Patrick McHenry | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Official portrait, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Speaker pro tempore of the United States House of Representatives | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Acting October 3, 2023 – October 25, 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Kevin McCarthy (Speaker) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Mike Johnson (Speaker) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina's10th district | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Cass Ballenger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Pat Harrigan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of theNorth Carolina House of Representatives from the109th district | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office January 1, 2003 – January 1, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Constituency established | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | William Current | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Patrick Timothy McHenry (1975-10-22)October 22, 1975 (age 50) Gastonia, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Republican | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | House website | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Patrick Timothy McHenry (born October 22, 1975) is an American politician who served as theU.S. representative forNorth Carolina's 10th congressional district, which includes the communities ofHickory andMooresville, from 2005 to 2025.[1] He also chaired theHouse Financial Services Committee from 2023 to 2025.[2][3] A member of theRepublican Party, he served as a member of theNorth Carolina House of Representatives for one term before being elected to Congress.[4]
McHenry served as a House Republican chief deputy whip from 2014 to 2019 and ranking member of theHouse Financial Services Committee from 2019 to 2023.[5] McHenry acted asSpeaker pro tempore of the House for 22 days following theremoval of Kevin McCarthy via amotion to vacate.[6][7]
McHenry was the dean of theNorth Carolina's congressional delegation shared with fellow RepresentativeVirginia Foxx.
McHenry was born inGastonia, North Carolina. He grew up in suburban Gastonia, the son of the owner of the Dixie Lawn Care Company,[8] and attendedAshbrook High School.[9][10] ARoman Catholic, he was the youngest of five children.[11]
McHenry attendedNorth Carolina State University before transferring toBelmont Abbey College.[8][12] At Belmont, he founded the school's College Republican chapter,[8][13] then became chair of the North Carolina Federation ofCollege Republicans and treasurer of theCollege Republican National Committee.[14]
In 1998, while a junior in college, McHenry ran for theNorth Carolina House of Representatives. He won the Republican primary but lost the general election.[15]
After earning aB.A. in history in 1999, McHenry worked for the media consulting firm DCI/New Media in Washington, D.C.[16] He was involved inRick Lazio's campaign in the2000 United States Senate election in New York; his main project was running a Web site, NotHillary.com.[8] In 2012, he received an honorary M.B.A. in entrepreneurship from the now-closed Yorktown University.[17]
In mid-2000,Karl Rove hired McHenry to be the national coalition director forGeorge W. Bush's2000 presidential campaign.[8] In late 2000 and early 2001, he was a volunteer coordinator for Bush's inaugural committee. After working for six months in 2001 as a special assistant toElaine Chao, theUnited States secretary of labor, McHenry returned to North Carolina and ran again for theNorth Carolina General Assembly, winning in the 2002 election.[18]
A resident ofDenver, North Carolina, McHenry represented the state's 109th House district, including constituents inGaston County, for the2003–04 session. He sat on the House Appropriations Committee.
At age 29, McHenry was theyoungest member of the109th United States Congress.[19] He was a deputy whip and vice chair of finance for theNational Republican Congressional Committee's executive committee.[20] McHenry was known on Capitol Hill for his preference forbow ties.[6]
McHenry was the subject of discussion in April 2008, regarding a video posted on his congressional campaign website that featured him in theGreen Zone inBaghdad, pointing out landmarks and destruction after missile attacks.[21] Veterans' affairs blogVetVoice posted a scathing attack, claiming the video violatedoperations security.[22] McHenry later removed the video after discussing the information withthe Pentagon, which requested he not place the video back online.[23] Lance Sigmon, McHenry's opponent, later called a press conference to demand an investigation of the video's effect on Green Zone troops.[24]
On April 16, 2008,Roll Call reported that McHenry used funds from hispolitical action committee, "More Conservatives", to fund the defense of former aide Michael Aaron Lay'svoter fraud charges incurred during McHenry's 2004 race.[25] McHenry gave Lay $20,000 to pay legal bills on charges brought while Lay worked for him.[25] These expenses were labeled a "Legal Expense Donation", according toFederal Election Commission reports. Lay agreed to adeferred prosecution agreement, which stipulated he complete 100 hours of community service and pay $240.50 in court fees and $250 in community service fees to have the charges dismissed.[citation needed] An employee of the 2004 campaign, Lay lived in McHenry's home in Cherryville, which also served as the campaign headquarters during the 2004 election, and was indicted for voter fraud in McHenry's election, allegedly voting illegally in two separate instances.[26] In response, McHenry claimed the case was part of a "three-year smear campaign" by District Attorney Locke Bell,[27] despite Bell fund-raising for McHenry in previous elections.[28][full citation needed]
On May 24, 2011,Elizabeth Warren, appointed byPresident Obama to oversee the development of the newU.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), attended a House subcommittee meeting chaired by McHenry, who invited her because he felt she had given misleading testimony during another hearing. Earlier that day, McHenry had appeared onCNBC and accused Warren of lying to Congress about her involvement in government inquiries into mortgage servicing.[29][30]
The meeting had several late and last-minute changes, so Warren altered her schedule to accommodate his request. Around 2:15 p.m., McHenry called for a temporary recess to partake in a floor vote. In response, Warren indicated that McHenry's staff had agreed to the 2:15 p.m. closing time to allow her ample time to attend another meeting. McHenry replied, "You had no agreement. You're making this up, Ms. Warren. This is not the case." As Warren and some in the audience reacted with surprise, RepresentativeElijah Cummings interjected, "Mr. Chairman, I'm trying to be cordial here, but you just accused the lady of lying. I think you need to clear this up with your staff."[31]
The CFPB confirmed the agreement, but McHenry refused to apologize for his remarks to Warren.[32][33]
TheHickory Daily Record, the largest paper in McHenry's district, called for McHenry to apologize, saying that it was "unacceptable for any member of Congress, especially a subcommittee chairman", to treat a witness in the manner in which he treated Warren.[34]
McHenry supported a 2020 rule change by the Trump administration whereby payday lenders would no longer have to check whether prospective borrowers can afford to repay high-interest loans.[35]
McHenry did not join the majority of Republican members of Congress who sided with the Trump campaign'sattempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election. He voted to certify Arizona's and Pennsylvania's votes in the2021 United States Electoral College vote count.[36][37][38]
On October 3, 2023, McHenry was appointed asSpeaker pro tempore of the United States House of Representatives, after a successfulmotion to vacate led to theremoval of Kevin McCarthy from the speakership.[7] Subsequently, he ordered that formerspeaker of the HouseNancy Pelosi vacate one of her offices in the U.S. Capitol building.[39] On October 4, the former majority leader,Steny Hoyer, was also ordered to vacate his Capitol Hillhideaway office.[40] McHenry served as Speaker pro tempore until October 25, when Mike Johnson was elected as Speaker.
On December 5, 2023, McHenry announced that he would not seek reelection in2024.[41] McHenry had previously announced running for reelection for an 11th term in October followingthe elections for a new speaker in the House.[42]
In 2004, after one term in the North Carolina General Assembly, McHenry ran for Congress in the10th congressional district when nine-term incumbentCass Ballenger retired. McHenry faced a heavily contested primary and bested his closest opponent,Catawba Countysheriff David Huffman, in a runoff by only 85 votes.
In the general election, McHenry won 64% of the popular vote, defeatingDemocrat Anne Fischer. It was generally thought McHenry's victory in the primary runoff wastantamount to election in November: his district is considered North Carolina's most Republican district, having sent Republicans to represent it since 1963.
In the 2006 election, McHenry defeated DemocratRichard Carsner with almost 62% of the vote.
In 2008, McHenry defeated Lance Sigmon in the Republican primary with 67% of the vote and faced DemocratDaniel Johnson in the general election. Johnson was considered the strongest and best-funded Democrat to run in the district in over 20 years. In part because of this, theCook Political Report moved the race from "Safe Republican" to "Likely Republican." This meant that inCharlie Cook's opinion, while McHenry still had a considerable advantage, a victory by Johnson could not be ruled out. Shortly after the Cook Political Report's update,Stuart Rothenberg of theRothenberg Political Report, also a nonpartisan analysis of American politics and elections, addressed the race and indicated his opinion that an upset was unlikely.[46] McHenry defeated Johnson, 58% to 42%.[47]
McHenry defeated Republicans Vance Patterson, Scott Keadle, and David Michael Boldon with 63.09% of the vote to win the primary.[48] He defeated Democrat Jeff Gregory with 71.18% of the vote in the general election.[49]
McHenry defeated Ken Fortenberry and Don Peterson with 72.54% of the vote in the primary.[50] He defeated Democrat Patsy Keever in the general election with 56.99% of the vote.[51]
McHenry defeated Richard Lynch in the primary with 78.04% of the vote.[52] He defeated Democrat Tate MacQueen with 61.02% of the vote in the general election.[53]
McHenry defeated Jeff Gregory, Jeffrey Baker, and Albert Lee Wiley Jr. with 78.42% of the vote in the primary.[54] He defeated Democrat Andy Millard with 63.14% of the vote in the general election.[55]
McHenry defeated a host of fellow Republicans in the primary with 70.72% of the vote.[56] He defeated Democrat David Wilson Brown with 59.29% percent of the vote in the general election.[57]
McHenry defeated David Johnson and Ralf Walters in the primary with 71.67% of the vote.[58] He defeated Democrat David Parker with 68.91% of the vote in the general election.[59]
McHenry defeated five opponents in the primary with 68.1% of the vote.[60][4] He defeated Democrat Pam Genant with 72.6% of the vote in the general election.[61]
McHenry has been married to Giulia Cangiano since 2010.[62][63] They live inDenver, North Carolina, and have three children.[64]
Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is named interim speaker under a law passed after the Sept. 11 attacks in the event of a vacancy in the office.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina's 10th congressional district 2005–2025 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theHouse Financial Services Committee 2019–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Chair of theHouse Financial Services Committee 2023–2025 | Succeeded by | |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Baby of the House 2005–2009 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | House Republican Chief Deputy Whip 2014–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded byas Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives | Speaker pro tempore of the United States House of Representatives 2023 | Succeeded byas Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
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