Michael Thomas McCaul Sr. (born January 14, 1962) is an American attorney and politician serving as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for since 2005. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the

House Committee on Homeland Security The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Its responsibilities include U.S. security legislation and oversight of the Department of Homeland Security. Role of the commit ...

during the 113th, 114th, and 115th Congresses. His district stretches from

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. McCaul became the

ranking member In United States politics, a ranking member is the most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the minority party. On many committees the ranking minority member, along with the Chair, serve as ''ex officio'' members ...

of the

House Foreign Affairs Committee The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affairs ...

in the 116th Congress (2019–2021); he retains that position in the 117th Congress (2021–present).

Early life, education and legal career

Born in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, the son of Frances Jane (Lott) and James Addington McCaul, Jr., McCaul has English, Irish, and German ancestry. He graduated from Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas and earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in history from

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

's Trinity University in 1984 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from St. Mary's University three years later. McCaul also completed a Senior Executive Fellowship at

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

. McCaul worked as an attorney and

federal prosecutor An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

before entering politics. He was the Chief of Counterterrorism and National Security for Texas's branch of the

US Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

's office, and also worked under the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

Public Integrity Section The Public Integrity Section (PIN) is a section of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice charged with combating political corruption at all levels of government through the prosecution of corrupt federal, state, and local elected ...

. After he left, McCaul took a position as a

Deputy Attorney General The Deputy Attorney General (DAG) is the second-highest-ranking official in a department of justice or of law, in various governments of the world. In those governments, the deputy attorney general oversees the day-to-day operation of the departme ...

in 1999 with the

Texas Attorney General The Texas attorney general is the chief legal officer
of the

's Office and served in this capacity until 2002.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

McCaul first ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004 and won a crowded Republican primary in the newly created 10th District. The district, which included part of Austin, the western part of Harris County and several rural counties in between, was thought to be so heavily Republican that no Democratic candidate even filed, effectively handing him the seat. In 2006 he defeated Democratic nominee Ted Ankrum and former

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

presidential candidate

Michael Badnarik Michael J. Badnarik ( ; August 1, 1954 – August 11, 2022) was an American software engineer, political figure, and radio talk show host. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for President of the United States in the 2004 elections, and plac ...

with 55% of the vote. McCaul was reelected again in 2008, against Democratic candidate

Larry Joe Doherty Larry Joe Doherty or LJD (born July 29, 1946) is a Texas legal ethics attorney and former television star of the syndicated courtroom show '' Texas Justice''. He was the Democratic candidate for the 10th Congressional District of Texas in 20 ...

and Libertarian candidate Matt Finkel, 54% to 43%. Four years later, he was reelected to a fourth term with 76% of the vote against Ankrum (22%) and Libertarian candidate Jeremiah "JP" Perkins (1%). McCaul won a seventh term in 2016 with 179,221 votes (57.3%) to Democratic nominee Tawana W. Cadien's 120,170 (38.4%). Libertarian Bill Kelsey received 13,209 (4.2%). In 2018, McCaul won an eighth term in the House with 157,166 votes (51.1%) to Democratic nominee Mike Siegel's 144,034 (46.8%) and Libertarian Mike Ryan's 6,627 votes (2.5%). It was the closest race of McCaul's career. He was elected to a ninth term in 2020, defeating Siegel again.

Political positions

Cybersecurity

On December 11, 2013, McCaul introduced legislation to require the

Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the U ...

(DHS) to conduct cybersecurity activities on behalf of the federal government and codify DHS's role in preventing and responding to cybersecurity incidents involving the

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

(IT) systems of federal civilian agencies and critical infrastructure in the U.S. McCaul said the bill was "an important step toward addressing the cyber threat."

Donald Trump

On December 18, 2019, McCaul voted against both articles of impeachment against Trump. Of the 195 Republicans who voted, all voted against both impeachment articles.

Foreign affairs

In April 2019, McCaul spoke out against a resolution that would end U.S. involvement in the

Yemeni Civil War Yemeni Civil War may refer to several historical events which have taken place in Yemen: *Alwaziri coup, February – March 1948 *Yemeni–Adenese clan violence, 1956–60 *North Yemen Civil War, 1962–70 *Aden Emergency, 1963–67 *South Yemen#Di ...

, saying it would "disrupt US security cooperation agreements with more than 100 countries." In 2021, McCaul strongly supported Joe Biden's airstrikes on Iranian targets in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. In 2022, McCaul said he supports heavily arming Ukraine with the weapons they need to win the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since Feb ...

Immigration

McCaul supported

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

's proposals to build a wall along the

Mexico–United States border The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traver ...

. He supports the

Remain in Mexico Remain in Mexico (officially Migrant Protection Protocols) is a United States immigration policy originally implemented in January 2019 under the Presidency of Donald Trump, administration of President Donald Trump, affecting Immigration to the Uni ...

policy.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Foreign Affairs (Ranking Member) * Committee on Homeland Security

Caucus memberships

* Founder and co-chair of the Congressional High Tech Caucus * Co-founder and co-chair of the Childhood Cancer Caucus * Co-chair of the Congressional Cyber Security Caucus * Co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Sudan and South Sudan * Co-founder of the Congressional Argentina Caucus * Tuberculosis Elimination Caucus *

United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus The U.S. Congressional International Conservation Caucus, founded in September 2003, is a bipartisan congressional organization with the conviction that “the United States of America has the opportunity, the obligation and the interests to advanc ...

* Republican Governance Group *

Republican Study Committee The Republican Study Committee (RSC) is a study group of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. As of 2021, the Chairman of the RSC is Representative Jim Banks of Indiana. Although the prim ...

Personal life

McCaul is married to Linda Mays McCaul, the daughter of

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

founder and former chairman

Lowry Mays Lester Lowry Mays (July 24, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American businessman. He was the founder and chairman of Clear Channel Communications. Early years Mays was born in Houston on July 24, 1935. His father, Lester T. Mays, was a ...

and sister of its former CEO

Mark Mays Mark P. Mays is the former president and CEO of Clear Channel Communications, Inc. the company his father, Lowry Mays founded, a global media and entertainment company based in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Mays took over as president a ...

. In 2011, ''

Roll Call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of c ...

'' named McCaul as one of the wealthiest members of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, surpassing then

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

. His

net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Since financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, net ...

was estimated at $294 million, about 300% higher than it was in the previous year ($74 million). In 2004, the same publication estimated his net worth at $12 million. His wealth increase was due to large monetary transfers from his wife's family. McCaul and his family live in

West Lake Hills, Texas West Lake Hills (locally referred to as "Westlake") is a city in Travis County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,444 at the 2020 census. The city developed rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s on the south side of the Colorado River. Accord ...

, a wealthy suburb of

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. He is frequently named as one of the top ten users of household water in the Austin area, and was the No. 1 consumer of household water in the city in 2017. According to ''The Dallas Morning News'', "Several cities try to conserve water by creating mandatory watering schedules for residents. Dallas residents are allowed to water their lawns twice per week, with the day depending on the digits of their address. In Austin, residents are restricted to one or two days of watering per week and only during certain hours of the day." On October 28, 2020, it was reported that McCaul's real estate firms have pursued two dozen lawsuits over breaches of lease agreements. Tenants complained about leases being granted under false pretenses, poor conditions in the properties, or hardship events forcing their abandonment, including at least one restaurant closed by law during the coronavirus pandemic. But McCaul's companies aggressively pursued back rent and expenses anyway.

References

External links

Congressman Michael McCaul
official U.S. House website
Michael McCaul for Congress
* * * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McCaul, Michael 1962 births 21st-century American politicians American people of English descent American people of German descent American people of Irish descent Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas alumni Living people People from Dallas Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas St. Mary's University School of Law alumni Texas lawyers Trinity University (Texas) alumni United States Deputy Attorneys General