Virginia Foxx

Virginia Ann Foxx (née Palmieri; born June 29, 1943) is an American politician and educator serving as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 5th congressional district since 2005. A member of the Republican Party, Foxx has served as chair of the House Rules Committee since 2025 in the 119th Congress. She also served as Secretary of the House Republican Conference from 2013 to 2016. She was the ranking member of the House 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 of Greensboro. Since January 2025, Foxx has been the dean of North Carolina's congressional delegation, having previously shared the deanship with Patrick McHenry until his retirement.

Virginia Ann Palmieri was born in the Manhattan borough of New York City on June 29, 1943, to Dollie (née Garrison) and Nunzio John Palmieri. 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. She and her family moved near Linville Falls, North Carolina, when she was 6. Palmieri grew up in a poor family and did not live in a home with running water and electricity until age 14. Although baptized Catholic, her family attended a Baptist church since there was no Catholic church nearby.

Palmieri attended Crossnore High School in Crossnore, North Carolina and worked as a janitor at the school. She was the first member of her family to graduate from high school.

For a brief period after high school, Palmieri returned to New York City, earning money by working as a typist and living with family in the Bronx. She then moved back to North Carolina to continue her education, initially at Appalachian State University. She graduated from the University 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 the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Virginia Foxx and her husband, Thomas Foxx, owned and operated a nursery and landscaping business.

Foxx worked as a research assistant and then an English instructor at Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute and Appalachian State University before moving into university administration. From 1987 until her 1994 entry into politics, she was president of Mayland Community College. Under North Carolina Governor James G. Martin, Foxx served as Deputy Secretary for Management. From 1994 to 2004, she served in the North Carolina Senate.

Foxx talking with constituents in Yadkinville, NC

Foxx was first elected to the U.S. House in 2004, defeating Jim Harrell, Jr. with 59% of the vote.

Foxx was briefly targeted in the 2006 elections, but the Democrats' top choice, Winston-Salem mayor Allen 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. Her 2006 opponent was Roger Sharpe, whom she defeated.

Roy Carter of Ashe 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.

In 2014, Foxx was reelected with about 60% of the vote, defeating software developer Josh Brannon.

In 2016, Foxx was reelected with about 59% of the vote, again over Brannon.

In 2018, Foxx was reelected with 57% of the vote, defeating DD Adams, a council member for the North Ward of Winston-Salem.

In the 2020 general election, Foxx won over 66% of the vote, defeating Democrat David Brown.

In 2022, Foxx sought re-election in the redrawn 5th congressional district, which favored the GOP. Foxx was endorsed by President Donald Trump in 2021. She defeated Democrat Kyle Parrish, 63.2–36.8%.

Foxx during the 110th Congress

In September 2005, Foxx was one of 11 members of Congress to vote against the $51 billion aid package to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

In January 2013, Foxx co-sponsored legislation that would stop children born in the United States to undocumented parents from gaining citizenship.

Foxx voted against both articles of impeachment (abuse of power and obstruction of Congress) of President Donald Trump on December 18, 2019, and against the single article of impeachment (Incitement of Insurrection) on January 23, 2021.

In May 2021, Foxx became the fifth Republican representative to be fined for evading metal detectors put in place outside the chamber after the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Foxx ran through the magnetometer, setting it off, and ignored officers attempting to prevent her entering the House floor.

Foxx has been known for frequently scolding reporters and staff for being on or near members-only elevators in Capitol buildings. In October 2023 while among Republicans gathered for a press conference for then-House speaker nominee Mike Johnson, she was scrutinized for telling a reporter to "go away" and "shut up" when Johnson was asked to speak about his efforts to overturn the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.

In May 2026, Foxx drew media attention after responding to a fourth-grade student's letter supporting electric vehicle subsidies by criticizing what she described as "indoctrination" in schools, asking the student to ask his teacher to explain "propaganda" to him. The exchange was later published online by the student's mother and covered by several news outlets.

For the 119th Congress:

• Committee on Education and Workforce

  • Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions

• Committee on Oversight and Reform

  • Subcommittee on Government Operations

• Committee on Rules (Chair)

• Republican Study Committee

• Congressional Constitution Caucus

• Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans

• Congressional Taiwan Caucus

• United States–China Working Group

Foxx opposes legal access to abortion. 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. 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.

Foxx, along with all other Senate and House Republicans, voted against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

On July 14, 2025, Foxx voted against an amendment by Congressman Ro Khanna seeking to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. Foxx stated that the decision to release any of the files was better left to the president. Later, Foxx opposed another proposal that would require the full U.S. House of Representatives to consider and vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

An opponent of the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), she has said, "we have more to fear from the potential of the Affordable Health Care for America Act passing than we do from any terrorist right now in any country." 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."

In April 2009, Foxx expressed opposition to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, claiming that Matthew 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 passing hate crimes bills". Some media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Huffington Post, criticized her statements, as did Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Democratic sources claimed that Matthew Shepard's mother was present during Foxx's statements.

Foxx later retracted her comments, suggesting her use of the word "hoax" was in bad taste. She suggested that Shepard's murder was a tragedy and that his killers had received appropriate justice.

In 2015, Foxx condemned the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that same-sex marriage bans violated the Constitution.

In 2019, Foxx strongly opposed the Equality Act, a bill that would expand the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and urged Congress members to vote against it.

In December 2022, Foxx voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, which codified same-sex and interracial marriage rights into federal law.

She introduced the 'Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act' (H.R. 1313; 115th Congress) in 2017. The bill would eliminate the genetic privacy protections of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–233); allow companies to require employees to undergo genetic testing or risk paying a penalty of thousands of dollars; and let employers see that genetic and other health information.

In December 2020, Foxx voted against the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE), which aimed to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act. According to financial disclosure reports, she has made at least six investments in Altria, one of the world's largest tobacco companies and a leader in the burgeoning U.S. cannabis industry, since September 2020. In all, records show she has purchased somewhere between $79,000 and $210,000 in Altria stock.

At the age of 20, Virginia Palmieri married Thomas Foxx. The Foxxes have a daughter.

Foxx is Catholic. Her former son-in-law, Mustafa Özdemir, is a Turkish businessman.

• Women in the United States House of Representatives

• U.S. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx official U.S. House website

• Virginia Foxx for Congress

• Appearances on C-SPAN

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission

• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress

• Profile at Vote Smart