Chip Roy

Roy was born in Bethesda, Maryland, After graduating from Loudoun Valley High School, Roy attended the University of Virginia, receiving a Bachelor of Science in commerce in 1994 and a Master of Science in information systems in 1995. After graduation Roy spent three years as an investment banking analyst, after which he decided to pursue a different career. He enrolled at the University of Texas School of Law, where he met his future wife, Carrah. He graduated in 2003 with a Juris Doctor. ==Early career==

Cornyn staff Though initially Roy saw politics "as an avocation, a sort of interest, but not something I would do anytime soon, if ever", When Cornyn was elected and made vice chairman of the Republican Committee and the Judiciary Committee, Roy served as his staff director and senior counsel. Roy provided counsel for Cornyn and his staff on legislative issues including nominations, intellectual property, crime, civil justice reform and advising him during the immigration reform debates under the George W. Bush administration. Roy returned to Texas as a special assistant in the office of the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Texas. In 2006, Roy met Ted Cruz, then Texas solicitor general, during a strategy session discussing the case League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry, a case about redistricting that Cruz argued before the United States Supreme Court. He promised to help Texas legislators "push back on Washington where necessary" and stand up for "liberty, state sovereignty and an end to the crippling pile of debt and regulation coming from Washington that is destroying our nation and endangering the state." When asked about the recent Texas House vote to slash most of the office's funds, transferring them to a tuition reimbursement program for children of the military, he said it was "hardly surprising…I might have voted to cut it as well, based on what I understand of the office, but possibly without hiding behind the political gamesmanship of moving it from one account to another." The week of his 39th birthday in August 2011, Roy was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma. While working for Cruz, Roy gained attention for criticizing other Republicans who did not join Cruz in demanding Obamacare be defunded before voting to keep the government running past September 30, 2013. During the 2013 United States federal government shutdown, Roy's main tasks were behind the scenes, plotting a course through the media coverage and determining tactics when Republican allies deserted the cause and the party's leadership became increasingly hostile. Roy told a reporter that his job was to advance Cruz's priorities, and he had not been told to stand down: "The Washington establishment uses every tool at its disposal to push its own narrative on the American public—and in this case, it's the narrative of 'we can't.' They plant stories, strong-arm members and try to create fake 'wins' for cover that simply do not change the status quo. It is important that we push back." On September 25, 2013, Cruz and Roy met with trusted staffers and Cruz read aloud from Psalm 40 (which includes the line "troubles without number surround me") and then took to the Senate floor for a 21-hour speech against Obamacare. In September 2014, as Cruz contemplated a 2016 presidential campaign, Roy's duties in his office moved from chief of staff to top political strategist. During the exploratory phase of Cruz's campaign, Roy and Cruz got into an argument about political tactics and strategy that became heated enough to cause Roy to leave Cruz's Senate staff. Despite the level of disagreement, they discussed working together in the future. Cruz later recalled, "We often agreed, but not always, and we would have vigorous debates. Chip never backs down, and we would have extended discussions about which battles should be the highest priority." Texas assistant attorney general In 2014, despite controversy over the Texas State Securities Board issuing a disciplinary order against him for soliciting investment clients without being registered in the state, Ken Paxton easily won election as Texas attorney general. Roy's continuing battle with cancer influenced his decision to return to Texas, as he wished to be close to his family rather than commute weekly to Washington, D.C. or travel extensively on a presidential campaign. Paxton maintained his innocence, but news stories continued to focus on the charges. Due to Paxton's decision to work from his home in McKinney rather than the capital in Austin, reporters covering the office's work highlighted the rolls of his solicitor general Scott Keller, his chief of staff Bernard McNamee, and especially Roy. Reporters also began to investigate whether Paxton had broken state law in the way he had hired staff: giving people the job before they filled out an application and without first advertising openings before filing them with people from outside the department. Paxton's choice to replace Roy was Jeff Mateer from First Liberty Institute, who had attracted notoriety by offering to represent, pro bono, any business that wished to sue the city of Plano over its anti-LGBT discrimination ordinance. The PAC was formed to bring the preexisting separate Cruz-supporting PACs into a single operating structure. Roy fully resigned, maintaining that doing so was the result of a good report from his oncologist. == U.S. House of Representatives ==

Elections 2018 In 2018, Roy ran for the United States House of Representatives in to succeed Lamar Smith, who did not run for reelection. Covering his campaign, Politico likened him to Cruz. Roy also echoed Trump's position about a "deep state", which he defined as "entrenched bureaucrat[s] who hide something from the political decision-makers" causing "pushback from deep within the bowels of each of the agencies." The Club for Growth supported his candidacy. McCall credited much of Roy's victory to Cruz's endorsement and efforts. McCall said that Cruz was able to convince others to endorse Roy, even Louie Gohmert, whom McCall hailed as his congressional role model. 50%–48%, a closer than expected margin. This was easily the closest race in the 21st since the GOP first took the seat in 1978; it was the first time since then that a Democrat won as much as 40 percent of the vote. 2020 As the 2020 electoral season approached, Democrats sought to associate Roy with Cruz, whose popularity was seen as in decline. Roy was reelected, defeating Democratic nominee Wendy Davis by seven points and winning eight of the district's 10 counties. 2022 The Wall Street Journal described Roy's Republican primary race of 2022 as "a case study in whether a conservative Republican usually aligned with Mr. Trump can survive politically after angering the former president—even a modest amount." Tenure Coming into office, Roy cast himself as a conservative version of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: "I doubt she and I agree on many issues. But functionally, this place is broken." Soon after taking office, Roy opposed a bill in the House that tried to prevent Trump from withdrawing from NATO without Congress's consent. It passed, 357 to 22. In 2021, a recording of Roy surfaced in which he said he wanted "18 more months of chaos and the inability to get stuff done" during a Democratic-controlled Congress and presidency. Roy's conservative positions have frequently put him in conflict with House GOP leadership. Relief bill opposition On May 24, 2019, Roy singlehandedly halted a House disaster relief funding bill that gave $19 billion in relief for communities hit by disasters, including $900 million for hurricane-damaged Puerto Rico, and fast-tracked $4 billion in grants to Texans suffering due to the effects of Hurricane Harvey. The money for Texas had been approved in 2018 but held up due to working out regulations with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Office of Management and Budget. Cornyn had championed the bill and Cruz voted for it. House leaders of both parties had agreed to advance the bill under a quick procedure rule that required unanimous consent of those in the chamber. Most members of Congress had already left Washington for the Memorial Day recess. The day before, the Senate had passed the bill 85–8, and the House had passed a similar version earlier in the month 257–150. Due to Roy's objection, the unanimous consent vote was derailed. Roy blamed Nancy Pelosi for the previous delay in Texans receiving the funds and voiced his dislike of procedure being used. During other pro forma sessions, Roy's tactic was adopted by Representatives Thomas Massie and John Rose, who returned to Washington during the recess week for two more similar unanimous consent request attempts. Ultimately Roy's action delayed the bill's passage for several days until lawmakers returned from recess. Hurricane season began on June 1 and coastal communities soon began seeing flooding amid strong storms. The bill was stalled for 11 days before passing on June 3 by a margin of 354–58, with Roy voting against it. Roy received bipartisan criticism for his objection to the bill. He explained his vote against the measure, saying it added to the national debt and did not include additional spending for federal operations along the U.S.–Mexico border. Five other Texas representatives joined Roy in opposing the bill: Lance Gooden, John Ratcliffe, Van Taylor, Ron Wright, and Michael Cloud (whose district bore the direct brunt of Hurricane Harvey). Roy continued to call for roll-call votes for each of the dozens of amendments offered. This caused members of both parties to voice displeasure with him and cancel their evening plans. Roy himself canceled his plans for his 15-year wedding anniversary. The Texas Tribune reported that by such tactics Roy within "a span of just three weeks…established a reputation as the leading obstructionist in the House." Response to Paxton allegations On October 5, 2020, while campaigning for reelection, Roy called for Paxton's resignation after seven senior leaders within his office (including Roy's replacement, Jeff Mateer) accused him of bribery, abuse of office, and other charges. Roy noted that rather than address the charges and demonstrate their falsity, Paxton had attacked the staffers' character. He took particular issue with Paxton's choice "to attack the very people entrusted, by him, to lead the office—some of whom I know well and whose character are beyond reproach." Hours after Roy's call for him to step down, Paxton released a statement saying, "Despite the effort by rogue employees and their false allegations I will continue to seek justice in Texas and will not be resigning." The charges arose from Paxton's relationship with Nate Paul, an Austin real estate developer who donated $25,000 to Paxton's 2018 campaign. Paxton claimed that his office had been referred a case investigating an FBI raid in August 2019 of Paul's offices and home which had "allegations of crimes relating to the FBI, other government agencies and individuals". Response to 2020 presidential election Over 100 text messages gathered by the January 6th Commission revealed the coordination by Roy and Utah's U.S. Senator Mike Lee with Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to overturn Trump's defeat in the 2020 election. On November 7, 2020, before traveling to Georgia to help fight the election results there, Roy texted Meadows: "Dude, we need ammo. We need fraud examples. We need it this weekend": two days earlier, he had texted Meadows: "We have no tools / data / information to go out and fight RE: election / fraud. If you need / want it, we all need to know what's going on." On the same day, he also appealed to Meadows to have "The President tone down the rhetoric, and approach the legal challenge firmly, intelligently and effectively without resorting to throwing wild desperate haymakers, or whipping his base into a conspiracy frenzy." They signed a letter that, while giving credence to the idea that "significant abuses in our election system resulting from the reckless adoption of mail-in ballots and the lack of safeguards maintained to guarantee that only legitimate votes are cast and counted," held that "only the states have authority to appoint electors, in accordance with state law. Congress has only a narrow role in the presidential election process. Its job is to count the electors submitted by the states, not to determine which electors the states should have sent." They pointed to the Twelfth Amendment in support of their position, and wrote, "As of this moment, not a single state has submitted multiple conflicting slates of electoral votes. …Unless that happens between now and January 6, 2021, Congress will have no authority to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election." He added, "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." Roy apologized to those who had come to the swearing-in ceremony and said that if a colleague objected to his own seating in response he would welcome a vote. The Dallas Morning News wrote that Roy's actions were "a dramatic escalation in the GOP feud" over the counting of electoral votes, noting Roy was in the minority of his party but "a conservative firebrand...[who] has developed a reputation for a damn-the-consequences approach to doing what he thinks is right, even if it means irking his fellow Republicans." I heard that repeatedly from people in that bar. I had called the Sheriff of Hays County earlier that day to tell him to look after Carrah and the kids and I told friends here in town to look after Carrah and the kids because I could tell things were getting a little amped up. And that night I re-texted the sheriff and said 'Please be keeping an eye out for Carrah and the kids' because the temperature was so high." The next day, when there was an objection to counting Arizona's electoral votes, Roy went with the other members of the House to debate their acceptance. He began seeing notifications on social media of an angry mob outside the Capitol and began texting his staff to try to ensure their safety in the Longworth office building. Legislators paused the debate when the Capitol police announced a breach in the building, but thinking it isolated, resumed debate. Roy was in the well of the lectern about fourth in line to the microphone, where he planned to object to those objecting to the electoral votes. After Capitol police instructed members to hunker in place and make use of their emergency gas masks, Roy tweeted, "To those storming the Capitol - I am on the House floor and I will not be deterred from upholding my oath, under God, to the Constitution by mob demand." Roy felt to stay in the chamber would be like a "sitting duck" and was able to get Capitol police to direct representatives to a secure exit. Upon receiving their instructions, Roy went to the indicated door and called for his fellow members to exit through it while he held it open. During the January 6 Capitol attack, Roy was in the House chamber. He tweeted to Trump, "Mr. President - get to a microphone immediately and establish calm and order. Now. And work with Capitol Police to secure the Capitol. It's the last thing you'll do that matters as President." He later told a reporter, "We must enforce the law. People have breached the Capitol, they need to go to jail. It's dangerous. A lot of people there with a lot of emotions running high. Look, I wish the president had spun people to—as I said, on the floor of the House of Representatives [Wednesday] night—to believe things that were not going to happen, and that was unfortunate." As Congress prepared to return to the chambers, Roy tweeted, "We will reconvene. We will vote to accept the electors from the states, as instructed by the Constitution. That is our job." Even as Roy's favorability dropped significantly in his district, he said he had no regrets: "I did not take an oath to the political expediency of either Donald Trump or any other member of a political party. I took an oath to the Constitution of the United States. My view is immovable in that regard. And for those raising questions about it, I want to know where they were—precisely where they were—when a Capitol Hill police officer was getting his head bashed in by a fire extinguisher by an angry mob spun up in no small part by the president's irresponsible actions." Roy joined all of Texas's House Republicans in voting against impeachment. When asked whether he or any of his fellow Republicans had been threatened with violence if they voted to impeach, Roy said, "I'm not aware of any specific threats against me or anybody else. Honestly, if somebody would have threatened me, I probably would have said FU and voted to impeach. I just don't react well to that sort of thing." That same day the media learned that Cruz would join representatives Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar in objecting to the certification of Arizona's electoral votes, despite Attorney General William Barr's declaration that there was no evidence of fraud and despite every lawsuit put forward to challenge the outcome in Arizona having been dismissed or dropped by Trump's legal team. Cruz led a coalition of 11 Republican senators demanding an audit. Cruz's objections to Arizona were joined by Senator Josh Hawley challenging Pennsylvania's electoral votes and Senator Kelly Loeffler those of Georgia. In contrast, Roy called on his fellow legislators to recall that "we have sworn an oath to promote the Constitution above our policy goals" and that they had a duty to follow its text. On February 1, Ocasio-Cortez detailed her experience on January 6, which was compounded by the trauma of being a sexual assault survivor, saying, "Ted Cruz and Representatives Chip Roy, and, oh, by the way, some of the other representatives who actually encouraged people to threaten members of Congress, or tweeted out the location of the Speaker, are now telling me to apologize for saying and speak truth to what happened. These are the tactics that abusers use. The folks who are saying, 'We should move on,' 'We shouldn't have accountability,' etc., are saying, 'Can you just forget about this so we can do it again?'" Roy replied that he was saddened to learn she had been a victim of sexual assault, but "I will not be swayed from my beliefs about right and wrong—regarding this or anything else." He took issue with being accused of using abuser tactics: "Her comparison of my defense of colleagues to her circumstances were again inappropriate…It does not change the fact that her allegation against Sen. Cruz was completely unacceptable for a Member of Congress to make against another member for engaging in free speech and debate about what our Constitution says about electors. Nor does it change my position that she should apologize for and retract those remarks." Procedural protest, 2021 On March 8, 2021, 13 suspension bills—bills brought up under suspension of House rules—were scheduled to be put forward on the House floor, including a measure with overwhelming Republican support to present the U.S. Capitol Police with a Congressional Gold Medal. These plans were scrapped because Roy and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene expressed their intent to demand recorded roll call votes for each bill. As this parliamentary maneuver would have forced voting to go into the early morning, the leadership rescheduled the voting. He said his motivation was to force conversations over how to make Congress "work better" as "This place is completely dysfunctional." Roy also criticized the Democratic leadership for doing away with the "motion to recommit", which Republicans in the previous Congress had used to force last-minute changes to legislation on the House floor. House minority whip Steve Scalise made clear the House Republican leadership had not planned or approved Roy's remarks, but also said he too wanted "to see an open process." The Republican caucus, increasingly annoyed by Greene's tactics, were more supportive of Roy's, as the timing allowed both the protest to gain attention, along with a rescheduling that prevented mass disruption. In its coverage of the episode, Politico called Roy "a master of procedural delays on the floor." Roy, who had earlier said, "These words all matter, right? …I have to study the language fully", supported the measure. The final vote tally was 413–12. The bill moved to the Senate, which had passed its own version. A new bill was created to resolve the differences between the two versions. The largest change was the addition of having a medal displayed inside the Capitol itself, and lines that added those Capitol Police officers who suffered under the car ramming attack on a Senate security barricade on April 2, 2021. The revised bill returned to the House and was put up for a vote on June 15. Despite his vote in March, Roy joined 20 other Republicans in voting against this version, which passed, 406–21. Roy released a statement saying the original "legislation has since been amended to include events that have absolutely nothing to do with January 6th. Instead of honoring our men and women of law enforcement, Democrats are playing political games with the tragedy of April 2, 2021." Leadership bid Roy defended Representative Liz Cheney when the House voted to strip her of her position as chair of the House Republican Conference over her criticism of Trump. On January 13, 2021, he said: "It has come to my attention that a number of my colleagues are circulating calls for Liz Cheney to step down from, or to be removed as, chair of the Republican Conference for her position in support of impeachment of the president. I reject this call, and offer my support. …there can be little debate that, among other things, the president's pressure exerted on Vice President Pence to violate his oath, and the false hope it sent to emotionally charged supporters, was wrong, troubling, and impeachable. Liz should be commended, not condemned, for standing up in defense of the Constitution and standing true to her beliefs." On May 11, Roy released a memo calling the conference to be clear that the controversy over Cheney was not about her position that the election "was not stolen", but rather that she had "forfeited her ability to be our spokesperson by pulling us into distraction. …looking backwards while repeatedly and unhelpfully engaging in personal attacks and finger-wagging towards President Trump rather than leading the conference forward with a unifying message." He said the conference should be "fighting to stop the radical Democrat agenda" rather than "falling prey to the high drama of swamp politics." After Representative Elise Stefanik announced that she would run to succeed Cheney, Roy and other conservative Republicans had discussed concerns over Stefanik's comparably moderate voting record, with Roy taking the lead in this group. His May 11 memo accused Stefanik of campaigning as a Republican but supporting the Democrats' agenda once sworn in. Representative Lance Gooden told a reporter that with the amount of support Stefanik had gathered, her victory seemed virtually assured, so "One of the problems of those who had issues with Elise were that no one had really stepped forward to run against her, they were being critical, but no one really seemed to have the nerve to put their name down. So it seems as if Chip Roy is that candidate." Roy's fundraising campaign sent out donation requests that emphasized his opposition to Cheney. By May 13, shortly before a scheduled candidate forum, Roy officially announced his candidacy for the position. He cited what he saw as Stefanik's lack of conservative qualifications and the rapid pace of the process as his reasons for running. (After Cheney was ousted that Wednesday, McCarthy had scheduled the forum for Thursday evening and the vote for Friday morning.) After Trump released a statement opposing Roy, the conservative group FreedomWorks came out in support of Roy, saying they were pleased to hear of his nomination, and that "Rep. Roy has a lifetime 100% voting record on our scorecard. He has demonstrated that Republicans can legislate based on conservative principles and also get elected in competitive districts." Roy lost the election to Stefanik in a secret ballot, 134–46. On May 13, Roy and Representative Thomas Massie sent Attorney General Merrick Garland a letter expressing concern that those facing federal charges for participation in the January 6 rioters would be subject to "overly aggressive tactics, overcharge, and abuse of power of the federal government in order to satisfy favored political groups." Emmett Till Antilynching Act Roy, Andrew Clyde and Thomas Massie were the only House members to vote against the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which passed the 117th United States Congress. 2023 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives elections On January 3, 2023, at the beginning of the 118th Congress, during the election of the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Roy nominated and voted for Byron Donalds for Speaker, in rebuke of House minority leader Kevin McCarthy. Roy became a leader in the negotiation process for the holdouts against McCarthy. Roy and his group of about 20 wanted: (1) to bring down the threshold for calling a vote of no confidence against the speaker to one member, (2) more enforcement to allow more time to read bills, (3) a greater role for the House Freedom Caucus in Republican leadership, requiring Republican leadership to refrain from being involved in primary elections, Roy switched his vote to McCarthy on the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th ballots. During the October 2023 speaker election, as the House Republican Conference considered choosing Majority Leader Steve Scalise or Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan as their nominee for Speaker, Roy (who supported Jordan) made a proposal that would have required 217 of the 221 members to support the eventual nominee before a floor vote could be held; the idea was tabled 135-88. Jordan was ultimately nominated, and Roy voted for him on the first three floor ballots. On the fourth ballot, Roy, along with all other present Republicans, voted for the new nominee Mike Johnson, who was elected Speaker. Debt ceiling In December 2024, Roy opposed raising the United States debt ceiling. As a result, Donald Trump criticised him and encouraged Texas Republicans to consider a primary challenge. Congressional stock trading On September 3rd, 2025, Roy, along with a bipartisan group of 16 cosponsors introduced the Restore Trust in Congress Act (H.R. 5106) which would ban members of Congress, as well as their spouses and dependents, from owning or trading stocks. The bill had 119 cosponsors as of December 2025. Committee assignments Current • Committee on Judiciary • Committee on Veterans' Affairs Previous • Committee on Oversight and Reform • Committee on the Budget Caucus memberships • Freedom Caucus • Republican Study Committee ==Political positions==

During the 117th Congress, Roy voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 1.8% of the time according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis. Voting rights In January 2025, Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21) reintroduced the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to prevent non-citizens from voting in U.S. elections. This bill was passed in the House of Representatives in 2024, but not in the Senate. Critics point out that provisions in the bill would prevent many married women from registering to vote, as one's name must match one's birth certificate to register. If a discrepancy exists, proof of name change or marriage license would not meet the identification requirements of the bill. Instead, other acceptable documentation, such as a U S. passport, may require a lengthy and/or expensive process to obtain. The net effect of this bill would likely not prevent non-U.S. citizens from voting, which is already illegal, but rather may prevent many women who are U.S. citizens from voting. COVID-19 pandemic On March 13, 2020, Trump declared the COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency, allowing access to billions in aid. The same day, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Speaker Nancy Pelosi concluded negotiations for a COVID-19 relief bill. The $2.2 billion measure included funding for free testing for the uninsured, paid sick leave, $1 billion for food aid, and extended unemployment along with other measures to address Americans affected by the pandemic. The next morning, Roy was among the Republican representatives who voted against the bill, calling it "welfare". The bill passed 363–40. As the pandemic began to spread, Maine governor Janet Mills released an executive order on April 3 calling on out-of-state visitors to self-quarantine for 14 days after entering Maine. Maine's law enforcement held that the order would be difficult to enforce due to limited staffing and that it was mainly an effort to have neighbors encourage each other to comply with the rules. Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce told reporters, "If we receive a complaint we will send a deputy to educate the person about the quarantine but trying to build a case or enforce the order is unrealistic." On April 6, Roy guested on The Mark Levin Show and criticized governors like Mills who had responded forcefully to the pandemic, saying that they were following projections about infections that were mere guesses "not even [based on statistical] models, they are fingers in the air. And they are throwing them out there and they are causing the American people to freak out and panic instead of going through this logically." Roy also said that state authorities defining which businesses were essential was a form of tyranny: "I always get entertained or really frankly ticked off at these local county judges and mayors and these little tinpot dictators that are making decisions about peoples' lives when they declare what is and is not an essential business. ..You know what? Any business is essential to its owner and the people who work there. Every single one of them... and all the central planners effectively are deciding how we live our lives." 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. In a July 28 appearance with talk show host Steve Deace, Roy suggested that the stay-at-home orders imposed in response to the pandemic were a part of "a fraud being perpetrated on the American people of fear. We are literally, purposely allowing the government...we are purposely causing fear among the American people by virtue of the actions or inactions of our government leaders and then allowing the media to spin up that fear. That is unfortunate and it is costing lives and it's costing economic activity, it's costing jobs and it's costing mental health, and it's frankly undermining our national security and the health of our nation, and frankly I don't think that's accidental. I think that is all about design and all about reclaiming power in November and I think on November fourth there'll be a magic awakening of how we can suddenly beat the virus. …[We need to] start raising a fuss, say 'this is my country. I want my country back, and I want to live healthily and I don't want a bureaucrat government or insurance or otherwise standing between me and my doctor; me and my ability to stay healthy; me and my ability to live free.' And that's what's happening and we need to stop it." Roy said that Texas was holding COVID-19 cases down; in fact, cases were surging in Texas at the time. Roy retweeted a comment by Deace on November 13 that said, "We are not going to honor any of these CDC Thanksgiving guidelines, and instead will intentionally violate them all. But thanks." Roy's tweet added, "I will do whatever I want to do on Thanksgiving. Period. #StandUpForAmerica". Two days later, Roy retweeted his earlier tweet and added, "I apologize to the folks who have raised concerns that I said 'I will do whatever I want to do on Thanksgiving. Period.' I should have been more clear, so here it goes: 'I will do whatever I want to do on Thanksgiving … or any other day … Period.'" On December 23, 2020, Roy joined Trump's opposition to a recently passed $900 billion COVID-19 relief package, saying, "This bill is an irresponsible swamp bill. It is the merger of an omnibus bill that is bloated with typical wasteful spending, on top of a relief bill that has a whole lot of things in it that frankly aren't all that focused on relief. The president's right to call B.S. on this ridiculous bill. Both parties are at fault. …The American people don't just want another check, they want us to do our job like they have to do when they sit around their kitchen table and small businesses have to do when they are trying to make ends meet and America's leadership in Washington refuses to do what they have to do." After Republican leadership pushed back on Trump's claim that the bipartisan legislation was a "disgrace", Trump signed the bill, which was attached to a $1.4 trillion spending measure to keep the government running through September 2021. On January 12, 2021, the House implemented a rule about wearing masks on the floor, with violators to receive a warning and then fines that would be deducted from their salary and could not be paid out of campaign funds or expense accounts. Roy joined about a dozen Republican House members, led by Marjorie Taylor Greene and including Thomas Massie, Lauren Boebert, Ralph Norman, Beth Van Duyne, Louis Gohmert, and Mary Miller, in a protest against mask wearing in the chamber on May 18, 2021. They positioned themselves in front of C-SPAN cameras, grouping together to take selfies and posting them on Twitter. Despite House Republicans' formal effort to set the rule aside on May 19, 2021, it was kept in place, with the Capitol physician reiterating, "Extra precautions are necessary given the substantial number of partially vaccinated, unvaccinated, and vaccine-indeterminate individuals." Roy was among the Republican House members reprimanded for not wearing a mask on the House floor. He was warned that additional instances would result in $500 fine (with fines going up to $2,500 thereafter). He did not respond to reporters asking whether he had been vaccinated. Along with Matt Gaetz and a handful of Republicans, Roy broke with his party and voted to end Saudi assistance to the War in Yemen. In March 2021, Roy was one of 14 House Republicans to vote against a measure condemning the Myanmar coup d'état (Paul Gosar voted "present"). After the vote, The Washington Post noted a pattern of a small group of House Republicans, including Roy, who on several occasions "objected to what would seem to most observers as an unobjectionable proposal." In June 2021, Roy was one of 49 House Republicans to vote to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. In September 2021, Roy was among 75 House Republicans to vote against the National Defense Authorization Act of 2022, which contains a provision that would require women to be drafted. Roy was among 19 House Republicans to vote against the final passage of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. In July 2022, Roy was one of 18 Republicans to vote against ratifying Sweden's and Finland's applications for NATO membership. In 2023, Roy was among 47 Republicans to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21 which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days. In December 2023, Roy introduced legislation to withdraw the United States from the United Nations, titled the "Disengaging Entirely from the United Nations Debacle (DEFUND) Act." On March 19, 2024, Roy voted NAY to House Resolution 149 Condemning the illegal abduction and forcible transfer of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation. He was one of nine Republicans to do so. In August 2025, Roy wrote that he was "Deeply concerned about the incoming flights (...) allegedly filled with folks from Gaza" Hate crimes against Asian Americans During a congressional hearing held in the wake of a mass shooting in Atlanta that killed eight people, including six Asian-American women, Roy questioned whether the committee's attempts to prevent hate crimes and hate incidents against Asian Americans would hamper free speech. His opening statement also included a remark that appeared to advocate lynching: "There are old sayings in Texas about find all the rope in Texas and get a tall oak tree. We take justice very seriously. And we ought to do that. Round up the bad guys." His statements prompted criticism from Democrats, including Representative Grace Meng, who said, "This hearing was to address the hurt and pain of our community, to find solutions. And we will not let you take our voice from us." After the hearing, Roy declined to apologize and complained about "Chinese Communists who seek to destroy us", while clarifying that he meant that the discussion should focus on "taking out bad guys" instead of addressing issues like hate speech. On May 18, 2021, Roy was one of 62 Republicans to vote against a bill that ordered the Department of Justice to expedite the review of COVID-19-related hate crimes reported to law enforcement and help establish ways to report indictments online. The bill also directed the Department of Justice to perform public outreach on the issue, and instructed the Attorney General and the Department of Health and Human Services to issue best-practice guidance on how to mitigate racially discriminatory language for describing the pandemic. Juneteenth Roy was one of 14 Republicans to vote against the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, which passed, 415–14. The bill recognized as a public holiday a commemoration of June 19, 1865, the day slaves in Galveston, Texas, learned that two and a half years earlier President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing any slave held in rebel states. Roy took issue with the bill's name, saying, "Juneteenth should be commemorated …[but] the holiday should not be called 'Juneteenth National Independence Day' but rather 'Juneteenth National Emancipation (or Freedom or otherwise) Day.' This name needlessly divides our nation on a matter that should instead bring us together by creating a separate Independence Day based on the color of one's skin." Immigration and Islam On June 28, 2019, Roy responded to stories of people being turned away after attempting to donate goods (such as diapers, soaps, sanitary wipes, and toys) to migrant children and families being held by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The rejection was due to the Antideficiency Act, which mandates that government agencies cannot accept donations or spend any money other than that allocated by Congress. Roy put forward a bill called the Charitable Donations Freedom Act, which would amend the mandate to allow donations of goods. In response to worries that the wording may be too broad and limit Congressional oversight, Roy said he was willing to "work to make sure it's not either too narrow or too broad." On June 28, 2019, the bill was referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. In a July 2019 hearing on border detention conditions, in order to emphasize that she was telling the truth, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked to be sworn in, taking the role of a witness at a House panel before relating a story about a migrant woman who said she had to drink water from a toilet because her sink broke. In response, Roy accused her of political theatrics and playing to her Twitter followers. On February 10, 2021, Roy coauthored a letter with 50 other members of Congress criticizing President Joe Biden for refocusing treatment of immigrants under Title 42 health regulations, rather than Title 8, which deals with asylum claims, primarily Homeland Security and Executive Office for Immigration Review matters. Roy voted against the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 which would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, to increase the per-country numerical limitation for family-sponsored immigrants, and for other purposes. Roy voted against the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 which authorizes DHS to nearly double the available H-2B visas for the remainder of FY 2020. Roy voted against Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 1158), which effectively prohibits ICE from cooperating with Health and Human Services to detain or remove illegal alien sponsors of unaccompanied alien children (UACs). He has received past endorsements from anti-immigration groups such as NumbersUSA and the Federation for American Immigration Reform. In 2025, Roy proposed legislation called the "PAUSE Act" which would halt all immigration into the United States until "certain objectives" are accomplished. Following the 2026 Austin bar shooting, Roy again called for halting immigration to the United States, singling out the immigration of Muslims in particular, warning against the "mass migration of Islamists." In an appearance on Newsmax, Roy said "Twenty-five years have passed [since 9/11]. During that time, we have admitted into the United States 5 million people from majority-Muslim countries. Islam is on the march, all in concert with their memorandum from the Muslim Brotherhood." Roy further criticized the building of mosques in Texas, declaring that the "Islamic fight against the West" is a "real war." Roy called for removing Muslims from Texas, posting on X: "No more Muslims. No more criminals. No more Marxists. No more corporatists." In April 2026, Roy introduced the "Mamdani Act", which would allow for immigrants who have advocated for or are affiliated with socialism, communism, Marxism or Islamic fundamentalism to be subject to deportation, denaturalization, and denial of citizenship or entry; and remove the ability for courts to review any determination made under its provisions. He cited the 2025 election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City in the bill, having called him an "Islamist Marxist". Gun rights Roy is an outspoken critic of gun control, having made several speeches in support of gun rights. The NRA Political Victory Fund has repeatedly given him an "A" rating and endorsement. He signed and circulated a letter along with 17 other members of his conference promising never to request earmarks for their districts. Antitrust In 2022, Roy was one of 39 Republicans to vote for the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior. Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 Roy was among the 71 Republicans who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House. ==Electoral history==

Roy met his wife, Carrah, at the University of Texas. They have two children. Roy was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2011. He has pointed to his generational connection to the Baptist faith, which includes his great-grandfather working as the janitor for the First Baptist Church. Roy is a member of Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin; the church is part of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. ==Notes==