Davis was considering a run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by five-term incumbent and fellow Republican John Warner in the 2008 election, but decided against it.

[6] He is currently the rector (head of the Board of Visitors) of George Mason University and a trustee of its Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study.

[10] Davis was born in Minot, North Dakota, and moved to Fairfax County in Virginia at an early age.

Davis signed the Contract and voted in favor of the Citizens Legislature Act; however, the bill did not achieve support from the 2/3 majority needed for the amendment to pass.

Although the 11th was considered a swing district, Davis was reelected five more times without substantive opposition in part due to his popularity in Fairfax County.

Davis had less seniority than the other contenders for this chairmanship, but some Republicans wanted to reward him for his work as NRCC chairman, including his supervision of a $160 million fundraising effort.

By contrast, by the end of the 2005 session, Davis and the majority had only permitted three subpoenas to be issued to the George W. Bush administration, including one to the United States Department of Defense over documents related to Hurricane Katrina.

ICG drafted a letter Davis signed to the agency threatening an investigation by his committee if the contract was not awarded.

[20] The same Post writers[21][22] continued the investigation of oversight of contractual influence by the committee and its chair in November[23] and December 2006.

[24][25][26] Davis was accused of threatening Major League Baseball with an investigation when a consortium that included George Soros offered to buy the Washington Nationals.

[27] "I think Major League Baseball understands the stakes", Davis told Roll Call magazine.

"[28] Davis also appeared at a local zoning meeting to oppose a "smart growth" plan near the Vienna Metro station.

Davis's pledge to approve the legislation led several county supervisors to accuse him of meddling in a local land-use issue.

[30][31] One politician who spoke to Davis said the congressman told him that he opposed Pulte Homes' MetroWest project because "all it does is produce Democrats".

[32] In July 2006, Davis wrote a letter to Virginia's then-Governor Tim Kaine discouraging the state from constructing an underground Metrorail through Tysons Corner.

According to a July 17, 2006, story in The Washington Post, Davis said switching to a tunnel in Tysons would require reviews that could delay the rail line by as much as two years.

[33] A former legislative director for Davis submitted a request that he receive no jail time,[34] but the judge ruled David Safavian's conduct merited incarceration.

David Safavian had replaced Angela Styles, who was forced from the General Services Administration after Davis wrote letters to her bosses at the Office of Management and Budget.

The subpoenas specified that the witnesses bring to the hearing "all medical and other equipment that provides nutrition and hydration...in its current and continuing state of operations."

Davis issued a joint statement with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) that stated: "This inquiry should give hope to Terri, her parents and friends, and the millions of people throughout the world who are praying for her safety.

[43] The PAC involved, the U.S. Family Network, is connected with Abramoff, Bob Ney, and Willie Tan, a businessman in the Northern Mariana Islands, all currently associated with a political scandal.

Apparently in a surprise to the House Judiciary Committee, the Reform Committee passed HR 2043 (the DC Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act), a bill Davis introduced to provide the District of Columbia with voting representation in Congress.

The bill was reintroduced, cosponsored by Davis, as the "District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007", as H.R.

Ferdinado Greco, a physicist, George Mason University grad, owner and operator of a hybrid taxi business, was the Independent Green candidate in 2006.

On September 15, 2007, Davis told WTOP's Politics Program that he was running for the Senate seat being vacated by John Warner.

Funding was no small consideration, as the race for the Democratic nomination essentially ended when former Governor Mark Warner announced his candidacy.

Warner was one of the state's most popular politicians, and had the ability to self-finance his campaign due to his considerable personal fortune.

Davis told the National Press Club in 2007 that he was considering later mounting a challenge to Virginia's other Senator, Jim Webb, in 2012.

[60] He has also started teaching a class at George Mason University, called "Southern Politics" in the 2008 Fall Semester.

[64] Critics of the reforms pointed to the increasing campaign contributions from beneficiaries of the contracts and a reduction in audit and auditors, oversight, and performance by contractors after the changes.