Ed Royce

Edward Randall Royce (born October 12, 1951) is an American retired politician and lobbyist. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from California from 1993 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Royce served as Chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2019. He previously served as a member of the California Senate from 1982 to 1993.

He was reelected to his seat in 2016, having spent over $3.5 million on his campaign. On January 8, 2018, Royce announced that he would retire from Congress at the end of his term and not run for reelection in 2018.

In September 2020, Royce became a lobbyist at the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.

Royce was born in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from Katella High School in Anaheim, California. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting and Finance in 1977 from California State University, Fullerton.

Royce was a business owner and corporate tax manager for a Portland cement company before becoming a California State Senator in 1983, serving in that post until his election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

After redistricting following the 1990 United States census, incumbent Republican U.S. Representative William Dannemeyer decided to retire and run for the 1992 U.S. Senate election. Royce won the Republican primary for what was then California's 39th congressional district, which included most of northern Orange County and southern Los Angeles County.

He defeated Democrat Molly McClanahan in the general election with 57% of the vote.

He won re-election to the 39th district four more times with at least 63% of the vote. After redistricting after the 2000 United States census, his district was renumbered the 40th and cut back to northern Orange County. He won re-election from this district five more times with at least 63% of the vote.

After redistricting, Royce's home in Fullerton was drawn into the 39th district. That district had previously been the 42nd District, represented by fellow Republican Gary Miller. Although it was geographically more Miller's district than Royce's, Royce would have been favored in a primary battle with Miller–which would have been the real contest in this heavily Republican district. Ultimately, Miller opted to move to the neighboring 31st District, effectively handing the seat to Royce.

Royce defeated Jay Chen in the general election.

In September 2020, it was announced that Royce would join law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck as a lobbyist. In this role, he has worked as a registered foreign agent on behalf of the government of Saudi Arabia. In 2025, it was reported that Royce would lobby on behalf of technology firm Nvidia.

Royce voted in line with President Trump's position in 97.9% of the votes in the 115th United States Congress. For the 114th United States Congress, Royce was ranked as the 27th most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives (and the most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California) in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy that ranks members of the United States Congress by their degree of bipartisanship (by measuring the frequency each member's bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and each member's co-sponsorship of bills by members of the opposite party). Over his career, Royce has received nearly $7 million from PACs. In the 2016 race, he raised over $4.2 million and spent over $3.5 million.

His campaign committee received funds from Northwest Excavating, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and NorPac. The Sunlight Foundation gave Royce's web site a 24 percent rating for transparency, with 40 percent being considered a passing score. Royce's website highlights support from conservative groups such as 60 Plus and business organizations such as the National Taxpayers Union and Citizens Against Government Waste. He received praise from the American Share Holders Association, Citizens for a Sound Economy, and the Small Business Survival Committee.

For the 113th Congress, the Washington Post named Royce as one of the “10 most effective lawmakers in the U.S. Congress”, citing his authorship of the Global Anti-Poaching Act (H.R. 2494) and the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015 (H.R. 2297).

Royce's voting record, his scores on VoteMatch, and ratings by the Cato Institute indicate mixed or moderate positions on free trade, privatization of social security, campaign finance, and tax reform.

One of Royce's early signature issues was banking deregulation. He has sponsored legislation on tax policy, small businesses, and credit. Many of his biggest campaign contributors have been banks: his five top contributors in 2006 were Credit Union National Assn, Irvine Co., Wells Fargo, Orange County Teachers Fed Credit Union, and GUS plc. He is among the representatives receiving the largest percentage of their campaign contributions from the banking industry.

Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon – Taiwan-Republic of China

Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon – Taiwan-Republic of China

Royce is married to Marie Therese Porter, a businesswoman, former professor at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs.