Just three months into his second term, Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy finds himself with a White House and Congress both under Democratic control, and with a divided Republican Party. Yet he hopes to bridge the gaps between differing factions and is willing to use all tools available to him to slow down the Democrats’ agenda.

Roy is a former federal prosecutor who worked his way up through the Texas Republican congressional staffer ranks. He served as chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz, staff director to Sen. John Cornyn’s leadership office, and senior counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Cruz, who won his Senate seat in 2012 as a Tea Party favorite, praised his former staffer, telling the Washington Examiner in a statement, “Chip is a friend and a conservative in his bones and we have fought together side by side. He’s also a fierce patriot who defends the Constitution and fights for Texans each and every day.”