Tom Cole

Tom Cole
Official portrait, 2021
Chair of the House Appropriations Committee
Assumed office
April 10, 2024
Preceded byKay Granger
Chair of the House Rules Committee
In office
January 3, 2023 – April 10, 2024
Preceded byJim McGovern
Succeeded byMichael C. Burgess
Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee
In office
January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2023
Preceded byJim McGovern
Succeeded byJim McGovern
Chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee
In office
January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2009
LeaderJohn Boehner
Preceded byTom Reynolds
Succeeded byPete Sessions
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Oklahoma's 4th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2003
Preceded byJ. C. Watts
26th Secretary of State of Oklahoma
In office
January 9, 1995 – March 16, 1999
GovernorFrank Keating
Preceded byGlo Henley
Succeeded byMike Hunter
Member of the Oklahoma Senate
from the 45th district
In office
November 1988 – July 1991
Preceded byHelen Cole
Succeeded byHelen Cole
Personal details
BornThomas Jeffery Cole
(1949-04-28) April 28, 1949
PartyRepublican
Spouse
Ellen Decker
(m. 1971)
Children1
RelativesHelen Cole (mother)
Te Ata (great-aunt)
EducationGrinnell College (BA)
Yale University (MA)
University of Oklahoma (PhD)
WebsiteHouse website
Campaign website
Academic background
ThesisLife and Labor in the Isle of Dogs: The Origins and Evolution of an East London Working-Class Community, 1800–1980 (1984)
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Thomas Jeffery Cole (born April 28, 1949) is an American politician and former educator serving as the U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 4th congressional district since 2003. A Republican, he previously served in the Oklahoma Senate from 1988 to 1991 and as the 26th secretary of state of Oklahoma from 1995 to 1999. An enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation, Cole is the longest-serving Native American in the history of Congress. On April 10, 2024, Cole was elected chair of the House Appropriations Committee.