Michael McCaul (R-TX-10), former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a senior member of Homeland Security, presides over one of the largest and most actively traded household securities portfolios in Congress; he was reported as the second-most-active trader in 2023 with roughly 1,826 trades, and disclosures show tens of millions in annual volume concentrated in technology, communications, financial, defense and health-care names, several of which (e.g., GE Aerospace, Woodward, CACI International) intersect sectors his committees oversee. A 2024 fact-check found no evidence of quid-pro-quo behind a viral Meta/TikTok claim, noting his trades are executed by a third-party investment manager through family limited partnerships and that he learned of trades only via disclosure; he has, however, filed numerous transactions late under the STOCK Act. McCaul's very large net worth (estimated from roughly $100M to nearly $300M in various years) predates his enrichment in office and derives from his wife's family (Lowry Mays / Clear Channel), so it is not scored as office-driven enrichment. On a correlation-only basis, he is among the top congressional recipients of pro-Israel/AIPAC money while championing robust military aid to Israel as Foreign Affairs chair, an alignment that is documented but not evidence of any quid pro quo. No public evidence was found of campaign or leadership-PAC funds used for personal benefit, of family lobbying or a staff-to-lobbyist pipeline tied to his office, and his missed-vote rate (about 2.8% lifetime) is on par with the chamber median.
Public record
In Congress since
2005
Committees
Homeland Security (Vice Chair) Foreign Affairs
Missed votes, 119th Congress
14.2% (96 of 674; median member 1.9%)
Campaign money, 2025–26 cycle
$277K raised · 24% from PACs & committees · $0 cash on hand FEC ↗
The stock-trading ban
H.R. 7008 passage, Jul 22, 2026
Yes
Cosponsored a ban bill
None
H.R. 7008 bans new stock purchases by members, spouses and dependents; it doesn't force sales of existing holdings. The Senate vote was on the version paired with the SAVE Act, which is why no Democrat voted yes. Full breakdown →
Disclosed stock trades
0trades since Jan 2025
0buys
0sells
0filed past 45 days
$0–$0disclosed value range
30 of 30 reports were filed on paper (scanned images) and aren't itemized here; they're linked from the official index.
No transactions parsed.
Amounts are the ranges members must report, not exact values. The STOCK Act requires a report within 45 days of a trade; "late" counts days past that deadline, measured to the filing date.
How the score breaks down
Stock self-tradinghousehold / spouse
25% weight
72
Among the most active traders in Congress (reported 2nd-most-active in 2023 at ~1,826 trades), with large multi-sector volume including tech, communications, financial, defense and health-care names that overlap his Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security committee jurisdictions; includes defense holdings (GE Aerospace, Woodward, CACI) and a notable late-filing record. Mitigated by third-party manager via family LPs and a fact-check finding no quid-pro-quo on the Meta/TikTok claim.
McCaul is among the wealthiest members of Congress (estimates ranging from ~$100M to ~$294M), but his fortune predates and derives almost entirely from his wife Linda's family (Lowry Mays / Clear Channel) via large monetary transfers, not from office-driven gains. Per the rubric, pre-office and family-transfer wealth is not scored as enrichment; the low score reflects only that no salary-implausible, office-correlated growth is documented.
Money → action alignmentcorrelation, not proof of any quid-pro-quo
20% weight
45
Correlation, not proof: McCaul is among the top congressional recipients of pro-Israel/AIPAC money while serving as Foreign Affairs chair and championing robust, unconditioned U.S. military aid to Israel. The financial concentration and legislative alignment are documented; no quid pro quo is asserted or evidenced.
No public reporting or FEC enforcement action found indicating McCaul used campaign or leadership-PAC funds (Texas Republicans United PAC) for personal-benefit categories. Absence of evidence is not penalized.
No public evidence found of family members lobbying or contracting tied to his office, or of a notable staff-to-lobbyist pipeline. His wife's roles are with the Mays Family Foundation and civic/medical boards, not federal lobbying tied to his office. Absence of evidence is not penalized.
McCaul's attendance is solid: he missed about 2.8% of roll-call votes from 2005 to mid-2026, on par with the chamber median (~2.1%). No pattern of heavy missed votes coinciding with fundraising or paid speeches was found.
Sources behind this score: 5 news reporting · 1 data aggregator · 4 reference database · 2 official record. Score = weighted average of the components that have data; the 2 without sourced evidence are excluded, never counted against the member. Methodology →
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