Michael Thomas McCaul Sr. (born January 14, 1962) is an American politician, attorney, and a member of the

U.S. House of Representatives 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 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 committ ...

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

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. McCaul became the chair 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

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 ...

in 2023.

Early life, education and legal career

Born in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, 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 Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas (commonly referred to as Jesuit Dallas or Dallas Jesuit, and formerly known as Jesuit High School) is a private, college-preparatory school for Single-sex school, young men under the direction of the ...

and earned 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 ...

in history from

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

's Trinity University in 1984 and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

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

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

. 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 gov ...

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 ...

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 electe ...

. After he left, McCaul took a position as a Deputy Attorney General 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 ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

presidential candidate

Michael Badnarik Michael James 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 p ...

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 Lawyer, attorney and former television star of the syndicated Court show, courtroom show ''Texas Justice''. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic candidate ...

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 Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and networks from thr ...

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 a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

(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 President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. Of the 195 Republicans who voted, all voted against both impeachment articles. He also voted against creating an independent

commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

to investigate the January 6 attack encouraged by Trump's false claims of electoral fraud. However, unlike Trump and most Republican legislators, McCaul did not sign the '' Texas v. Pennsylvania'' amicus brief to file a motion in support of the case.

Foreign affairs

In April 2019, McCaul spoke out against a resolution that would end U.S. involvement in the Yemeni Civil War, saying it would "disrupt US security cooperation agreements with more than 100 countries." In 2021, McCaul strongly supported President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

'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 ...

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

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. He believes the United States should send fighter jets and more missiles to Ukraine. In February 2023, McCaul met the

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

and advocated for the United States to send more military aid to Ukraine, especially

ATACMS The MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS ) is a supersonic tactical ballistic missile designed and manufactured by the American defense company Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV), and later, through acquisitions, Lockheed Martin. The missile uses ...

. In April 2023, during a meeting with Taiwanese officials, McCaul compared Chinese President

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

to Hitler. On April 23, 2023, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced sanctions over McCaul, alleging his frequent interference in China's "internal affairs." In 2024, McCaul was targeted by the

Chinese government The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a Unitary state, unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's ...

Spamouflage Spamouflage, Dragonbridge, Spamouflage Dragon, Storm 1376, or Taizi Flood is an online propaganda and disinformation operation that has been using a network of social media accounts to make posts in favor of the government of the People's Republic ...

influence operation. In November 2024, McCaul announced he was stepping down as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Immigration

McCaul supported President

's proposals to build a wall along the

Mexico–United States border The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...

. 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 administration of President Donald Trump, affecting immigration across the border with Mexico. Admin ...

policy.

TikTok

Around the time of the introduction of Protecting Americans' Sensitive Data from Foreign Adversaries, the act including the TikTok ban, McCaul received attention for purchasing

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

Meta Meta most commonly refers to: * Meta (prefix), a common affix and word in English ( in Greek) * Meta Platforms, an American multinational technology conglomerate (formerly ''Facebook, Inc.'') Meta or META may also refer to: Businesses * Meta (ac ...

Taliban Funding

Shawn Ryan Shawn Ryan (born October 11, 1966) is an American screenwriter and television producer. He has created and/or produced a number of television series including '' The Shield'' (2002–2008), '' The Unit'' (2006–2009), '' Lie to Me'' (2009– ...

requested McCaul to introduce legislature ending the alleged funding of the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

by the U.S. government in 2024. Shawn Ryan later told

in a interview that McCaul had "done nothing".

Committee assignments

* Committee on Foreign Affairs (Chair) * 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 *

Rare Disease Caucus The Rare Disease Legislative Caucus is a bipartisan congressional caucus open to all members of the United States House and Senate. The caucus is currently co-chaired by Representatives Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Senators R ...

* 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 advan ...

Republican Governance Group The Republican Governance Group, originally the Tuesday Lunch Bunch and then the Tuesday Group until 2020, is a group of moderate Republicans in the United States House of Representatives. It was founded in 1994 in the wake of the Republican ta ...

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, ...

Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans The Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans (Turkey Caucus) was established by US Congressmen Robert Wexler (D-Florida), Ed Whitfield (R-Kentucky) and Kay Granger (R-Texas) in March 2001. The Turkey Caucus is a bi-partisan platform fo ...

Personal life

McCaul is married to Linda Mays McCaul, the daughter of

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or 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 founded by ...

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 an ...

and sister of its former CEO

Mark Mays Mark Pitman Mays is an American businessman. He is the former president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Clear Channel Communications Inc. (parent entity of iHeartMedia), which was co-founded by his father, Lowry Mays in 1972. After serving ...

. 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, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

, surpassing then

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

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

. 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. Financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, so net w ...

was estimated at $294 million, up from $74 million the previous year. 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, a wealthy suburb of

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. McCaul is a devout Catholic and is a noted critic of Nicaraguan President

Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; ; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguan politician and dictator who has been the president of Nicaragua, co-president of Nicaragua since 18 February 2025, alongside his wife Rosario Murillo. He was the 54th an ...

due to Ortega's stance against the

Catholic Church in Nicaragua The Catholic Church in Nicaragua is the Nicaraguan part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, curia in Rome, and the Conference of Nicaraguan Bishops. Overview According to the 2005 census, Catholics made ...

. On November 4, 2024, McCaul was charged with being drunk in public by Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority police. McCaul was briefly detained at Dulles International Airport, explaining to police he had drunk alcohol after taking

Ambien Zolpidem, sold under the brand name Ambien among others, is a medication primarily used for the short-term treatment of sleeping problems. Guidelines recommend that it be used only after cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and after beha ...

. A family member arrived to drive him to his destination, and McCaul expressed gratitude for law enforcement, while emphasizing his commitment to learn from the mistake.

Electoral history

Incumbent Michael McCaul faced Assistant Attorney of Austin Mike Siegel in the 2018 general election, winning by 4.3 percent of the vote. This is the closest contest McCaul has faced. The outcome was notable in a district that political experts rated as "Heavily Republican." In the November 3, 2020 general election, incumbent Michael McCaul again defeated Austin Assistant Attorney Mike Siegel.

References

External links

Congressman Michael McCaul
official U.S. House website
Michael McCaul for Congress
* * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McCaul, Michael 1962 births Living people 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives 21st-century Roman Catholics American individuals subject to Chinese sanctions American people of English descent American people of German descent American people of Irish descent Catholic politicians from Texas Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas alumni Lawyers from Dallas Politicians 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