Michael McCaul

For the former U.S. ambassador to Russia, see Michael McFaul.

Michael McCaul
Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
In office January 3, 2023 – January 3, 2025
Preceded by	Gregory Meeks
Succeeded by	Brian Mast
Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
In office January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2023
Preceded by	Eliot Engel
Succeeded by	Gregory Meeks
Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee
In office January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2019
Preceded by	Peter King
Succeeded by	Bennie Thompson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 10th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2005
Preceded by	Lloyd Doggett
Personal details
Born	Michael Thomas McCaul Sr. (1962-01-14) January 14, 1962 (age 62) Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Linda Mays
Children	5
Education	Trinity University (BA) St. Mary's University, Texas (JD)
Website	House website

Michael Thomas McCaul Sr. (born January 14, 1962) is an American attorney, politician and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Texas's 10th congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the House Committee on Homeland Security during the 113th, 114th, and 115th Congresses. His district stretches from Austin to Houston.

McCaul became the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the 118th Congress in 2023.

Early life, education and legal career

Born in Dallas, the son of Frances Jane (Lott) and James Addington McCaul, Jr., McCaul has English, Irish, and German ancestry.^[1] He graduated from Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas and earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from San Antonio's Trinity University in 1984 and a Juris Doctor from St. Mary's University three years later. McCaul also completed a Senior Executive Fellowship at Harvard Kennedy School.^[2][3]

McCaul worked as an attorney and federal prosecutor before entering politics. He was the Chief of Counterterrorism and National Security for Texas's branch of the US Attorney's office, and also worked under the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section. After he left, McCaul took a position as a Deputy Attorney General in 1999 with the Texas Attorney General'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 presidential candidate Michael Badnarik with 55% of the vote. McCaul was reelected again in 2008, against Democratic candidate Larry Joe Doherty and Libertarian candidate Matt Finkel,^[4] 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%).^[5]

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.^[6]

He was elected to a ninth term in 2020, defeating Siegel again.^[7]

Political positions

Cybersecurity

Congressman McCaul addressing cybersecurity at Rice University

On December 11, 2013, McCaul introduced legislation to require the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (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 (IT) systems of federal civilian agencies and critical infrastructure in the U.S.^[8][9] McCaul said the bill was "an important step toward addressing the cyber threat."^[10]

Donald Trump

On December 18, 2019, McCaul voted against both articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Of the 195 Republicans who voted, all voted against both impeachment articles. He also voted against creating an independent commission 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.^[11]

Congressman McCaul led House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security to visit ISAF Headquarters

Foreign affairs

McCaul with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, November 12, 2023

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."^[12]

In 2021, McCaul strongly supported President Joe Biden's airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria.^[13]

McCaul said he supports heavily arming Ukraine with the weapons they need to win the Russo-Ukrainian War.^[14] He believes the United States should send fighter jets and more missiles to Ukraine.^[15] In February 2023, McCaul met the President of Ukraine in Kyiv and advocated for the United States to send more military aid to Ukraine, especially ATACMS.^[16]

In April 2023, during a meeting with Taiwanese officials, McCaul compared Chinese President Xi Jinping to Hitler.^[17]

On April 23, 2023, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced sanctions over McCaul, alleging his frequent interference in China's "internal affairs."^[18] In 2024, McCaul was targeted by the Chinese government's Spamouflage influence operation.^[19]

In November 2024, McCaul announced he was stepping down as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.^[20]

Immigration

McCaul supported President Donald Trump's proposals to build a wall along the Mexico–United States border.^[21] He supports the Remain in Mexico policy.^[22]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Foreign Affairs (Chair)^[23]
• 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^[24]
• Republican Governance Group^[25]
• Republican Study Committee^[26]

Personal life

McCaul is married to Linda Mays McCaul, the daughter of Clear Channel Communications founder and former chairman Lowry Mays and sister of its former CEO Mark Mays. In 2011, Roll Call named McCaul as one of the wealthiest members of the United States Congress, surpassing then U.S. senator John Kerry. His net worth was estimated at $294 million, up from $74 million the previous year.^[27] 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.^[28]

McCaul and his family live in West Lake Hills, Texas, a wealthy suburb of Austin, Texas.^[29]

McCaul is a devout Catholic and is a noted critic of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega due to Ortega's stance against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua.^[30][31]

On November 4, 2024, McCaul was charged with being drunk in public by Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority police.^[32] McCaul was briefly detained at Dulles International Airport, explaining to police he had drunk alcohol after taking Ambien. 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.^[33]

Electoral history

2004 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: Texas District 10

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Michael McCaul	182,113	78.6	+78.6
	Libertarian	Robert Fritsche	35,569	15.4	−0.3
	Write-In	Lorenzo Sadun	13,961	6.0	+6.0
Majority			146,544	63.3
Turnout			231,643
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing	+81.5

2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: Texas District 10

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Michael McCaul (Incumbent)	97,618	55.32	−23.29
	Democratic	Ted Ankrum	71,232	40.37	+40.37
	Libertarian	Michael Badnarik	7,603	4.31	−11.04
Majority			26,686	14.95
Turnout			176,453
	Republican hold		Swing	-48.31

2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: Texas District 10

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael McCaul (Incumbent)	179,493	53.9
	Democratic	Larry Joe Doherty	143,719	43.1
	Libertarian	Matt Finkel	9,871	2.96
	Republican hold

2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: Texas District 10^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael McCaul (Incumbent)	144,980	64.67
	Democratic	Ted Ankrum	74,086	33.05
	Libertarian	Jeremiah "JP" Perkins	5,105	2.28
Total votes			224,171	100.00
	Republican hold

2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: Texas District 10^[35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael McCaul (Incumbent)	159,783	60.52
	Democratic	Tawana Walter-Cadien	95,710	36.25
	Libertarian	Richard Priest	8,526	3.23
	Republican hold

2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: Texas's 10th district^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael McCaul (Incumbent)	109,726	62.2
	Democratic	Tawana Walter-Cadien	60,243	34.1
	Libertarian	Bill Kelsey	6,491	3.7
Total votes			176,460	100.0
	Republican hold

2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: Texas's 10th district^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael McCaul (Incumbent)	179,221	57.3
	Democratic	Tawana W. Cadien	120,170	38.5
	Libertarian	Bill Kelsey	13,209	4.2
Total votes			312,600	100.0
	Republican hold

See also: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas

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.^[36] The outcome was notable in a district that political experts rated as "Heavily Republican."^[37][38]

2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: Texas's 10th district^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael McCaul (Incumbent)	157,166	51.1
	Democratic	Mike Siegel	144,034	46.8
	Libertarian	Mike Ryan	6,627	2.1
Total votes			307,827	100.0
	Republican hold

See also: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas

In the November 3, 2020 general election, incumbent Michael McCaul again defeated Austin Assistant Attorney Mike Siegel.

Texas's 10th congressional district, 2020

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael McCaul (Incumbent)	217,216	52.5
	Democratic	Mike Siegel	187,686	45.3
	Libertarian	Roy Eriksen	8,992	2.2
Total votes			413,894	100.0
	Republican hold

See also: 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas

Texas's 10th congressional district, 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael McCaul (incumbent)	159,469	63.30
	Democratic	Linda Nuno	86,404	34.30
	Libertarian	Bill Kelsey	6,064	2.41
Total votes			251,937	100.0
	Republican hold

See also

• List of richest American politicians
• Final Report of the Task Force on Combating Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel

References

1. "michael mccaul". RootsWeb.com. Ancestry. September 22, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
2. "U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul '80 Named Jesuit Dallas Distinguished Alumnus". Jesuit Dallas News. October 16, 2014. Archived from the original on September 8, 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
3. "U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul '80 Named Jesuit Dallas Distinguished Alumnus". jesuitdallas.org. Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas. October 15, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
4. "State of Texas 2008 General Election Returns". Texas Secretary of State. November 5, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2008.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
5. "Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. November 8, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
6. "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Michael McCaul". www.ourcampaigns.com.
7. "Texas Election Results: 10th Congressional District (2020)". The New York Times. November 29, 2020.
8. "CBO – H.R. 3696" (PDF). Congressional Budget Office. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
9. "H.R. 3696 – Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
10. Waddell, Melanie (July 29, 2014). "House Panel Passes Cybersecurity Bills". ThinkAdvisor.com. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
11. "Rep. Michael McCaul". Republican Accountability. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
12. George, Susannah (April 4, 2019). "House votes to end support for Yemen war; Trump expected to veto". The Times of Israel. Associated Press. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
13. Keene, Houston (February 26, 2021). "Biden's Syria airstrike earns applause from prominent Republicans". Fox News.
14. Herridge, Catherine; Kazarian, Grace (December 9, 2022). "Incoming House Foreign Affairs chairman favors heavily arming Ukraine '100%'". CBS News. Retrieved December 10, 2022. I think going with the amount of investment we've had is very small relative to destroying the Russian military," he told CBS News in an interview Friday. "And that's what we've done without one American soldier being attacked, killed or in country. To me, that's a pretty good investment." Asked if he would favor more heavily arming the Ukrainians to bring the war to a faster conclusion, McCaul responded, "100% because the longer you drag this out, the more bloodshed."
15. Mueller, Julia (February 19, 2023). "Top GOP lawmaker urges US to send fighter jets, missiles to Ukraine". The Hill. Retrieved February 21, 2023. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) on Sunday said he's hopeful the U.S. will send more missiles and move to supply fighter jets to Kyiv as Russia's war with Ukraine approaches its one-year mark.
16. Laco, Kelly (February 21, 2023). "House Foreign Affairs Chair McCaul leads GOP delegation to Kyiv". Fox News. Retrieved February 21, 2023. Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul traveled to Kyiv Tuesday with a congressional delegation to see 'first-hand' what is happening on the ground in Ukraine and conduct oversight to gain better insight on the Russia-Ukraine war. 'It's good President Biden visited Ukraine, but a photo op isn't enough,' said McCaul. 'He needs to get Ukraine the weapons they need to win now, especially ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System), instead of slow-rolling them.'
17. "US Lawmaker Compares Xi to Hitler in Meeting With Taiwan’s VP" Bloomberg News. April 6, 2023. Accessed 15 April 2023.
18. China sanctions senior US lawmaker for visiting Taiwan
19. Myers, Steven Lee (October 23, 2024). "Bots Linked to China Target Republican House and Senate Candidates, Microsoft Says". The New York Times. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
20. Brufke, Juliegrace (November 15, 2024). "Scoop: McCaul's exit from Foreign Affairs leadership sets up succession race". axios.com.
21. McCaul, Michael (December 2, 2016). "Rep. McCaul: Yes, We Will Build a Wall, Put Mexico on a "Payment Plan" and Enforce the Law". Fox News. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
22. Fox, Lauren; Alvarez, Priscilla (April 27, 2022). "Republican lawmakers slam Homeland Security secretary over the border". CNN. Retrieved December 10, 2022. McCaul cited the "remain in Mexico" policy, a program launched under the Trump administration that required non-Mexican migrants to stay in Mexico until their US immigration court date. "Don't rescind what was working," he said.
23. "Committees and Caucuses". Congressman Michael McCaul. December 13, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
24. "Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
25. "Kinzinger, Republican Governance Group Members Call on President Biden to Reject Partisan Efforts and Advance Bipartisan COVID Relief". Congressman Adam Kinzinger. February 3, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
26. "Member List". Republican Study Committee. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
27. "The 50 Richest Members of Congress (2011)". Roll Call. 2011. Archived from the original on September 17, 2011.
28. Yachnin, Jennifer (August 18, 2011). "McCaul Leaps to Top of 50 Richest Members of Congress : Roll Call News". Roll Call.
29. Oppel, Rich (September 26, 2018). "Meet the Texas Republican Going After the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairmanship (2018)". Texas Monthly.
30. "Michael McCaul's Biography". Vote Smart. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
31. "McCaul, Green, Sires Condemn Imprisonment of Religious Leaders by Nicaragua's Ortega". House Foreign Affairs Committee. August 24, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
32. Nobles, Ryan; Allen, Jonathan; Marquez, Alexandra (November 13, 2024). "House Foreign Affairs Chair McCaul 'briefly detained' by police after appearing drunk at airport". nbcnews.com.
33. Timotija, Filip (November 13, 2024). "McCaul detained at Dulles, acknowledges mistake in mixing alcohol, Ambien". The Hill. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
34. "2010 General Election, 11/2/2010". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
35. "2012 State-wide Election Results". Secretary of State, State of Texas. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
36. Downey, Renzo (January 21, 2019). "Mike Siegel running again in North Austin congressional district". Austin American Statesman. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
37. "Texas' 10th Congressional District election, 2020". Ballotpedia. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
38. Adams-Heard, Rachel (August 13, 2020). "A Bernie Democrat Will Again Try to Flip Texas' 10th District". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
39. "Texas Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved December 5, 2018.

External links

• Congressman Michael McCaul official U.S. House website
• Michael McCaul for Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Lloyd Doggett	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 10th congressional district 2005–present	Incumbent
Preceded by Peter King	Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee 2013–2019	Succeeded by Bennie Thompson
Preceded by Gregory Meeks	Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee 2023–2025	Succeeded by Brian Mast
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Al Green	United States representatives by seniority 58th	Succeeded by Patrick McHenry