95 Facts About Chip Roy

Charles Eugene "Chip" Roy was born on August 7,1972 and is an American attorney and politician serving as the US representative for Texas's 21st congressional district.

Chip Roy was born in Bethesda, Maryland, and raised in Lovettsville, Virginia.

Wary that his career might require him to relocate to Manhattan, Chip Roy decided to pursue a different career.

Chip Roy enrolled at the University of Texas School of Law, where he met his future wife, Carrah.

When Cornyn was elected and made vice chairman of the Republican Committee and the Judiciary Committee, Chip Roy served as his staff director and senior counsel.

Chip 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.

Chip Roy served in the office from April to October 2011.

The week of his 39th birthday in August 2011, Chip Roy was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma.

Chip Roy chastised defecting Republicans, and was quoted as saying Tom Coburn was serving in a "surrender caucus" and likening Mitch McConnell to Barack Obama.

The media picked up on Chip Roy taking to Twitter to jab John McCain, sarcastically calling it "shocking" that "someone talking to [Democratic Senator Chuck] Schumer 5x a day and the White House daily" did not support the hardball approach.

On September 25,2013, Cruz and Chip Roy met with trusted staffers and Cruz read aloud from Psalm 40 and then took to the Senate floor for a 21-hour speech against Obamacare.

Chip Roy participated in the 2015 lawsuit United States v Texas against President Obama's executive action on immigration.

Chip Roy inadvertently drew unwanted attention to the situation in an interview about Texas's challenge to the DAPA program.

Paxton traveled to Washington to hear the oral arguments, paying for his own ticket and submitting a copy of it to the state alongside the one his office had purchased for Chip Roy to show how much money he had saved Texas.

Paxton's choice to replace Chip 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.

On March 10,2016, the day after Paxton announced that Chip Roy had "resigned to pursue other endeavors," he was named the executive director of the Trusted Leadership PAC, which was supporting Cruz's presidential campaign.

Controversy arose when it was discovered that Chip Roy remained a state employee while working for the PAC.

Chip Roy responded that he had not received any pay from the PAC while he was on the state payroll, and only used his accrued vacation and compensatory time from the state after resigning to work for the PAC.

At the time of Chip Roy's hiring, pro-Cruz political consultant Kellyanne Conway had said, "This is a two-person race where Senator Cruz is building significant momentum and is the proven conservative, able to win the nomination and defeat Hillary Clinton," but Cruz dropped out of the race less than two months after Chip Roy took over the PAC.

In 2018, Chip Roy ran for the United States House of Representatives in to succeed Lamar Smith, who did not run for reelection.

Chip Roy said he agreed with Smith in questioning the scientific consensus on climate change which clearly attributes it to human activity.

Chip Roy promised if elected to push back against the status quo and restrict the federal government's power, calling for Medicare to be delegated to the states, for Congress to pass a balanced budget, and for action to be taken to prevent judges from "legislating from the bench".

Chip Roy suggested that the House should attempt to pass no legislation the next term until it advanced a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

Chip Roy held that there were threats from "porous borders, gangs and drug cartels" that he would address if elected.

Chip Roy finished 10 points ahead of McCall in the Republican primary election.

Chip Roy was reelected, defeating Democratic nominee Wendy Davis by seven points and winning eight of the district's 10 counties.

Chip Roy was one of few Republicans to vote against the measure, which passed 411 to 7.

In 2021, a recording of Chip 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.

On May 24,2019, Chip 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.

Chip Roy blamed Nancy Pelosi for the previous delay in Texans receiving the funds and voiced his dislike of procedure being used.

Ultimately Chip Roy's action delayed the bill's passage for several days until lawmakers returned from recess.

Chip Roy received bipartisan criticism for his objection to the bill.

Five other Texas representatives joined Chip Roy in opposing the bill: Lance Gooden, John Ratcliffe, Van Taylor, Ron Wright, and Michael Cloud.

On June 12,2019, Chip Roy derailed the usually uneventful House procedural process for appropriation bills.

When proceedings shifted to amendment debate and lawmakers proceeded to call for a voice vote on many of the amendments, Chip Roy objected and asked for roll call votes on each one.

Chip Roy continued to call for roll-call votes for each of the dozens of amendments offered.

Chip Roy himself canceled his plans for his 15-year wedding anniversary.

On June 28,2019, in response to the humanitarian crisis involving migrant children at the southern border, Chip Roy proposed legislation to amend the Antideficiency Act to allow the United States Border Patrol to accept donations from people who want to help migrant children directly.

On October 5,2020, while campaigning for reelection, Chip Roy called for Paxton's resignation after seven senior leaders within his office accused him of bribery, abuse of office, and other charges.

Chip Roy noted that rather than address the charges and demonstrate their falsity, Paxton had attacked the staffers' character.

On December 10,2020, Roy wrote in opposition to Paxton's lawsuit Texas v Pennsylvania, demanding four other states' election results be overturned as part of Trump's false claims that Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election was the result of widespread voter fraud.

Chip Roy held that if his Republican colleagues were going to hold that ballots should be questioned about the presidential race, then no certainty could be granted for any race.

Chip Roy spent most of January 5,2021, working on the remarks he planned on giving on the House floor the next day.

Chip Roy called constitutional scholars as well as other members to sharpen his writing.

The next day, when there was an objection to counting Arizona's electoral votes, Chip Roy went with the other members of the House to debate their acceptance.

Chip Roy 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.

Chip 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.

Chip Roy joined all of Texas's House Republicans in voting against impeachment.

In contrast, Chip 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.

Chip Roy 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.

Chip 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.

Chip Roy cited what he saw as Stefanik's lack of conservative qualifications and the rapid pace of the process as his reasons for running.

Chip Roy has demonstrated that Republicans can legislate based on conservative principles and get elected in competitive districts.

The forum was described as a friendly and formal back-and-forth, with Chip Roy contending that he was the more conservative choice, and Stefanik emphasizing her work to elect GOP women along with her ability to fundraise.

On January 3,2023, at the beginning of the 118th Congress, during the election of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Chip Roy nominated and voted for Byron Donalds for Speaker, in rebuke of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Chip Roy became a leader in the negotiation process for the holdouts against McCarthy.

Chip Roy switched his vote to McCarthy on the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th ballots.

Jordan was ultimately nominated, and Chip Roy voted for him on the first three floor ballots.

In December 2024, Chip Roy opposed raising the United States debt ceiling.

Chip Roy reintroduced the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act to safeguard against non-citizens from voting in US elections.

The next morning, Chip Roy was among the Republican representatives who voted against the bill, calling it "welfare".

Chip Roy is not going to go around and check people when they are driving around the state of Maine.

In July 2020, Chip Roy blamed surging coronavirus cases in Southern Texas on "people coming across our border" from Mexico.

Chip Roy said that Texas was holding COVID-19 cases down; in fact, cases were surging in Texas at the time.

Later that month, after Representative Louie Gohmert tested positive for COVID-19, Chip Roy said he did not plan to isolate himself even though he had had a recent maskless interaction with Gohmert on the House floor.

Chip 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.

Chip Roy was among the Republican House members reprimanded for not wearing a mask on the House floor.

Chip Roy was warned that additional instances would result in $500 fine.

Chip Roy did not respond to reporters asking whether he had been vaccinated.

Chip Roy was one of three House Republicans to vote "present" on a resolution condemning Trump's action of withdrawing forces from Syria.

In March 2021, Chip Roy was one of 14 House Republicans to vote against a measure condemning the Myanmar coup d'etat.

In June 2021, Chip 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, Chip 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.

Chip Roy was among 19 House Republicans to vote against the final passage of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.

In July 2022, Chip Roy was one of 18 Republicans to vote against ratifying Sweden's and Finland's applications for NATO membership.

On March 19,2024, Chip Roy voted NAY to House Resolution 149 Condemning the illegal abduction and forcible transfer of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation.

My recommendation to Congressman Chip Roy would be to engage the brain before firing the mouth.

On May 18,2021, Chip 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.

On June 28,2019, Chip Roy responded to stories of people being turned away after attempting to donate goods to migrant children and families being held by US Customs and Border Protection.

Chip Roy put forward a bill called the Charitable Donations Freedom Act, which would amend the mandate to allow donations of goods.

On February 10,2021, Chip 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.

Chip 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.

Chip 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.

Chip Roy has received past endorsements from anti-immigration groups such as NumbersUSA and the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Chip Roy has stated that the percentage of the population of the United States in 2024 that is foreign-born is the highest in history.

Chip Roy said that this high percentage is a threat to western values, and that the children of immigrants are not being raised to respect the US Constitution and capitalism.

In 2024, Chip Roy defended Trump's plan to "deport 20 million people" if elected president by writing on X that he wanted to "ethnic cleanse" white progressive Democrats by deporting them.

Chip Roy is an outspoken critic of gun control, having made several speeches in support of gun rights.

In 2022, Chip 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.

Chip Roy was among the 71 Republicans who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.

Chip Roy met his wife, Carrah, at the University of Texas.

Chip Roy has said his religious faith informs his political positions, including his opposition to the Equality Act, which he has characterized as trying to prevent his family from being able to "carry out our beliefs without penalty".

Chip Roy has pointed to his generational connection to the Baptist faith, which includes his great-grandfather working as the janitor for the First Baptist Church.

Chip Roy is a member of Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin; the church is part of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.