Tom Cole

Tom Cole
Official portrait, 2021
Chair of the House Appropriations Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office April 10, 2024
Preceded by	Kay Granger
Chair of the House Rules Committee
In office January 3, 2023 – April 10, 2024
Preceded by	Jim McGovern
Succeeded by	Michael C. Burgess
Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee
In office January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2023
Preceded by	Jim McGovern
Succeeded by	Jim McGovern
Chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee
In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2009
Leader	John Boehner
Preceded by	Tom Reynolds
Succeeded by	Pete Sessions
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oklahoma's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2003
Preceded by	J. C. Watts
26th Secretary of State of Oklahoma
In office January 9, 1995 – March 16, 1999
Governor	Frank Keating
Preceded by	Glo Henley
Succeeded by	Mike Hunter
Member of the Oklahoma Senate from the 45th district
In office November 1988 – July 1991
Preceded by	Helen Cole
Succeeded by	Helen Cole
Personal details
Born	Thomas Jeffery Cole (1949-04-28) April 28, 1949 (age 75) Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S.
Nationality	American Chickasaw Nation
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Ellen Decker ​ (m. 1971)​
Children	1
Relatives	Helen Cole (mother)
Education	Grinnell College (BA) Yale University (MA) University of Oklahoma (PhD)
Website	House website
Tom Cole's voice Cole voices his support for various FY2019 spending bills under consideration Recorded September 26, 2018

Thomas Jeffery Cole (born April 28, 1949) is the U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 4th congressional district, serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party and serves as the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Before serving in the House of Representatives, he was the 26th Secretary of State of Oklahoma from 1995 to 1999.

A member of the Chickasaw Nation, Cole is one of five Native Americans in Congress who are enrolled tribal members. The others are fellow Oklahoma Republicans Markwayne Mullin (Cherokee) and Josh Brecheen (Choctaw), and Democrats Sharice Davids of Kansas (Ho‑Chunk) and Mary Peltola of Alaska (Yupik). In 2022, Cole became the longest-serving Native American in the history of Congress.^[1][2]