Biography

Congressman Tim Murphy of Upper St. Clair was elected in November 2002 to represent Pennsylvania’s 18^th Congressional District, encompassing the South Hills of Pittsburgh including portions of Allegheny, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties. In addition to his representational duties in the House of Representatives, Murphy serves as a Commander in the United States Navy Reserves.  

The only practicing psychologist in elected federal government, Murphy relies on his four decades of experience to advocate for meaningful reforms in the U.S. healthcare system. Serving as co-chair of the Mental Health Caucus and a founding member of the GOP Doctors Caucus, he focuses on policies to make healthcare more affordable and accessible for all families.

As Chairman of the Oversight & Investigation Subcommittee on Energy & Commerce, Murphy led a multi-year investigation into our nation’s broken mental health system.  The outcome was his landmark crisis mental health reform legislation, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act (H.R. 2646) to foster evidence-based care, fix the shortage of psychiatric hospital beds, empower caregivers and help patients get treatment well before their illness spirals into crisis. Since its introduction, the bill gained widespread support the American Psychiatric Association, National Alliance on Mental Illness, and numerous media outlets such as CNN, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. H.R. 2646 passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee in the fall of 2015 by a unanimous vote and in July 2016, the House overwhelmingly passed the bill on a bipartisan vote of 422-2.

While serving as Chairman of Oversight, Murphy has led numerous investigations including the General Motors airbag and key system failures, the botched Affordable Care Act website rollout, the Volkswagen emissions system data manipulation, and the multi-year investigation into the Solyndra swindle which left taxpayers liable for $535 million in unpaid federal loan guarantees.

In his role as Chairman of the Congressional Steel Caucus, Murphy advocates for American steel by overhauling the failed trade system, ending foreign currency cheating, rebuilding our manufacturing base, and boosting American steel and coal. In 2015, Chairman Murphy helped shepherd historic trade enforcement legislation through Congress and to the President’s desk for signature, marking the first time in over 20 years new laws enacted to protect American steel against foreign trade cheats.

A Commander in the Navy Reserve, Murphy is currently assigned to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at Bethesda where he continues to practice psychology in the Traumatic Brain Injury/PTSD Inpatient Unit. His ADT has included service at Navy Special Warfare Coronado, USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71).

Before being elected to Congress, Murphy served in the Pennsylvania State Senate and in private practice Dr. Murphy specialized in child and family treatment in the greater Pittsburgh region as well as serving at a number of hospitals including Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital, Mercy Hospital, Magee Women’s Hospital, Transitional Infant Care and St. Margaret’s Hospital. He holds two adjunct faculty positions with the University of Pittsburgh, serving as an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health and in the Department of Pediatrics. He became widely known as “Dr. Tim” through regular appearances on local and national radio and television and is also the author of two books: the award-winning “The Angry Child” (2001), and “Overcoming Passive-Aggression” (2005).

Murphy, one of 11 children, grew up in a hardworking family and earned a bachelor’s degree from Wheeling Jesuit University, a master’s degree from Cleveland State University, and his PhD from the University of Pittsburgh. He and his wife Nan reside in Upper St. Clair and attend St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Bethel Park. Daughter Bevin and son-in-law Dan are the proud parents of Thomasina and Luca and live in Southwestern Pennsylvania.