Brian Philip Babin[1] (/ˈbæbɪn/ BAB-in; born March 23, 1948) is an American dentist, politician and member of the Republican Party who has served as the U.S. representative from Texas's 36th congressional district since 2015.

Babin graduated from Lamar University in 1973 and served as an officer in the United States Air Force from 1975 to 1979, leaving with the rank of captain.

[3] To pay for his tuition, he worked as a janitor, merchant seaman and postman and sang folk and country music in local restaurants with his wife Roxanne, whom he met in college.

He became active in the GOP when it barely existed in then heavily Democratic Deep East Texas, and is considered "instrumental" in turning the region Republican over the years.

After the 1996 election, Babin became involved in a campaign finance scandal concerning $37,000 in illegal donations from businessman Peter Cloeren that were moved through "vehicles" to circumvent the individual contribution limit of $1,000.

Cloeren asserted in an affidavit that Babin and then-House majority whip Tom DeLay laundered his donations through other candidates and organisations.

[15] Cloeren pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, paid a $400,000 fine and received a two-year suspended prison sentence.

[9][18] According to The Dallas Morning News, McDonald announced his resignation via press release without discussing it with Babin, and his sudden departure left those in the campaign shocked and confused.

[22] An article by Hastings Wyman of the Southern Political Report suggested that McDonald was forced to resign by the local media threatening to "out" him.

[24] After Representative Steve Stockman of Texas's 36th congressional district made a late decision to run for the U.S. Senate instead of for reelection, Babin ran to succeed him.

But he declined to vote for another candidate because "he would have preferred to see Boehner denied reelection on the first ballot, forcing a closed-door GOP caucus meeting at which a replacement might emerge.

"[34] On January 25, in an interview with The Daily Caller, Babin said that President Barack Obama "deserves impeachment", but he doubted that Congress would act on that.

Babin said that this was urgently necessary because the refugee program amounted to an "open invitation" to the "problems of the Middle East, of terrorism, oppression of women and all the things that go along with it."

[40] Babin also cosponsored a resolution disagreeing with the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that same-sex marriage bans violated the constitution.

"[42] In June 2017, Babin asked Trump in a letter to order a review of the case of Derrick Miller, a former US Army National Guardsman sergeant who was sentenced in to life in prison with the chance of parole for the premeditated murder of an Afghan civilian during a battlefield interrogation, and the cases of other veterans who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq who were imprisoned for battlefield crimes.

[43] After the 2020 presidential election, Babin joined many of his Republican colleagues in the House and Senate in an effort to overturn Joe Biden's victory.

[48] Source:[49] Babin cites water conservation, repealing the Affordable Care Act, and stopping illegal immigration as his main priorities.

"[8] Babin supported Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail travel to the U.S. from six Middle Eastern nations until better screening methods are devised.

[58] Babin characterized HR 5294 as a "bathroom bill" in a subsequent press release, where he stated, in part, that "The federal government should not be in the business of throwing common sense and decency out the window and forcing local schools to permit a teenage boy who ‘identifies’ as a girl to use changing rooms, locker rooms and bathrooms with five-year-old girls.

[63] In December 2020, Babin 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[64] 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.

[68] The PACT ACT which expanded VA benefits to veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during their military service, received a "nay" from Babin.