker Mike Johnson). He defeated Johnson in the primary, receiving 80.9% of the vote. Mills went on to defeat Democratic nominee Jennifer Adams in the general election, receiving 56.5% of the vote.

Tenure

Mills handed out commemorative 40 mm grenades stamped with the Republican Party logo to fellow House members as a welcoming gift.

In May 2023, Mills co-sponsored a resolution by Marjorie Taylor Greene to impeach President Joe Biden over his handling of security at the United States-Mexico border. On May 23, 2023, he also co-sponsored Greene's resolutions to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI director Christopher Wray, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and U.S. attorney for D.C. Matthew M. Graves.

In October 2023, Mills traveled to Israel to help evacuate 77 Americans in the wake of the October 7 attacks.

Mills also helped airlift 10 Americans who were volunteering at an orphanage in Haiti, amidst Haiti's state of crisis. He also criticized Biden's handling of the crisis and similar crises. Later, he helped rescue an additional 13 people.

Syria In 2023, Mills was among 47 Republicans to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.

Following the fall of the Assad regime, Mills and fellow Republican representative Marlin Stutzman became the first American politicians to visit post-Ba'athist Syria. Both met Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa and the country's Christian leaders on April 18, 2025. The visit was made while the Trump administration was considering sanctions relief on Syria and Mills stated there was a "tremendous amount of opportunity here to help rebuild the nation but also to help with stabilization across the region."

2024 presidential election Mills became the fourth representative from Florida to endorse Donald Trump for president in the 2024 presidential election, citing the need for Republican unity following Trump's indictment. thumb

Committee assignments For the 118th Congress: Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee on Military Personnel Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability

Ethics investigation The board of the independent Office of Congressional Ethics investigated inconsistent financial statements in August 2024; their report stated "The OCE found that from January 2023 to present, Pacem Defense/ALS, has been actively contracting with the federal government, securing close to $1,000,000 in federal contracts for munitions and weapons, distributed to prisons across the country...Specifically, since January 9, 2024, 94 contracts have been awarded to entities owned by Rep. Mills."

Mills denied wrongdoing and did not cooperate with the OCE's investigations, refusing to provide tax returns or explain the ownership structure of his companies.

On November 19, the House Ethics Committee announced it was forming an investigative subcommittee to investigate the previous allegations of fraud made against Mills, as well as two alleged incidents involving Mills' conduct with women.

Personal life In 2014, Mills married Rana Al Saadi, an Iraqi refugee who gained naturalized American citizenship and served in the first Trump administration, which was his second marriage. Mills has two sons. By 2015, Mills and Al Saadi were undergoing divorce proceedings. He began dating Lindsey Langston in 2021.

Domestic assault On February 21, 2025, the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia announced they were investigating an alleged physical assault of a woman by Mills at his luxury penthouse. Although she listed the same address as her home, the woman was not Mills's wife. The police report describes Mills as her "significant other for over a year." According to the police report of the incident, the alleged victim stated that Mills "grabbed her, shoved her, and pushed her out of the door."

On February 24, it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police Department sent an arrest warrant for Mills to interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin on February 21, but, for unclear reasons, it was not signed by Martin. This led to MSNBC News Producer Steve Benen speculating that the arrest warrant was not signed because Martin wanted to "go easy on a Republican member of Congress as part of a broader political agenda". Mills has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the matter.

On October 14, 2025, a Florida judge granted Langston a restraining order against Mills through the end of 2025. The order was issued by the judge after he had concluded that "the woman was either a victim of dating violence or that she had reason to believe she was in danger of becoming a victim of dating violence."