Congress

Nick Gillespie | From the November 2025 issue

Rep. Chip Roy (R–Texas), who recently announced that he is running to replace Ken Paxton as Texas attorney general, has carved out a reputation as one of Washington's most unflinching fiscal hawks. His political career began as an aide to then–Texas Attorney General John Cornyn on his Senate campaign; he subsequently served as chief of staff to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. First elected to Congress in 2018, Roy distinguished himself as a lawmaker willing to buck party leadership, most notably by opposing spending bills favored by both Republicans and Democrats.

Today, Roy is a critic of runaway federal spending and at times a thorn in the side of political leadership, which has led President Donald Trump to call for primary challenges against him. He has taken high-profile stands on the debt ceiling, entitlement reform, and what he calls the "tyranny" of a government that funds itself by mortgaging future generations.

He also voted for the president's budget-busting One Big Beautiful Bill Act, arguing that its reductions to Medicaid were better than nothing. In August, at a 90th birthday celebration for former Rep. Ron Paul (R–Texas), Roy sat down with Reason's Nick Gillespie to explain that vote, as well as to discuss Social Security, health care reform, immigration, whether his state's controversial redistricting plan is legitimate, and why he believes Texas still embodies the American dream.

Reason: You are a rare voice of fiscal shrinking in Washington, D.C. That has put you in the crosshairs with Donald Trump in particular. You don't want to raise the debt ceiling unless there's a reduction in spending. You pushed back against the Big Beautiful Bill, although you did cave and support it.

Chip Roy: We'll come back to the word cave, but OK.

Well, you voted for it. Talk a little bit about your general philosophy. Why is it so important that government spending be either held constant or reduced?

My view is that the power of the purse is the central power of Congress, and we've abdicated it for as long as I can remember. If you don't constrain that power of the purse, then you're funding the very bureaucracy that was predicted by the Founders—and has proven to be true—to be at odds with our liberty.

To say Congress is asleep at the switch is an understatement. You came into office in 2019, but this has been going on for at least 20 years before. Why?

My observation is that we're actually at a moment where more members of Congress get it than I've ever seen in the past. That's the good news. But the bad news is, it's still a woefully inadequate group of people to change it.

I think members of Congress believe that they get more popularity in votes by spending money. I actually disagree with that. I'm a cancer survivor. I have cancer groups who come in and ask me for money. I say, "God bless you. I know what you're trying to do. Research is great. But do you have a pay-for [for] that?" No. Well, then I can't support it. Farm Bureau comes in. I love the farmers. I want to protect small farmers against corporate [agriculture]. But they come in and they want their money on the farm bill. I'm like, "Well, are we fixing the food stamps?" No. Well, then I can't support it. They get that.

It's important to not fund the tyranny that's turned on us. I think more people are seeing that now in ways that they didn't in the past.

Going to the heart of the Big Beautiful Bill debate: We were told in January, "You're not going to touch anything in Medicaid or any kind of health care." Well, we got a trillion dollars of Medicaid. We were told we weren't going to be able to do much on the Green New Scam subsidies. We were able to get 3, or 4, or $500 billion worth of cutbacks to those. Did we get everything we need? No.

There's no question that the Big Beautiful Bill is going to increase the debt, right? There's no realistic scenario where it doesn't.

I think that is likely the case based on the following facts: Medicare was not touched. Social Security was not touched. Interest payments are going up.

But understand that part of the agreement, and we got to deliver the agreement, was holding discretionary [spending] flat or lower. That was a part of the deal, which by the way, will pay dividends if we do it.

That's a part of the deal, which I'm going to fight for. And also, remember that tax cuts. I had libertarian friends who were like, "Hey, I love the no tax on tips." Well, OK, but what about no tax on the guys in the back of the restaurant? We all want lower taxes. You, I, every person who wants a limited government.

I want lower spending.

But you want lower spending to go along with that. What I would argue is, we fought to get lower spending on things that people never thought we could get, Medicaid being huge among those. Is it enough? No. Is it likely going to create front-loaded deficits? Yes.

You took a lot of heat from Trump on the debt ceiling bill. He was calling you out by name. And you also got leaned on in the Big Beautiful Bill debates. What is it like when Donald Trump, the president of the United States—a guy who, whatever else you can say about him, has the power to destroy the political careers of politicians who are very popular in their districts—says, "What the hell are you doing? You'd better get in line!"

I view it slightly differently because I don't worry about whether I'm in office or not. Come after me, it's fine.

What I do care about is what can we do in........

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