Nehls Chairing Rail Subcommittee

Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief
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Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Tex.), Chair, House Rail Subcommittee

Texas Republican Troy E. Nehls, who represents the state’s 22nd Congressional District (Fort Bend County) and is in his second term, has assumed chairmanship of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials. T&I Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.) announced the appointment on Jan. 27. Nehls also serves on the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

“At such a pivotal time for our transportation industry, I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to lead the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials,” said Nehls, 54. “Our Subcommittee will be active in developing pipeline safety reauthorization legislation, as well as conducting oversight of issues such as the supply chain and Amtrak. I look forward to working with Chairman Graves to advance the interests of the American people.”

Nehls, born in Beaver Dam, Wisc., has a military and law enforcement background. He enlisted in the United States Army Reserve in 1988 at age 19, serving tours of duty in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, earning two Bronze Stars and the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) for combat actions. He retired from the Army Reserve with the rank of Major in 2009.

Nehls holds a bachelor’s degree from Liberty University and a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Houston–Downtown.

Nehls moved to Fort Bend County in 1994 and joined the Richmond, Tex. Police Department. In 2004, he was elected Constable of Fort Bend County, while he was serving in Iraq. In 2012, he was elected Sheriff of Fort Bend County, taking office in January 2013, serving two terms. In 2020, he ran for Congress in the 22nd District, which includes Katy, Sugar Land and Pearland, defeating Democratic nominee Sri Preston Kulkarni in the general election, 52% to 45%. He was re-elected in 2022.

Fort Bend County, which borders Houston and Harris County, beginning in the 1960s has transformed from a largely rural area dominated by railroad and oil and gas interests to a major suburban county dominated by service and manufacturing industries. Served by BNSF and Union Pacific, the county still contains extensive oil and gas pipelines.

Nehls “is something of an enigma,” according to one industry observer. “It’s unknown how much knowledge of, or interest in, rail he’s got. And he has not been free from controversy.”

According to public records cited by the Texas Tribune during the 2020 elections, Nehls “was fired from the Richmond Police Department in 1998 after he committed 19 violations in one year. Those included improper arrests, failure to contact a victim to obtain information for a report and destruction of evidence.”

According to Nehls’ Wikipedia entry, following his nomination in 2020 for the Congressional seat he now holds, the “Standing with President Trump” page on his campaign website was removed. That website now describes him as “a proud America First Patriot [who] stands against the Washington Swamp and stands for the Constitution, fiscal conservatism, small government, and Texas values [and is] proudly endorsed by President Donald Trump.”

According to Politico, in his first week in the U.S. House, Nehls and other members of Congress assisted U.S. Capitol Police in barricading the door to the House floor from protesters during the Jan. 6, 2021 United States Capitol attack. The next day, Nehls joined 121 other Republican members of Congress in objecting to counting certain electoral votes in the 2020 Presidential election. In April 2021, after President Joe Biden delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress, Nehls reportedly approached Biden and said he wanted to work together on criminal justice reform. In May 2021, he partnered with former Florida Democratic Representative Val Demings to introduce H.R. 3529, The Second Chance Opportunity for Re-Entry Education (SCORE) Act, to direct grant funds to county jails for career training programs for non-violent, incarcerated individuals to reduce jail recidivism. Following the the FBI search of Presidential records at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in 2022, Nehls announced his support for Trump for President in 2024 and denounced the FBI and Department of Justice as “corrupt.”

In July 2022, Nehls published a book, The Big Fraud: What Democrats Don’t Want You to Know About January 6, the 2020 Election, and a Whole Lot Else.” Amazon, which sells the book for about $8 (paperback), lists it as “telling the true story of how Democrats got away with rigging the 2020 Election and orchestrating a sham impeachment around January 6, all in an attempt to destroy President Trump and continue the globalist takeover of America. From riots in the summer of 2020 to COVID-19 lockdowns and mandates, the establishment and progressive elite were determined to destroy Donald Trump by any means necessary. Congressman Troy E. Nehls sets the record straight with his firsthand account of confronting rioters at the Chamber doors on January 6 and investigating [the riot] as part of Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s January 6 Committee team.” In a Twitter feed promoting the book, Nehls said, “What the media has told you about January 6, the Presidential Election, and the 2020 Summer riots is a LIE. I have chronicled the truth in my book.”

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