election, President-elect Obama asked Beyer to head up the transition team at the Department of Commerce. Obama nominated Beyer for United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein on June 12, 2009. In December 2010, Beyer attracted public attention when it was reported that he had warned the Swiss government against offering asylum to WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. In March 2013, Beyer received the Thomas Jefferson Award from American Citizens Abroad. The award is presented annually by ACA to recognize State Department members who have rendered outstanding service to Americans overseas. Beyer was recognized for organizing a series of town hall meetings where American citizens overseas could voice concerns and opinions to officials of the State Department. He resigned as ambassador in May 2013. During the run-up to the 2020 primaries, Beyer endorsed Pete Buttigieg for president. He then endorsed Joe Biden on Super Tuesday. In June 2022, after a spate of mass shootings in the U.S., Beyer said he would propose a bill to increase taxes on assault-style guns by 1000%. He told Business Insider, "What it's intended to do is provide another creative pathway to actually make some sensible gun control happen. We think that a 1,000% fee on assault weapons is just the kind of restrictive measure that creates enough fiscal impact to qualify for reconciliation." U.S. House of Representatives Elections 2014 On January 24, 2014, Beyer announced his candidacy for Virginia's 8th congressional district to succeed retiring Democratic incumbent Jim Moran. It was his first partisan race since losing the 1997 gubernatorial election. He won the June 10 Democratic primary with 45.7% of the vote. On November 4, Beyer defeated Republican nominee Micah Edmond and three others in the general election receiving 63.1% of the vote. But he had effectively clinched a seat in Congress in the primary. At the time, the 8th was Virginia's second-most Democratic district, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+16 (only the 3rd district was more Democratic). Beyer is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. 2016 Beyer defeated Republican nominee Charles Hernick, 68.6% to 27.4%. 2018 Beyer defeated Republican nominee Thomas Oh, 76.3% to 23.7%. 2020 Beyer defeated Republican nominee Jeff Jordan, 75.8% to 24.0%. Tenure Beyer was a frequent critic of the Trump administration. On April 13, 2017, he was the first lawmaker to call for senior White House adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner to lose his security