Tom Wickham
- Vice President and Managing Director of Government Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Tom Wickham, former Parliamentarian of the U.S. House of Representatives, serves as Vice President and Managing Director of Government Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Wickham helps oversee a team of D.C. and regional U.S. Chamber lobbyists and serves as the Chamber’s policy lead on anti-crime efforts.
A highly requested speaker and lecturer, Wickham’s career on Capitol Hill spanned over 25 years beginning under Speaker Newt Gingrich and concluding under Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Wickham is a winner of the Speaker John W. McCormack Award of Excellence given to House employees, and Punchbowl News has referred to him as “the foremost expert on the rules and procedures of the House of Representatives.”
In leading a Hill office that reviewed every measure that came before the House, Wickham has a command of a broad range of subject matters. He has leveraged this policy expertise to achieve legislative victories at the federal, state, and local level. Wickham’s expertise and scholarship are recognized all over the world and he has recently testified before Congress on House emergency procedures implemented after the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
As a nonpartisan House official for over 25 years, Wickham provided essential guidance to leadership, committees, and members of Congress as part of the development and execution of legislative strategy. During numerous high-profile legislative events, Wickham counseled speakers of the House, vice presidents, and countless members and senators on their constitutional and statutory responsibilities.
As editor of many procedural manuals and practice books, Wickham’s scholarship on the Constitution and the rules of the House is recognized internationally and he has represented the U.S. in dozens of countries and parliaments, including multiple delegation trips to Europe and Africa. His editorial credits include the House Rules and Manual, House Practice, and the Precedents of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Wickham’s expertise is recognized by national leaders of both parties. Upon his retirement as parliamentarian in 2020, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “Tom Wickham is a master of House rules and procedure, whose incisive legal acumen and absolute professionalism have strengthened the People’s House and benefited the American people whom we serve. In his 25 years of distinguished service, Tom upheld the great constitutional underpinnings of the historic role of parliamentarian with excellence and integrity.” Then Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy remarked in a tribute on the House floor, “I speak for all Republicans when I commend Tom for his professionalism, sound judgment, and steady demeanor in carrying out his duties.”
Wickham serves on the advisory board of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint partnership between the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University, and is a member of the University of Iowa Department of Political Science Alumni Advisory Board. He is active in his community as a volunteer citizenship teacher and coordinator of a local Adopt-a-Highway organization.
Wickham is a native of Epworth, Iowa, and a graduate of the University of Iowa and the University of Iowa College of Law. He enjoys hiking, especially up Old Rag Mountain in the Shenandoah National Park. He and his wife, Heather, have two adult children and reside in Burke, Virginia.
