Chip Roy
Charles Eugene "Chip" Roy (born August 7, 1972)[1] is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Texas's 21st congressional district. He is a Republican.
Chip Roy | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 21st district | |
Assumed office January 3, 2019 | |
Preceded by | Lamar Smith |
Personal details | |
Born | Charles Eugene Roy August 7, 1972 Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Carrah Roy |
Children | 2 |
Education | University of Virginia (BS, MS) University of Texas at Austin (JD) |
Website | House website |
Early life and career
Roy was born in Bethesda, Maryland,[2] and raised in Lovettsville, Virginia. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Virginia and spent three years as an investment banking analyst. He earned his Juris Doctor at the University of Texas School of Law, and worked for then-Texas attorney general John Cornyn. Roy also worked on Cornyn's 2002 campaign for the United States Senate. When Cornyn was elected, Roy joined his staff on the United States Senate Judiciary Committee. He returned to Texas as a prosecutor in the office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas.[3]
Roy joined the administration of Texas governor Rick Perry as director of the Office of State-Federal Relations.[2][3] Roy was the ghostwriter of Perry's 2010 book Fed Up! and worked for Perry's 2012 presidential campaign.[2]
After Ted Cruz's election to the Senate in 2012, Roy became his chief of staff.[4][5] According to Politico, Roy was an "architect" of Cruz's strategy to shut down the government in 2013 over the Affordable Care Act.[6]
After Ken Paxton was elected Attorney General of Texas in 2014, Roy became first assistant attorney general.[3] In 2016 Roy left the office of the attorney general to head the Trusted Leadership PAC, which was supporting Cruz's presidential campaign.[3][7]
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2018 general election
In the 2018 elections Roy ran for the United States House of Representatives in Texas's 21st congressional district to succeed Lamar Smith, who did not run for reelection. During the campaign, Politico likened him to Ted Cruz.[6] During the campaign, Roy said that President Trump was doing a good job, citing as an example Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accords, and praising Trump for attacking "the swamp."[8][6]
Roy defeated Matt McCall in the Republican Party primary election, and faced Joseph Kopser in the general election.[9] Roy defeated Kopser 50%–48% in a closer-than-expected victory.[10]
Tenure
In May 2019, Roy was the only member of the U.S. House to raise procedural objections delaying passage of a request for unanimous consent for a $19.1 billion disaster aid package for damage caused by Hurricane Harvey. The bill was stalled for 11 days before ultimately passing in June 2019 by a margin of 354-58, with Roy voting against it.[11] Roy received bipartisan criticism for his objection to the bill. He said he voted against it because it added to the national debt and did not include additional spending for federal operations along the U.S.-Mexico border.[12][13]
On June 28, 2019, in response to the humanitarian crisis involving migrant children at the southern border, Roy proposed legislation to amend the Antideficiency Act (ADA) to allow the United States Border Patrol to accept donations from people who want to help migrant children directly. The bill was filed after people attempting to donate supplies such as diapers, toys, and hygiene items were turned away by Border Patrol officials who said they were not accepting donations due to the ADA, which prevents the government from accepting "any donations other than what Congress has allocated to it."[14][14][Notes 1][15][16]
He is a member of the Freedom Caucus.
On December 18, 2019, Roy voted against both articles of impeachment against Trump. Of the 195 Republicans who voted, all voted against both impeachment articles.
In March 2020, Roy was one of 40 representatives to vote against a coronavirus relief bill.[17] In July 2020, Roy blamed surging coronavirus cases in Southern Texas on "people coming across our border" from Mexico; at the time, the border with Mexico had been closed for all nonessential activity since March.[18] Roy argued that Texas was holding coronavirus numbers down; at the time, cases were surging in Texas.[18] Later that month, Roy said he would not isolate himself even though he had had a lengthy maskless interaction with Representative Louie Gohmert, who tested positive for the coronavirus, on the House floor.[19]
Committee assignments
Electoral history
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Chip Roy | 19,319 | 27.1 | |
Republican | Matt McCall | 12,088 | 16.9 | |
Republican | William Negley | 11,088 | 15.5 | |
Republican | Jason Isaac | 7,165 | 10.0 | |
Republican | Jenifer Sarver | 4,001 | 5.6 | |
Republican | Robert Stovall | 3,396 | 4.7 | |
Republican | Susan Narvaiz | 2,710 | 3.8 | |
Republican | Francisco "Quico" Canseco | 2,484 | 3.5 | |
Republican | Ryan Krause | 2,289 | 3.2 | |
Republican | Al M. Poteet | 1,292 | 1.8 | |
Republican | Peggy Wardlaw | 1,281 | 1.8 | |
Republican | Samuel Temple | 1,017 | 1.4 | |
Republican | Anthony J. White | 949 | 1.3 | |
Republican | Eric Burkhart | 719 | 1.0 | |
Republican | Mauro Garza | 657 | 0.9 | |
Republican | Autry J. Pruitt | 454 | 0.6 | |
Republican | Foster Hagen | 392 | 0.5 | |
Republican | Ivan A. Andarza | 95 | 0.1 | |
Total votes | 71,396 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Chip Roy | 17,856 | 52.6 | |
Republican | Matt McCall | 16,081 | 47.4 | |
Total votes | 33,937 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Chip Roy | 177,654 | 50.3 | |
Democratic | Joseph Kopser | 168,421 | 47.6 | |
Libertarian | Lee Santos | 7,542 | 2.1 | |
Total votes | 353,617 | 100.0 | ||
Republican hold |
Personal life
Roy met his wife, Carrah, at the University of Texas. They have two children. Roy was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2011.[3]
Notes
- According to a 2013 article in The Atlantic, the Antideficiency Act (ADA) was originally intended to prevent federal agencies, particularly the military, from overspending their annual budgets early in a fiscal year. Once their funds were depleted, prior to ADA, agencies would then request additional Congressional appropriations forcing Congress to pay so they would not breach their contracts. According to a 2018 CRS report, under the Antideficiency Act, an "agency must cease operations" if there is a "funding gap". In shutdowns, "the criteria" are complex." Since the early 1980s (CRS 2018:5) with a more stringent application of ADA, when there are government shutdowns in the United States, and an agency no longer has funds to operate, they must shut down. They cannot depend on voluntary work of their employees.
References
- "Chip Roy (TX-21) Backgrounder" (PDF). kopserforcongress.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
- Asher Price (April 1, 2016). "Chip Roy, conservative, runs in shadow of Cruz - News - Austin American-Statesman - Austin, TX". Statesman.com. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- Chasnoff, Brian (May 13, 2018). "Chip Roy's plan to get Washington out of the way includes going there himself". ExpressNews.com. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- "Ted Cruz picks chief of staff: Chip Roy, chief ghostwriter on Rick Perry's anti-Washington tome Fed Up! | Politics". Dallas News. November 28, 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- Patrick Svitek (December 6, 2017). "Chip Roy, former chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz, is running for Congress". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- Alberta, Tim. "Meet the Next Ted Cruz". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- "Top Paxton aide becomes executive director of pro-Cruz super PAC | Politics". Dallas News. March 10, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- Rodriguez-Ortiz, Omar (October 23, 2018). "Chip Roy on Trump, Republicans, health care and the national debt". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- Asher Price (September 22, 2018). "Joseph Kopser to face Chip Roy in 21st Congressional District matchup - News - Austin American-Statesman - Austin, TX". Statesman.com. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- Lanmon, Lauren (November 7, 2018). "Chip Roy defeats Joseph Kopser for House District 21 race". KXAN. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
- Willis, Adam (June 3, 2019). "After delay initiated by U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, Congress finally passes $19.1 billion disaster aid package". Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
- "$19.1 billion in nationwide disaster aid stalls after single House Republican objects". The Washington Post. May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- "Disaster relief bill stuck in the House following GOP lawmaker's objection". CNN. May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- Samuels, Alex (June 28, 2019). "Texas lawmaker files bill to allow donations of diapers, other goods to migrant kids in Border Patrol facilities". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
- Cohen, Andrew (September 28, 2013). "The Odd Story of the Law That Dictates How Government Shutdowns Work". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
- Shutdown of the Federal Government: Causes, Processes, and Effects (PDF) (Report). Congressional Research Service (CRS). December 10, 2018. p. 41. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
- By JASMINE C. LEE MARCH 14, 2020 (March 14, 2020). "How Every House Member Voted on the Coronavirus Relief Bill - The New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
- CNN, Paul LeBlanc. "Texas congressman says his state is holding coronavirus numbers down, as cases surge". CNN. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
- CNN, Clare Foran and Manu Raju. "Pelosi mandates masks in House chamber after Gohmert tests positive for Covid-19". CNN. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- "2018 Primary Election Official Results". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
- "Texas Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
External links
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Wikiquote has quotations related to: Chip Roy |
- Congressman Chip Roy official U.S. House website
- Chip Roy for Congress
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Profile at Vote Smart
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
- Appearances on C-SPAN
U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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Preceded by Lamar Smith |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 21st congressional district 2019–present |
Incumbent |
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
Preceded by Harley Rouda |
United States Representatives by seniority 402nd |
Succeeded by Kim Schrier |