Harold Dallas Rogers (born December 31, 1937) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 1981. He is a member of the Republican Party. Upon Don Young's death in 2022, Rogers became the dean of the House of Representatives.
Born in Barrier, Kentucky, Rogers graduated from the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degree. He entered private practice after serving in the National Guard for the states of Kentucky and North Carolina. In 1969, he became the commonwealth's attorney for the counties of Pulaski and Rockcastle, an office he would hold until his election to Congress. In 1979, he was the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor.
After incumbent U.S. representative Tim Lee Carter announced his retirement in 1980, Rogers launched a campaign for Kentucky's 5th congressional district. He won the primary with a plurality of the vote and went on to easily win the general election. As his district is considered a Republican stronghold, Rogers has won reelection with over 65% of the vote in every election since 1980, with the sole exception of 1992. He is serving his 23rd term in Congress.
Early life and education
Rogers was born in Barrier, Kentucky. After attending Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, he earned a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Kentucky. Rogers served in the Kentucky Army National Guard and North Carolina Army National Guard.
Early career As a lawyer, Rogers was in private practice and was elected to serve as commonwealth's attorney for Pulaski and Rockcastle counties in Kentucky, an office he held from 1969 to his election to Congress in 1980.
Rogers was the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor of Kentucky in 1979. He lost to Democratic nominee Martha Layne Collins 63%–37%. The following year, Rogers won election to Congress.
U.S. House of Representatives Elections
In 1980, incumbent Republican U.S. congressman Tim Lee Carter of Kentucky's 5th congressional district decided to retire. Rogers won the Republican primary with a plurality of 23 percent. The losing candidates included the 1971 gubernatorial nominee, Tom Emberton. He won the general election with 67% of the vote. He has won reelection with at least 65% of the vote since then, except in 1992, when he defeated Democratic candidate John Doug Hays, a former member of the Kentucky State Senate, with 55% of the vote to Hays's 45% of the vote.
Tenure
Rogers is the longest-serving Kentucky Republican ever elected to federal office. He represents one of the few ancestrally Republican districts south of the Ohio River. South-central Kentucky, historically the heart of the district, is very similar demographically to East Tennessee. Its voters identified with the Republicans after the Civil War and have supported the GOP ever since. Rogers served as a delegate to nine Republican National Conventions from 1976 to 2008.
The Center for Rural Development––a 501c(3) nonprofit organization established in Somerset, Kentucky, in March 1996––was Rogers's idea.Diane Vinokur-Kaplan, Ram A. Cnaan (2014). Cases in Innovative Nonprofits; Organizations That Make a Difference, SAGE Publications.
In 2001, the City of Williamsburg, Kentucky named their new water park and miniature-golf facility the Hal Rogers Family Entertainment Center as a "thank-you for the federal money he has brought back to Whitley County, the City of Williamsburg, and the other 40 counties he represents".
On the House/Senate conference decision to bolster the Department of Commerce and support the Clinton Administration's priorities, President Clinton remarked, "I commend the congressional leadership, Senator Ernest Hollings, Senator Pete Domenici, Congressman Neal Smith, and Congressman Harold Rogers, for their foresight and support in revitalizing this country through these programs. It is a dramatic step forward for the United States toward a solid economic future."
Kentucky state biographer Amy Witherbee commented: "Rogers's multiple roles on the Appropriations Committee have honed his skills as a bipartisan negotiator, and his economically challenged district often prompts him to stray from hard-line conservative stances. Although voting with his party against raising environmental standards on sports utility vehicles and against a controversial amendment that would have prohibited oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Rogers has been the creator and leading proponent of large environmental protection and clean-up programs throughout the Appalachian region.... [His] reluctance to involve the federal government in local issues has not deterred him from supporting a multitude of economic development programs aimed at creating new job bases in economically disadvantaged areas, and particularly in Appalachia. In 1993, Rogers was one of only three Republicans to vote for then-President Bill Clinton's economic stimulus package. In March 2003, Rogers's ability to work through the bipartisan tangles of the Appropriations Committee won him the chairmanship on the subcommittee designated to control funding for the new Department of Homeland Security."
Ready evidence is found on March 20, 2008, when the invitation to testify in support of environmental legislation by Democratic House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins, and, on the same day, a rare invitation to speak from the Senate floor was afforded by Republican Senate majority leader David L. Williams of Cumberland County as part of the Senate's unanimously passed bipartisan resolution honoring Rogers for his service.
Rogers called a bill to reduce funding for law enforcement "the result of this new Republican majority's commitment to bring about real change in the way Washington spends the people's money".Faler, Brian. ""Law Enforcement, Environment Funds Cut in Budget Deal". Bloomberg, April 12, 2011.
In 2011, Rogers voted for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, which included a controversial provision that allowed the government and the military to indefinitely detain American citizens and others without trial.
In December, 2017 Rogers voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
Rogers, along with all other congressional Republicans, voted against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Following Grace Napolitano's retirement in 2024, Rogers became the oldest voting member of the House (Washington, D.C.; only delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who cannot vote on the House floor, is older).
In November 2025, Rogers used social media to publicize the disappearance of Rockcastle County teenager Wynter Wagoner after her family contacted his office for help finding her.
Allegations of pork-barrel appropriations On May 14, 2006, The New York Times reported that Rogers had used his legislative position, as chair of the House subcommittee that controls the Homeland Security budget, to create "jobs in his home district and profits for companies that are donors to his political causes". The Lexington Herald-Leader in 2005 called Rogers the "Prince of Pork". The Times article reported that Rogers had inserted language ("existing government card issuance centers") into appropriations bills that effectively pushed the federal government into testingat a cost of $4millionolder, inappropriate technology for a new fraud-resistant green card for permanent legal immigrants, at a production plant in Corbin, Kentucky, within Rogers's district. The study concluded that the smart card approach was far superior. The New York Times found that Rogers had received about $100,000 in contributions from parties with at least some ties to the identification card effort.
In response to these critics, Rogers said, "It should surprise no one that this article from Rolling Stone regarding my activity in connection with the Transportation Worker Identity Card (TWIC) is grossly incorrect, and highly slanderous ... A true and honest analysis would reveal that my sole interest in TWIC is simply to protect America's seaports, airports, and other transportation facilities from terrorist penetration. To purport that my actions have compromised national security in an effort to bring jobs to Kentucky or for personal gain is an absolute lie."
After Iran objected to the interim deployment of an Afloat Forward Staging Base to counter their threats to close the Persian Gulf, Rogers cut the funding for the project.
MilCon/VA Bill
On June 12, 2013, the White House threatened to veto the MilCon/VA spending bill because Republicans did not agree with the Senate's number of $1.058trillion intended for military operations and research, after the MilCon/VA bill received 421 bipartisan votes in House. "We're marking up to $967billion, the top line under current law," said Rogers, as chair of United States House Committee on Appropriations.
Legislation
On January 15, 2013, Rogers introduced H.R. 298, officially titled "To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study to evaluate the significance of the Mill Springs Battlefield located in Pulaski and Wayne Counties, Kentucky, and the feasibility of its inclusion in the National Park System, and for other purposes". The bill would direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study to evaluate the significance of the Mill Springs Battlefield in Kentucky (relating to the Battle of Mill Springs fought on January 19, 1862, in Pulaski and Wayne Counties during the Civil War) and the feasibility of its inclusion in the National Park System (NPS). Rogers said, "the Battle of Mill Springs is a source of great pride and interest to the people I serve." Rogers argued that the Battlefield was a "jewel" and would be "an excellent addition to the National Park Service".
On March 5, 2014, Rogers introduced the To provide for the costs of loan guarantees for Ukraine (H.R. 4152; 113th Congress) into the House. The bill would provide loan guarantees to Ukraine of up to $1billion, part of the American response to the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine. The bill passed in the House on March 6, 2014.
In 2014, Rogers's committee called for cuts in the National Nuclear Security Administration budget that cast doubt on the Navy's ability to provide an Ohio Replacement Submarine class.
On July 29, 2014, Rogers introduced the Making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2014 (H.R. 5230; 113th Congress), a bill that would provide supplemental FY2014 appropriations to several federal agencies for expenses related to the rise in unaccompanied alien children and alien adults accompanied by an alien minor at the southwest border. The bill would also change the procedures for screening and processing unaccompanied alien children who arrive at the border from certain countries. The bill would provide $659million in supplemental funding. Rogers urged members to pass the bill, arguing that "more and more immigrants will continue to flood across the border if you fail to act" because resources were running out.
Committee assignments For the 118th Congress: Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (Chair) Subcommittee on Defense Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Caucus memberships
Congressional Coal Caucus Congressional Prescription Drug Abuse Caucus (co-chair) United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus Sportsmen's Caucus Tennessee Valley Authority Caucus House Republican Steering Committee
Political positions