James French Hill (born December 5, 1956) is an American businessman and politician serving as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for

Arkansas's 2nd congressional district Arkansas's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district located in the central part of the U.S. state of Arkansas and includes most of the state capital of Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock, its suburbs, and surrounding areas. The dist ...

since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Background and early life

Hill was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. His father, Jay F. Hill ran a Little Rock-based financial firm that he inherited from his father, James “Jay” Wilson Hill. As a teenager, French Hill worked in the family financial firm during the summer months. A ninth-generation Arkansan, Hill is a direct descendent of

slave plantation A slave plantation is an agricultural farm that uses enslaved people for labour. The practice was abolished in most places during the 19th century. Slavery Planters embraced the use of slaves mainly because indentured labor became expensive ...

owner Creed Taylor who was among the wealthiest 1% of Americans in 1860. Another of Hill's direct ancestors, John W. Gracie, was a cotton baron who inherited landholdings from Taylor and used prison labor after the

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure Economic, social and cultural rights, economic and social rights, civil and political rights, po ...

of slaves. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in economics from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

. He attended the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management, where he earned a certified corporate director designation.

Early political career

From 1982 to 1984, Hill was an aide to Republican Senator

John Tower John Goodwin Tower (September 29, 1925 – April 5, 1991) was an American politician and military veteran who represented Texas in the United States Senate from 1961 to 1985. He was the first Republican elected to the U.S. Senate from Texas si ...

. He was a staffer on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Hill was executive secretary to President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

’s Economic Policy Council from 1991 to 1993, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Corporate Finance from 1989 to 1991. Hill founded and was

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

and chairman of the Board Delta Trust and Banking Corporation in Little Rock until its acquisition by

Simmons Bank Simmons Bank is a bank with operations in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. It is the primary subsidiary of Simmons First National Corporation, a bank holding company. History The bank was founded by physician Dr. John ...

in 2014.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2014

Hill ran for the 2nd district U.S. House seat after fellow Republican

Tim Griffin John Timothy Griffin (born August 21, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas, attorney general of Arkansas. He served as the 20th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, lieutenant governor of Arkans ...

decided instead to run for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

. Hill defeated Democratic nominee Pat Hays, the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

North Little Rock North Little Rock (often abbreviated "NLR") is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States. Located on the north side of the Arkansas River, it is the twin city of Little Rock. In the late nineteenth century, it was annexed by Little Ro ...

, 52 to 44 percent.

2016

Hill was renominated in the Republican primary over Brock Olree of Searcy (White County) and was reelected with 58% of the vote against the Democratic nominee, former

Little Rock School District The Little Rock School District is a school district in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. It is one of four public school districts in Pulaski County, Arkansas, Pulaski County and encompasses of land nearly coterminous with the state's c ...

Board President Dianne Curry, and Libertarian nominee Chris Hayes of North Little Rock.

2018

In 2017, Arkansas's 2nd district was included on the initial list of Republican-held seats targeted by the

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds and organizes races in ...

in 2018. In the November general election, Hill defeated Democratic nominee Clarke Tucker with 52.1% of the vote to Tucker's 45.8%. Libertarian Joe Swafford received 2%.

2020

Hill ran for another term.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Sarah Elizabeth Huckabee Sanders ( Huckabee; born August 13, 1982) is an American politician serving as the 47th governor of Arkansas since 2023. Sanders is the daughter of Mike Huckabee, who served from 1996 to 2007 as Arkansas's 44th governor ...

endorsed Hill, speaking at a rally in support of him. In 2020, the Hill campaign warned that Democratic nominee

Joyce Elliott Joyce Ann Elliott (born March 20, 1951) is an American politician from the state of Arkansas. From 2009 to 2022, she was a member of the Arkansas Senate representing the 31st district, which consisted of portions of Little Rock and Pulaski Coun ...

was "as dangerous as they come". Hill warned that if elected, Elliott would "be a member of the Democratic conference and she'd be a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and her first vote would be for Speaker Pelosi to be the speaker of the House." In the November general election, Hill defeated Elliott.

2022

Hill ran for reelection in 2022 and beat his Democratic opponent Quintessa Hathaway, winning with 60.0% of the vote.

Tenure

Hill has been a member of the U.S. House during the presidencies of Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden. During Trump's presidency, Hill voted in line with the president's position 96.8% of the time. At the start of Biden's presidency, Hill opposed Biden's decision to cancel the

Keystone Pipeline The Keystone Pipeline System is an Pipeline transport, oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010, formerly owned by TC Energy. It is now owned by South Bow, following TC Energy's spin off of its liquids business i ...

. He said he wanted to work with the Biden administration on policy issues including Iran, free trade, and immigration. As of October 2021, Hill had voted in line with Biden's stated position 12.5% of the time. On May 4, 2017, Hill voted to repeal the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health ...

(Obamacare) and pass the

American Health Care Act The American Health Care Act of 2017 (often shortened to the AHCA or nicknamed Ryancare) was a bill in the 115th United States Congress. The bill, which was passed by the United States House of Representatives but failed the United States ...

. He voted for the

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 The Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, , is a congressional revenue act of the United States originally introduced in Congress as the Tax Cuts and Jobs ...

. On April 17, 2020, House Minority Leader

Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 55th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from January until he was Remova ...

appointed Hill to the COVID-19 Congressional Oversight Commission to oversee the implementation of the

CARES Act The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, is a $2.2trillion Stimulus (economics), economic stimulus bill passed by the 116th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on March ...

. Hill praised the Trump administration's handling of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Hill did not join the majority of Republican members of Congress who signed an

amicus brief An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Whether an ''amic ...

in support of '' Texas v. Pennsylvania'', a lawsuit filed at the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election. Hill voted to certify both Arizona's and Pennsylvania's results in the

2021 United States Electoral College vote count The count of the United States Electoral College, Electoral College ballots during a Joint session of the United States Congress, joint session of the 117th United States Congress, pursuant to the Electoral Count Act, on January 6–7, 2021, ...

. In March 2021, Hill voted against the

American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to sp ...

. In 2020 and 2021, Hill strongly opposed plans by the United States and other nations in the G7 to issue a $650 billion

Special Drawing Rights Special drawing rights (SDRs, code ) are supplementary foreign exchange reserve assets defined and maintained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). SDRs are units of account for the IMF, and not a currency ''per se''. They represent a claim ...

general allocation, calling for a specific and targeted allocation instead. Hill strongly supported Biden's airstrikes on Iranian targets in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. On May 19, 2021, Hill was one of 35 Republicans who joined all Democrats in voting to approve legislation to establish the January 6, 2021 commission meant to investigate the storming of the U.S. Capitol. In 2025, Hill sponsored legislation to rescind a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that set a cap for bank overdraft fees at $5.

Committee assignments

For the

118th Congress The 118th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January ...

: *

Committee on Financial Services The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the United States congressional committee, committee of the United States ...

** Subcommittee on Capital Markets ** Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion (Chair) * Committee on Foreign Affairs ** Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations ** Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability * Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence ** Subcommittee on National Intelligence Enterprise

Caucus memberships

* Congressional Arts Caucus *

Republican Study Committee The Republican Study Committee (RSC) is a congressional caucus of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. In November 2024, Representative August Pfluger was elected as the chair of the RSC, ...

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 advan ...

* U.S.-Japan Caucus * Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans * Congressional Coalition on Adoption * United States–China Working Group

Political positions

Abortion

Hill describes himself as

pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the lega ...

. He voted in support of the

Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (also colloquially known as Micah's Law) is a congressional bill that would, in most cases, make it unlawful to perform an abortion if the estimated post-fertilization age of a fetus is 20 weeks or ...

. He has a 100% rating from the

National Right to Life Committee The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) is the oldest and largest national anti-abortion organization in the United States with affiliates in all 50 states and more than 3,000 local chapters nationwide. Since the 1980s, NRLC has influenc ...

for his pro-life voting record. He supported the 2022 overturning of ''Roe v. Wade'', saying that it "elevates life by affirming that there is no constitutional right to an abortion."

Big tech

In 2022, Hill 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.

Electoral history

Personal life

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, Hill resides in

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

. He and his wife, Martha McKenzie, have two children. In 2023, Hill’s public financial disclosures show net worth between $10.3 million and $25.7 million.

References

External links

Representative French Hill
official U.S. House website
French Hill for Congress
* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, French 1956 births Living people 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Arkansas politicians 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives 21st-century Roman Catholics American bankers American Roman Catholics Arkansas Republicans Catholics from Arkansas Politicians from Little Rock, Arkansas Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas UCLA Anderson School of Management alumni United States Department of the Treasury officials Vanderbilt University alumni