Timmons joined the NAM in 2005 as Senior Vice President for Policy and Government Relations. He was later promoted to Executive Vice President, overseeing the NAM’s government affairs, policy advocacy, and communications.[4] In 2011, Timmons was appointed President and CEO of the NAM, succeeding former Michigan Governor John Engler. Timmons also assumed the role of Chairman of the Board of the Manufacturing Institute – the NAM’s nonprofit affiliate focused on workforce development and education for the manufacturing sector.[5] During his presidency, he led the NAM to create the NAM Legal Center, acquire the Manufacturing Leadership Council and combine with the Innovation Research Interchange.[5]
After Donald Trump's first election as president, Timmons and the NAM were supportive of Trump's manufacturing agenda and worked closely with the White House to craft legislation on tax cuts, regulatory relief and manufacturing investment incentives.[6] Timmons led an effort to rally over 1,100 business leaders to both congratulate and commit to working with then President-elect Trump in a letter that was delivered to Trump hours after the race was called. Timmons urged the NAM members to support the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and applauded a Trump executive order to speed up pipeline construction.[6] The NAM worked with its members to provide factory venues for Trump administration speeches and events.[7]
Timmons visited the White House in March 2017 and told Trump that manufacturers felt the country had returned to the right track. "That’s because of the focus on taxes, regulations, infrastructure investment," he said, according to a transcript of the meeting. "We appreciate your commitment to investment in job creation and manufacturing."[8] On Manufacturing Day—October 6, 2017—Timmons and others joined Trump in the Oval Office for a photo op behind the Resolute Desk.[7]
During the Trump presidency, the NAM was divided on the issue of tariffs, which the NAM's larger members opposed and some of its smaller members supported, creating some distance between Timmons and the Trump administration.[7] Timmons grew more distant from the administration during the COVID-19 pandemic. He opposed protests calling for reopening the economy in April 2020, commenting on Facebook that such protestors were "IDIOTS."[9] He warned against reopening prematurely, and he promoted widespread masking, saying "It's easy, everyone can do this."[10]
In December 2020, Timmons' 88-year-old father died of COVID-19, and Timmons said that "my dad—like thousands and thousands of other Americans—would no doubt be alive if someone else had just been a little more cautious and even done something as simple and effortless as wearing a face covering...That careless individual may have taken the virus more seriously if our national leaders had modeled appropriate behavior and done more to encourage Americans to follow those simple guidelines that would have kept our country safe."[11]
After the 2020 presidential election was called for Joe Biden, the NAM issued a statement congratulating Biden.[12] As the January 6 riot at the Capitol was taking place, Timmons was one of the first industry group leaders to condemn the action and call for Trump's removal.[13] “This is chaos. It is mob rule. It is dangerous. This is sedition and should be treated as such,” Timmons said, calling on Vice President Mike Pence to "seriously consider working with the Cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment to preserve democracy.”[14]
In a Washington Post op-ed the next day, Timmons doubled down on his statement. "We cannot trust the arsonist to pretend to be the firefighter any longer. . . . President Trump needs to be held accountable."[15] He added:
On Wednesday, our democracy was savagely attacked by armed Trump supporters. The facts are clear. They were inspired by outright lies that a free and fair election had been stolen and “rigged.” They believed the president’s baseless claims that he somehow won an election that he overwhelmingly, indisputably lost. And, incited by the president, they attacked Congress to stop its members from certifying the electoral votes.[15]
