WASHINGTON — Rep. Virginia Foxx sat at the front Monday night and smiled slowly before her face stiffened.

She pinched her thumb against her pointer and middle fingers and rubbed them together.

She started to speak, just for a moment, but instead clenched her jaw.

Then she narrowed her gaze on Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, a Democrat from New Mexico, and said, “None of us like to be told why we are voting a certain way.”

Foxx, 82, of North Carolina, unexpectedly found herself leading a vote Monday night on whether the Trump administration should release the files on disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, a child sex offender who was facing additional sex trafficking of minors charges when he died in prison.

President Donald Trump popularized conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein’s death, promising to release investigatory files and a client list that Epstein allegedly kept to blackmail high-profile clients. But last week, the Department of Justice and FBI announced the client list did not exist, despite Attorney General Pam Bondi saying in February that it was sitting on her desk.

The discrepancy, and the Trump administration’s refusal to release additional records, has set off conspiracy theorists, who are largely supporters of Trump and who now believe he might be part of a cover-up.

Vote on release

On Monday night, Foxx was leading the House Committee on Rules when the committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, proposed an amendment to a bill on cryptocurrency that forced the committee’s Republicans to decide whether the Trump administration must release the files.

The first amendment failed in a 5-6 vote, with Rep. Ralph Norman, a Republican from South Carolina, agreeing to the release. Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, withheld his vote.

McGovern tried a second related amendment to the Epstein files, including releasing whether any files had been destroyed. The vote failed again, this time 8-4.

“You, with your vote, will be preventing even the consideration of the release of the Epstein files,” Leger Fernandez told the Republicans before the vote. “You will be voting against the release of the Epstein files. You have the power, let’s see how you vote.”

It was that statement that caused Foxx to tense up. Republicans had argued that they were voting against the amendments because it wasn’t germane to bill.

“You don’t know our minds,” Foxx said. “You don’t know our hearts.”

The vote Monday night caused Foxx’s name to start trending, not only on McClatchy’s website, but across Reddit.

Foxx is a force in Congress, with a reputation, which she owns, for her feisty personality and the leadership positions she’s held, which have been quite extraordinary for a woman in Congress.

Here are a few things to know about Foxx:

No privileged background

Foxx moved to North Carolina when she was 6 years old.

She describes her family as “extremely poor.” Their homes lacked water or electricity and her father was often on the road trying to make a living for his family.

With only one car, the family often had to wait to go to the grocery store until her father returned.

As a junior and senior in high school, Foxx began working as the school’s janitor to help her family. It was there at a student teacher noticed her, her intelligence and encouraged her to go to college.

Before becoming a member of Congress, Foxx took one course per semester while working full-time to pay for college. Eventually, she earned her doctorate.

A leader in Congress

Foxx is the only woman in 2025 leading a House committee in Congress.

At the start of the session, House Speaker Mike Johnson named Foxx to lead the House Committee on Rules, the chamber’s most powerful group. Nearly every bill will come before Foxx and her committee before it hits the House floor for a vote.

Previously, Foxx led the House Committee on Education and the Workforce from 2017 to 2019 and from 2023 to 2025. This committee oversees the Departments of Education and Labor.

Republicans have a rule that their members may serve only six years in a committee’s top leadership role. Because Foxx also served as the top Republican on the committee during the Democrats’ control of the House, she had to apply for a waiver to lead the committee last Congress. It was granted.

There were questions about whether she would ask for another waiver this session, but she chose to step aside.

She’s previously served as secretary of the House Republican Conference.

Foxx is also known for being the woman who shouted “shut up” at a reporter as she stood next to Johnson the day he was elected as speaker. She is a fierce defender of both Johnson and President Donald Trump.

Lastly, Foxx served as a counter for the vote on reelecting Johnson to a second term as speaker. Right after the vote, she fell down a marble staircase in the Capitol but assured her constituents that despite her injuries, “She’s tougher than a $2 steak.”

Foxx and elevators

It is a well-known trope in Washington not to stand between Foxx and an elevator, but the thing is, it’s actually true.

There are countless encounters and videos to go along with stories of Foxx being angry from being blocked from going up or down floors.

She especially gets mad if they are “member’s only elevators,” which are reserved for members of Congress to make it easier and quicker to navigate the Capitol’s expansive campus.

The videos invoke humor for people who have never borne witness to an incident with Foxx and an elevator and fear for those who have.

Foxx and her last name

Foxx fully embraces her last name.

She has memes of herself as a fox ready for social media posts.

And she finds joy whenever a real fox graces Capitol Hill with its presence. The real fox can often be a menace to members and their staff, including former Rep. Patrick McHenry, who was bitten by the rabid dog, not the congresswoman.

But sometimes her social media posts can be tongue-in-cheek as she personifies the animal as if it were her, or she makes it known how excited she is that it returned.

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©2025 McClatchy Washington Bureau. Visit at mcclatchydc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.