Michael Jonathan Cloud (born May 13, 1975) is an American politician representing Texas's 27th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2018. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Cloud is a member of the new House Department of Government Efficiency Committee.
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Early life and career
Cloud graduated from Oral Roberts University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science in mass media communications. At Oral Roberts, he was on the cross country and track teams. He chaired the Victoria County Republican Party from 2010 to 2017.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
Cloud succeeded Republican Blake Farenthold, who resigned amid controversy due to settling a sexual harassment lawsuit with public money. He won the Republican runoff for the regularly scheduled election with help from the Club for Growth and the endorsement of Ron Paul, who had previously represented parts of the district. On June 30, 2018, he won the special election, defeating Democratic nominee Eric Holguin, 55% to 32%.
Cloud defeated Holguin again in November, along with independent candidate James Duerr and Libertarian candidate Daniel Tinus, with 60.3% of the vote.
Cloud defeated Democratic nominee Ricardo "Rick" De La Fuente and Libertarian candidate Phil Gray with 63.1% of the vote.
Tenure
Cloud was sworn in on July 10, 2018.
In December 2020, Cloud was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.
During the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, Cloud and his colleagues were ushered to a secure location. Later, video footage of him surfaced in which he refused to wear a mask, in violation of House rules.
On January 3, 2023, at the beginning of the 118th Congress, Cloud voted for Jim Jordan to be the U.S. House speaker, in rebuke of House minority leader Kevin McCarthy.
Cloud voted to provide Israel with support following 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
In June 2021, Cloud was one of 49 House Republicans to vote to repeal the AUMF against Iraq.
In 2023, Cloud was among 47 Republicans to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21 which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.
Cloud voted against the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 which authorizes DHS to nearly double the available H-2B visas for the remainder of FY 2020.
Cloud voted against the Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 1158), which effectively prohibits Immigration and Customs Enforcement from cooperating with the Department of Health and Human Services to detain or remove illegal alien sponsors of Unaccompanied Alien Children. He demanded answers in October 2024 from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement regarding a report that found nearly 300,000 migrant children disappeared from tracking.
Committee assignments
Appropriations Committee
Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
Subcommittee on Homeland Security
Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Committee on Oversight and Accountability
Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic
Caucus memberships
Congressional Taiwan Caucus
Freedom Caucus
Republican Study Committee
Sharia Free America Caucus
Personal life
Cloud is Protestant and his wife is a naturalized citizen.