Chip Roy
Chip Roy | |
---|---|
![]() | |
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 |
Carrah Key (m. 2004) |
Children | 2 |
Education | University of Virginia (BS, MS) University of Texas at Austin (JD) |
Website | House website |
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.
Early life and education
Roy was born in Bethesda, Maryland,[2] and raised in Lovettsville, Virginia. He attended the University of Virginia, receiving a Bachelor of Science in commerce in 1994 and a Master of Science in information systems in 1995. He then spent three years as an investment banking analyst.
Roy attended the University of Texas School of Law and graduated in 2003 with a Juris Doctor.
Early career
Roy worked for then-Texas attorney general John Cornyn, and 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 Texas governor Rick Perry's administration 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 he 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
In 2018, 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 Donald 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]
2020
Roy was reelected in 2020, defeating Democratic nominee Wendy Davis[11] by seven percentage points and winning eight of the district's ten counties.[12][13]
Tenure
In May 2019, Roy was the only member of the U.S. House to raise procedural objections delaying unanimous consent for passage of a $19.1 billion disaster aid package for damage caused by Hurricane Harvey. The bill was stalled for 11 days before passing in June 2019 by a margin of 354–58, with Roy voting against it.[14] He 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.[15][16]
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 Border Patrol officials turned away people attempting to donate supplies such as diapers, toys, and hygiene items, saying they could not accept donations due to the ADA, which prevents the government from accepting "any donations other than what Congress has allocated to it."[17][Notes 1][18][19]
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.[20]
Roy was one of seven Republicans who did not support their colleagues' efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election on January 6, 2021. These seven signed a letter that, while giving credence to Trump's election fraud allegations, said Congress did not have the authority to influence the election's outcome.[21] On January 3, 2021, he objected to the seating of 67 incoming representatives, all from battleground states, saying, "it would confound basic human reason if the presidential results were to face objection while the congressional results of the same process escaped without public scrutiny."[22]
Roy is a member of the Freedom Caucus.[23]
COVID-19 pandemic
In March 2020, Roy was one of 40 representatives to vote against a COVID-19 relief bill.[24] In July 2020, he 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.[25] Roy argued that Texas was holding coronavirus numbers down; at the time, cases were surging in Texas.[25] Later that month, Roy said he would not isolate himself even though he had had a lengthy maskless interaction on the House floor with Representative Louie Gohmert, who tested positive for the virus.[26]
In May 2020, Roy said, "We need immune systems that are strong. We need immunity systems that can fight this", and "We need herd immunity." Asked whether acquiring such immunity would entail unnecessary deaths, he said that the countrywide lockdown and attendant delays in accessing cancer screenings or entering into addiction treatment, as well as mental health problems precipitated by unemployment, had increased indirect deaths and suffering.[27] He also said Maine's stay-at-home orders were reminiscent of the Nazis.[27] As of 5 January 2021, 28,219 COVID deaths and 1,843,153 COVID infections have been registered in Texas.
Committee assignments
Caucus memberships
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 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Chip Roy | 235,740 | 52.0 | |
Democratic | Wendy Davis | 205,780 | 45.4 | |
Libertarian | Arthur DiBianca | 8,666 | 1.9 | |
Green | Thomas Wakely | 3,564 | 0.8 | |
Total votes | 453,750 | 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] In 2021, he announced an indefinite sabbatical from social media, inspired in part by how he saw Israelis celebrating the Sabbath.[32][33]
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.
- ^ a b c Asher Price (April 1, 2016). "Chip Roy, conservative, runs in shadow of Cruz". Statesman.com. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e 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.
- ^ Svitek, Patrick (December 6, 2017). "Chip Roy, former chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz, is running for Congress". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- ^ a b c Alberta, Tim. "Meet the Next Ted Cruz". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- ^ "Top Paxton aide becomes executive director of pro-Cruz super PAC". 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.
- ^ Price, Asher (September 22, 2018). "Joseph Kopser to face Chip Roy in 21st Congressional District matchup". Statesman.com. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- ^ Lanmon, Lauren (November 7, 2018). "Chip Roy defeats Joseph Kopser for House District 21 race". KXAN.com. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
- ^ Tilove, Jonathan (October 6, 2020). "Chip Roy and Wendy Davis agree that the other's views are dangerous". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ "Chip Roy fends off challenge from Wendy Davis to win reelection in Texas". The Hill. November 4, 2020.
- ^ "Texas Election Results: 21st Congressional District". The New York Times. January 5, 2021. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
- ^ 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.com. 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.
- ^ Fandos, Nicholas; Shear, Michael D. (December 18, 2019). "Trump Impeached for Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 18, 2019. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
- ^ Budryk, Zack (January 3, 2021). "Coalition of 7 conservative House Republicans says they won't challenge election results". The Hill. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
- ^ Vlamis, Kelsey (January 3, 2021). "A GOP lawmaker objected to seating US representatives from battleground states in response to colleagues that plan to object to the presidential election results". Business Insider. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
- ^ Brufke, Juliegrace (September 9, 2020). "Freedom Caucus member Chip Roy touts bipartisanship in first campaign ad". The Hill.
- ^ Lee, Jasmine C. (March 14, 2020). "How Every House Member Voted on the Coronavirus Relief Bill". The New York Times. Retrieved May 29, 2020 – via Nytimes.com.
- ^ a b LeBlanc, Paul. "Texas congressman says his state is holding coronavirus numbers down, as cases surge". CNN.com. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
- ^ Foran, Clare; Raju, Manu. "Pelosi mandates masks in House chamber after Gohmert tests positive for Covid-19". CNN.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- ^ a b Livingston, Abby (May 6, 2020). "We need herd immunity". Texas Tribune. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
- ^ McPherson, Lindsey (October 31, 2018). "As House Republicans Brace for Losses, Freedom Caucus Prepares for Growth". rollcall.com. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
Potential recruits receiving Freedom Fund money this cycle include Chip Roy in Texas' 21st District, Yvette Herrell in New Mexico's 2nd District, Mark Harris in North Carolina's 9th District, Greg Steube in Florida's 17th District, Denver Riggleman in Virginia's 5th District, Mark Green in Tennessee's 7th District, Russ Fulcher in Idaho's 1st District, Ron Wright in Texas' 6th District and Ben Cline in Virginia's 6th District.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Texas 2020 election results". The Texas Tribune. November 3, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
- ^ "Why I'm taking a social media sabbatical".
- ^ "Congressman announces sabbatical from social media after experiencing Jewish Sabbath". January 13, 2021.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- Congressman Chip Roy official U.S. House website
- Chip Roy for Congress
- Assistant United States Attorneys
- 1972 births
- Living people
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas
- People from Bethesda, Maryland
- People from Lovettsville, Virginia
- Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
- 21st-century American politicians
- Texas Republicans
- University of Texas School of Law alumni
- University of Virginia alumni
- Political chiefs of staff
- United States congressional aides