Virginia Foxx | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2017 | |
| Chair of theHouse Rules Committee | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Michael C. Burgess |
| Chair of theHouse Education Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2023 – January 3, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Bobby Scott |
| Succeeded by | Tim Walberg |
| In office January 3, 2017 – January 3, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | John Kline |
| Succeeded by | Bobby Scott |
| Ranking Member of theHouse Education Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Bobby Scott |
| Succeeded by | Bobby Scott |
| Secretary of the House Republican Conference | |
| In office January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2017 | |
| Leader | John Boehner Paul Ryan |
| Preceded by | John Carter |
| Succeeded by | Jason T. Smith |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina's5th district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Richard Burr |
| Member of theNorth Carolina Senate | |
| In office January 1, 1995 – January 1, 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Alexander Sands Fred Folger |
| Succeeded by | John Garwood |
| Constituency | 12th district (1995–2003) 45th district (2003–2005) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Virginia Ann Palmieri (1943-06-29)June 29, 1943 (age 82) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BA) University of North Carolina, Greensboro (MA,EdD) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Foxx supporting a resolution on Apple Crunch, a Pennsylvania-based nutritional food event. Recorded July 29, 2008 | |
Virginia Ann Foxx (néePalmieri;[1][2] born June 29, 1943) is an American politician, businesswoman, and educator serving as theU.S. representative forNorth Carolina's 5th congressional district since 2005. A member of theRepublican Party, Foxx has served as chair of theHouse Rules Committee since 2025 in the 119th Congress.[3] She also served asSecretary of the House Republican Conference from 2013 to 2016.[4] She was the ranking member of theHouse Committee on Education and Labor from 2019 to 2023 and served as the committee's chair from 2017 to 2019 and from 2023 to 2025. Foxx's district encompasses much of the rural northwestern portion of the state, including the majority ofGreensboro. Since January 2025, Foxx has been the dean ofNorth Carolina's congressional delegation,[5] having previously shared the deanship withPatrick McHenry until his retirement.[6]
Foxx was born Virginia Ann Palmieri in theManhattan borough of New York City on June 29, 1943, to Dollie (née Garrison) and Nunzio John Palmieri.[2][7][8] Her father was a painter and a paperhanger who also worked as a hairdresser and construction worker and her mother worked odd jobs, working in restaurants as well as a hotel maid and weaver.[9] She and her family moved nearLinville Falls, North Carolina, when she was 6.[7] Foxx grew up in a poor family and didn't live in a home with running water and electricity until age 14. Although baptizedCatholic, her family attended aBaptist church since there was no Catholic church nearby.[10][11]
While attending Crossnore High School inCrossnore, North Carolina, she worked as a janitor at the school and was the first in her family to graduate from high school.[12] For a brief period after high school, she returned to New York City, earning money by working as a typist and living with family inthe Bronx.[8] She then moved back to North Carolina to continue her education, initially atAppalachian State University.[8] When she was 20 years old, she married Thomas Foxx, with whom she had a daughter.[13] She graduated from theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor's degree in 1968, and later earned both a Master of Arts in college teaching (1972) and a Doctor of Education (1985) from theUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro.[2][14] Foxx and her husband owned and operated anursery andlandscaping business.[14]
Foxx worked as a research assistant and then an English instructor atCaldwell Community College & Technical Institute andAppalachian State University before moving into university administration. From 1987 until her 1994 entry into politics, she was president ofMayland Community College. Under North Carolina GovernorJames G. Martin, Foxx served as Deputy Secretary for Management.[14] From 1994 to 2004, she served in theNorth Carolina Senate.[15]
Foxx was first elected to the U.S. House in 2004, defeatingJim Harrell, Jr. with 59% of the vote.[16]
Foxx was briefly targeted in the2006 elections, but theDemocrats' top choice, Winston-Salem mayorAllen Joines, decided not to run. Joines later said he lacked the stomach for the kind of race he felt it would take to defeat Foxx.[17] Her 2006 opponent wasRoger Sharpe, whom she defeated.
Roy Carter ofAshe County was Foxx's opponent in the 2008 election; she won by a substantial margin.
In 2010, Foxx was reelected with about 65% of the vote.[18]
In 2014, Foxx was reelected with about 60% of the vote, defeating software developer Josh Brannon.[19]
In 2016, Foxx was reelected with about 59% of the vote, again over Brannon.[20]
In 2018, Foxx was reelected with 57% of the vote, defeating DD Adams, a council member for the North Ward of Winston-Salem.[21]
In the 2020 general election, Foxx won over 66% of the vote, defeating Democrat David Brown.[22]
In 2022, Foxx sought re-election in the redrawn 5th congressional district, which favored the GOP.[23] Foxx was endorsed by President Donald Trump in 2021.[24] She defeated Democrat Kyle Parrish, 63.2–36.8%.[25]
In September 2005, Foxx was one of 11 members of Congress to vote against[26] the $51 billion aid package to victims ofHurricane Katrina.
In January 2013, Foxx co-sponsored legislation that would stop children born in the United States to undocumented parents from gaining citizenship.[27]
On December 18, 2019, Foxx voted against both articles of impeachment (abuse of power and obstruction of Congress) of PresidentDonald Trump.
On January 23, 2021, Foxx voted against the single article of impeachment (Incitement of Insurrection) of PresidentDonald Trump.
In May 2021, Foxx became the fifth Republican representative to be fined for evading metal detectors put in place outside the chamber after theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack. Foxx ran through the magnetometer, setting it off, and ignored officers attempting to prevent her entering the House floor.[28][29][30]
Foxx has been known for frequently scolding reporters and staff for being on or near members-only elevators in Capitol buildings.[31] In October 2023 while among Republicans gathered for a press conference for then-House speaker nomineeMike Johnson, she was scrutinized for telling a reporter to "go away" and "shut up" when Johnson was asked to speak abouthis efforts to overturn the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.[32][33][34]
For the119th Congress:[35]
Foxx opposes legal access toabortion. She voted for a bill to repeal a rule requiring state and local governments to distribute federal funds to qualified health centers, even if they perform abortions.[41] In 2014, Foxx was asked whether there were any conditions under which she considered abortion acceptable. She replied that, even in the case of rape, incest, or the health of the mother, no exception should be made to justify abortion.[42]
Foxx, along with all other Senate and House Republicans, voted against theAmerican Rescue Plan Act of 2021.[43]
On July 14, 2025, Foxx voted against an amendment by CongressmanRo Khanna seeking to release theJeffrey Epstein files. Foxx stated that the decision to release any of the files was better left to the president.[44][45] Later, Foxx opposed another proposal that would require the full U.S. House of Representatives to consider and vote on theEpstein Files Transparency Act.[46][47]
An opponent of theAffordable Care Act (Obamacare), she has said, "we have more to fear from the potential of theAffordable Health Care for America Act passing than we do from any terrorist right now in any country."[48][49] When commenting on the House version of the reform bill that funds counseling for end-of-life issues, Foxx said, "Republicans have a better solution that won't put the government in charge of people's health care" and "[The plan] is pro-life because it will not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government."[50]
In April 2009, Foxx expressed opposition to theMatthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, claiming thatMatthew Shepard's murder was not a hate crime. While debating the act in the House, she called the murder a "very unfortunate incident" but claimed "we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay." She ultimately called that allegation "a hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passinghate crimes bills".[51] Some media outlets, includingThe New York Times,[52]The Washington Post,[51] andThe Huffington Post,[53] criticized her statements, as did RepresentativeDebbie Wasserman Schultz.[54] Democratic sources claimed that Matthew Shepard's mother was present during Foxx's statements.[54]
Foxx later retracted her comments, suggesting her use of the word "hoax" was in bad taste.[55] She suggested that Shepard's murder was a tragedy and that his killers had received appropriate justice.[55]
In 2015, Foxx condemned the Supreme Court decision inObergefell v. Hodges, which held thatsame-sex marriage bans violated the constitution.[56]
In 2019, Foxx strongly opposed theEquality Act, a bill that would expand the federalCivil Rights Act of 1964 to ban discrimination based onsexual orientation andgender identity, and urged Congress members to vote against it.[57]
In December 2022, Foxx voted against theRespect for Marriage Act, which codified same-sex and interracial marriage rights into federal law.[58][59][60]
She introduced the 'Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act' (H.R. 1313; 115th Congress) in 2017.[61] The bill would eliminate the genetic privacy protections of theGenetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–233); allow companies to require employees to undergogenetic testing or risk paying a penalty of thousands of dollars; and let employers see that genetic and other health information.[62][63]
In December 2020, Foxx voted against theMarijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE), which aimed toremove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act.[64] According to financial disclosure reports, she has made at least six investments inAltria, one of the world's largest tobacco companies and a leader in the burgeoning U.S. cannabis industry, since September 2020.[65] In all, records show she has purchased somewhere between $79,000 and $210,000 in Altria stock.[66]
Foxx is Catholic.[67] Her former son-in-law, Mustafa Özdemir, is a Turkish businessman.[68][69]
Foxx... was born in Manhattan
[Allen Joines] didn't have the stomach to run against U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina's 5th congressional district 2005–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Education Committee 2017–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theHouse Education Committee 2019–2023 | |
| Chair of theHouse Education Committee 2023–2025 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Rules Committee 2025–present | Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Secretary of House Republican Conference 2013–2017 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 48th | Succeeded by |
Chairs of theU.S. House Committee on Rules (1880–present) | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Education and Labor (1867–1883) | | |
|---|---|---|
| Education (1883–1947) | ||
| Labor (1883–1947) | ||
| Education and Labor* (1947–) | ||
| Note | * Alternately namedEconomic and Educational Opportunities in 104th Congress andEducation and the Workforce in 105th through 109th and 112th through 115th Congresses. | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
