Jeb Hensarling

He is the son of Mary Ann (Brock) and Charles Andrew "Chase" Hensarling (1928–2014), a 1949 graduate of Texas A&M University and a United States Army officer, who was engaged in the poultry business.

His parents married in 1953.

Jeb Hensarling has one brother, James Andrew Hensarling (born 1954) now deceased, and a sister, Carolyn Hensarling Arizpe.

He is a Christian.

Thomas Jeb Hensarling (born May 29, 1957) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 5th congressional district from 2003 to 2019.

Like his late father, Jeb Hensarling graduated from Texas A&M University; he received a bachelor's degree in economics in 1979.

In 1982, he earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas School of Law at Austin.

Prior to serving in Congress, Hensarling was State Director for Texas Senator Phil Gramm from 1985 until 1989.

He also managed Gramm's re-election campaign in 1990.

From 1991 to 1993, he served as executive director of the Republican Senatorial Committee.

Hensarling next served as a vice president at two companies before becoming owner of San Jacinto Ventures in 1996 and CEO of Family Support Assurance Corporation in 2001.

He served as vice president of Green Mountain Energy from 1999 to 2001.

Hensarling was elected to his first term in 2002, defeating Democratic opponent Ron Chapman with 58 percent of the vote.

He was reelected in 2004 with 64 percent of the vote over Democratic challenger Bill Bernstein.

A December 31, 2005, article in National Review profiled his work as the country's "budget nanny", saying that he replaced his mentor, former Senator Phil Gramm, in this role.

Hensarling's proposed legislation was said to be intended to force Congress to "decide how much money they can afford to spend, and then prioritize within those limits."

The article said that "the chief problem with any proposal to reform the budget process is that it excites almost nobody."

In 2006, he was reelected with 62% of the votes over Charlie Thompson (D) with 36%, and in 2008 with 84% against Ken Ashby (L) with 16%.

Hensarling was elected chairman of the Republican Study Committee following the 2006 congressional elections, defeating Todd Tiahrt.

In 2010, Hensarling was reelected with 71% of the votes, in 2012 with 64% and in 2014 with 85%.

A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the House Republican Conference from 2011 to 2013 and House Financial Services Committee from 2013 until 2019.

The Los Angeles Times described Hensarling, "a fervent believer in free market ideology" and that he was "a pivotal player in the GOP effort to reduce financial regulation in the Trump Era".

The Wall Street Journal called him "a driver of economic policy in the house".

Hensarling has close ties to Wall Street, having received campaign donations from every major Wall Street bank as well as various payday lenders.

From 2011 to 2013, Hensarling was chairman of the House Republican Conference.

He served on the Congressional Oversight Panel of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

Hensarling was also co-chair of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction.

After the 2012 election, Hensarling was elected as chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, succeeding Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.).

After the election of Donald Trump as president, Hensarling met with him in Trump Tower and was considered for Secretary of the Treasury.

Eventually, Steven Mnuchin was given the position.

Later Hensarling became one of the earliest and most vocal critics of the Trump administration's trade policies.

Hensarling shepherded over 80 bills into law during his three terms as chairmen.

These included the Economic Growth Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act which rewrote numerous provisions of the Dod-Frank Act and the bipartisan JOBS 2.0 legislation which facilitated capital formation for start ups and early growth companies.

Hensarling opposed the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2013 (H.R. 3370; 113th Congress), a bill that would delay some of the reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program.

In 2016 Hensarling gained a total of 80% of the votes and defeated Ken Ashby, who had received 20% of the votes.

On October 31, 2017, Hensarling announced that he would not seek reelection in 2018.

His committee also passed the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 which provided major reforms to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CIFIUS), the government agency responsible for reviewing pending foreign investment for national security implications.

In 2019, he revealed he was joining UBS Group AG as executive vice chairman for the Americas region.

In 2023, he stepped down from that position.

Hensarling was born in Stephenville, the seat of government of Erath County in Central Texas; he was reared on the family farm in College Station.