Otto Passman

{{Short description|American politician}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{infobox officeholder

| name = Otto Passman

| image = Otto Passman (3x4a).jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Passman, {{circa|1971}}

| state = Louisiana

| district = {{ushr|LA|5|5th}}

| term_start = January 3, 1947

| term_end = January 3, 1977

| predecessor = Charles E. McKenzie

| successor = Jerry Huckaby

| birth_name = Otto Ernest Passman

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1900|06|27}}

| birth_place = Franklinton, Louisiana, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1988|08|13|1900|06|27}}

| death_place = Monroe, Louisiana, U.S.

| party = Democratic

| spouse = Willie Lenora Bateman
(m. {{circa|1920}}, died 1984)
{{marriage|Martha Kathryn Williams|1984}}

| children =

| relatives =

| alma_mater = Soule Business College

| occupation = {{Hlist|Appliance businessman|politician}}

| allegiance = United States

| branch = United States Navy

| branch_label = Branch

| serviceyears = 1942–1944

| rank = lieutenant commander

| battles = World War II

| battles_label = Conflict

}}

Otto Ernest Passman (June 27, 1900 – August 13, 1988) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for Louisiana's 5th congressional district from 1947 until 1977.{{Cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000098|work = Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|title=Passman, Otto Ernest}} As a congressman, Passman chaired the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Aid where he was a well-known opponent of foreign aid spending.{{Cite journal |journal=New York Times| title = Otto Passman, 88, Louisiana Congressman Who Fought Spending | page= 41 | location = New York, NY | date = August 14, 1988 }}

Passman was born on June 27, 1900, in Franklinton, Louisiana, the son of Ed and Pheriby (née Carrier) Passman.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92814283/|title=Passman Continues to Fight Giant, Tainted Foreign Giveaway|work=The Times (Shreveport)|date=1966-11-27|access-date=2022-01-17}} Passman graduated from Soule Business College in 1929, and engaged in the manufacture and sale of appliances. He married Willie Lenora Bateman in the early 1920s, and she died in 1984.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52232653/obituary-for-willie-lenora-bateman/|title=Services Held Tuesday For Passman's Wife|work=The Town Talk (Alexandria)|date=1984-01-25|access-date=2022-01-17}} He married his secretary, Martha Kathryn Williams (1926–2005), later that year in Arlington, Virginia.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92811159/obituary-for-martha-kathryn-williams/|title=Passman, Martha|work=The Atlanta Constitution|date=2005-08-29|access-date=2022-01-17}}{{cite web|url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9TY-5DHB|title=Marriage Return|work=Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Health-Division of Vital Records and Health Statistics|date=1984-12-12|access-date=2022-01-17}}

Passman served in the United States Navy during World War II from 1942 until 1944, and after the war ended, Passman ran for Congress against incumbent Congressman Charles E. McKenzie. Passman defeated McKenzie in the 1946 Democratic primary. During Passman's time in Congress, winning the Democratic primary in Louisiana was considered tantamount to election. Passman was accused of influence peddling in the time leading up to the 1976 Primary. Jerry Huckaby challenged Passman in that election and defeated him by a 53% to 47% margin.{{Cite news |newspaper=Washington Post| title = Rep. Passman Upset by New Face, A Determined La. Dairy Farmer | page= A2 | location = Washington, DC | date = August 16, 1976 }}

During his tenure, Passman was one of only three Representatives who voted to reject the Judiciary Committee's report on the Watergate scandal following Nixon's resignation; Passman joined Earl Landgrebe and Sonny Montgomery as the three opposed compared to 412 in favor.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40758521/the_south_bend_tribune/ |title=Defends Nixon to the End |date=August 21, 1974 |work=The South Bend Tribune |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218183500/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40758521/the_south_bend_tribune/ |archive-date=December 18, 2019 |url-status=live |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}

In his last years in office, Passman was sued for firing his deputy administrative assistant, Shirley Davis. When terminating Davis, Passman wrote that "it was essential that the understudy to my Administrative Assistant be a man."{{cite court |litigants=Davis v. Passman |vol=442 |reporter=U.S. |opinion=228 |pinpoint=230 |court= |date=1979 |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/442/228/}} Davis alleged a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment due to discrimination on the basis of sex. This raised a question of whether the earlier Bivens case, which authorized direct enforcement of the Fourth Amendment against federal officers, could also be expanded to other constitutional amendments. The Supreme Court determined in Davis v. Passman that Davis had a claim under Bivens and remanded the case for further hearing.{{cite court |litigants=Davis v. Passman |vol=442 |reporter=U.S. |opinion=228 |pinpoint=249 |court= |date=1979 |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/442/228/}}

After leaving Congress, Passman was charged with taking $273,000 from Tongsun Park while in Congress and was found not guilty after a trial in Monroe.{{Cite journal |journal=New York Times| title = Passman Is Acquitted On Charges of Taking Payments by Korean | page= A1 | location = New York, NY | date = April 1, 1979 }}