Meet Jodey

Jodey Arrington was raised in Plainview, Texas, as the son of a tractor salesman and schoolteacher. Jodey graduated from Texas Tech University and his passion for public service took him to Austin, Texas where he worked for Governor George W. Bush. He was then tapped by President Bush to join the White House as a senior advisor before being appointed as the youngest Chief of Staff to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in history. In 2007, he returned to West Texas where he was Vice Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System before taking the helm as President of a healthcare innovation company in Lubbock.  

In January of 2017, Jodey became only the fifth person to represent Texas’ 19th Congressional District since its formation in 1935. Starting his 4th term in Congress, he continues to be an outspoken advocate for reining in the federal government, promoting agriculture and energy, strengthening national security, and defending the Constitution while serving the largest agriculture and energy district in the United States.  

In his first term, Jodey served as a member of the Agriculture, Budget, and Veterans’ Affairs committees. He chaired the Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Education and Workforce Training. He was also appointed by Speaker Paul Ryan as the only freshman member to serve on the bicameral, bipartisan Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Reform. As a freshman, Jodey played a pivotal role in restoring cotton to the Farm Bill safety net, providing historic tax reform and regulatory relief, and making the largest investment in our military in over a decade.  

Since 2019, Jodey has served on the Committee on Ways and Means. Dating back to 1789, Ways and Means has the broadest legislative jurisdiction including tax, trade, healthcare, social security, and welfare. As a member on the Committee, prioritizing rural America’s most critical issues—agriculture, energy, and healthcare—will remain his driving force. Jodey currently serves on the Subcommittees for Tax Policy and Trade.  

In 2021, he was appointed to the U.S. Congress’ Joint Economic Committee (JEC) by House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy. The JEC is a bicameral Congressional Committee tasked with reviewing economic conditions and recommending improvements in economic policy.  

At the beginning of the 118th Congress, Jodey was elected to serve as the Chairman of the House Budget Committee. With the national debt surpassing $32 trillion, over 120% of our entire economy, he believes confronting our unsustainable debt is the greatest challenge of the 21st century. He looks forward to working with his colleagues to ensure the next generation of Americans inherit the same freedoms and opportunities as the generations before them.  

Jodey leads several bipartisan congressional groups including the Rural Health Care Task Force, a Congressional delegation focused fixing the national debt and reforming the federal budget process, and the Congressional Term Limits Caucus.   

In addition, he served as Deputy Chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) for four years and chaired the most successful fundraising dinner in the history, raising over $18 million in support of winning the majority in the House.  

He is honored to serve the good people of West Texas and is especially thankful for the tremendous sacrifice and support of his wife, Anne, and their three children.