Thomas Jeb Hensarling (born May 29, 1957) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 5th congressional district from 2003 to 2019.

The Los Angeles Times described Hensarling, "a fervent believer in free market ideology" and that he was "a pivotal player in the GOP effort to reduce financial regulation in the Trump Era".

Hensarling was born in Stephenville, the seat of government of Erath County in Central Texas; he was reared on the family farm in College Station.

[7] He is the son of Mary Ann (Brock) and Charles Andrew "Chase" Hensarling (1928–2014), a 1949 graduate of Texas A&M University and a United States Army officer, who was engaged in the poultry business.

[9] Like his late father,[10] Jeb Hensarling graduated from Texas A&M University; he received a bachelor's degree in economics in 1979.

[14] Hensarling next served as a vice president at two companies before becoming owner of San Jacinto Ventures in 1996[15] and CEO of Family Support Assurance Corporation in 2001.

[23] A December 31, 2005, article in National Review profiled his work as the country's "budget nanny", saying that he replaced his mentor, former Senator Phil Gramm, in this role.

Hensarling's proposed legislation was said to be intended to force Congress to "decide how much money they can afford to spend, and then prioritize within those limits."

[27] He served on the Congressional Oversight Panel of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

[35] Hensarling campaigned for Congress to enact a one-year moratorium on all Congressional earmarks, saying that the process needs to be overhauled.

[citation needed] In May 2008, Hensarling campaigned for the Republican party leadership in the House to agree to a special session to give lawmakers to air their views on a new policy platform and share ideas on how to define themselves to better advantage going into the 2008 election.

[40] In September 2008, Hensarling led House Republican efforts to oppose Secretary Henry Paulson and Chairman Ben Bernanke's $700 billion financial bailout, and urged caution before Congress rushed to approve the plan.

But my greatest fear is that it changes the role of the federal government in our free market economy, which despite its current problems, remains the envy of the world.

We must always be very careful to ensure that any remedy does allow short-term gain to come at the cost of even greater long-term pain – that being the slippery slope to socialism.

[42] On November 19, 2008, Hensarling was appointed by United States House of Representatives Minority Leader John Boehner to serve on the five-member Congressional Oversight Panel created to oversee the implementation of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.

He was the lone dissenting member on the "Accountability for the Troubled Asset Relief Program" report issued by the panel on January 9, 2009.

However, Hensarling instead endorsed former Republican Study Committee Chairman Mike Pence, a longtime friend and ally.