In the 2018 elections Roy ran for the United States House of Representatives in to succeed Lamar Smith, who did not run for reelection. During the campaign, Politico likened him to Ted Cruz. During the campaign, Roy said that President Trump was doing a good job, citing as an example Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accords, and praising Trump for attacking "the swamp." Roy defeated Matt McCall in the Republican Party primary election, and faced Joseph Kopser in the general election. Roy defeated Kopser 50%–48% in a closer-than-expected victory.
Tenure
In May 2019, Roy was the only member of the U.S. House to raise procedural objections delaying passage of a request for unanimous consent for a $19.1 billion disaster aid package for damage caused by Hurricane Harvey. The bill was stalled for 11 days before ultimately passing in June 2019 by a margin of 354-58, with Roy voting against it. Roy received bipartisan criticism for his objection to the bill. He said he voted against it because it added to the national debt and did not include additional spending for federal operations along the U.S.-Mexico border. On June 28, 2019, in response to the humanitarian crisis involving migrant children at the southern border, Roy proposed legislation to amend the Antideficiency Act to allow the United States Border Patrol to accept donations from people who want to help migrant children directly. The bill was filed after people attempting to donate supplies such as diapers, toys, and hygiene items were turned away by Border Patrol officials who said they were not accepting donations due to the ADA, which prevents the government from accepting "any donations other than what Congress has allocated to it." He is a member of the Freedom Caucus. On December 18, 2019, Roy voted against both articles of impeachment against Trump. Of the 195 Republicans who voted, all voted against both impeachment articles. In March 2020, Roy was one of 40 representatives to vote against a coronavirus relief bill. In July 2020, Roy blamed surging coronavirus cases in Southern Texas on "people coming across our border" from Mexico; at the time, the border with Mexico had been closed for all nonessential activity since March. Roy argued that Texas was holding coronavirus numbers down; at the time, cases were surging in Texas. Later that month, Roy said he would not isolate himself even though he had a lengthy maskless interaction with Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert – who tested positive for the coronavirus – on the House floor. Committee assignments
