Congressman Steve Womack has proudly represented the Third District of Arkansas since his election in 2010. He is currently a senior member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, where he is the Chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Subcommittee and also sits on the Defense and Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Subcommittees. He formerly served as the Chairman of the House Budget Committee and Chairman of the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Subcommittee on Appropriations.
Womack is committed to ensuring that the voices of his constituents are represented and is widely known in the House for his perfect voting record. During his tenure, he has never missed a vote and holds the longest consecutive voting streak maintained by any current member of the U.S. House of Representatives. In his first four terms, while serving in the majority, Womack was the leadership’s go-to member in presiding over the House floor. There’s no better validation of his experience than when then-Speaker Paul Ryan asked him to preside over the 2016 Republican National Convention during the contentious rules vote. Womack was also tapped by Speaker Ryan to lead the 2018 16-member, bipartisan, bicameral Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform.
Womack has a strong record of public service to the Natural State, which has been defined by a lifelong philosophy to “lead by example and lead from the front.” As the former Mayor of Rogers, he is credited with leading an unprecedented expansion of the Rogers economy with more than $1 billion in local investment. He was the 2022 recipient of the “Dick Trammel Good Neighbor Award,” the Rogers community's highest honor presented to individuals who have contributed to the betterment of Rogers and the region.
Womack retired from the Arkansas Army National Guard in 2009 at the rank of Colonel with more than thirty years of service. His deployment to Sinai, Egypt in 2002 marked the first time a National Guard unit performed the mission of the Multinational Force and Observers. Womack’s Task Force received accolades from the highest levels of military and civilian leaders.
Womack is a graduate of Arkansas Tech University where he was inducted into the ATU Hall of Distinction in 2014. He is a member of the Arkansas National Guard’s OCS Hall of Fame. His military awards include the Legion of Merit, the Arkansas Distinguished Service Medal, and, in 2015, Womack was presented with the Harry S. Truman Award, the highest award given by the National Guard Bureau.
He also serves as the Chairman of the West Point Board of Visitors (BOV), where he supports the U.S. Military Academy – the nation’s preeminent leadership development institution – in its mission to train the next generation of Army officers. He was first appointed to the BOV in 2012 and subsequently elected BOV Chairman in 2017. Womack is currently the only congressional representative from Arkansas to serve on the board.
He and his wife, Terri, have been married for 40 years. They have three sons and three grandsons.
They make their home in Rogers.
Shyam Sankar is the Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Palantir Technologies. A seasoned technologist, he’s spent over two decades building and delivering disruptive software and AI solutions for both government and private sector institutions.
Joining Palantir in 2006 as employee #13, Shyam envisaged the role of the Forward Deployed Engineer, pioneering the company’s definitional engineering model. Under his leadership, Palantir transformed from a Silicon Valley startup to a global, industry leading software and AI company.
Shyam is also a thought leader, prolific author, and frequent speaker. He routinely leads strategic sessions with elected officials, and has appeared before the House Select Committee, House Armed Services Committee, and the Senate Armed
Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity. A frequent guest on CNBC and Bloomberg, his work has been featured in numerous
publications, including American Affairs, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. In 2023, he launched the First
Breakfast initiative, where he regularly publishes his thought leadership. He has also appeared on a variety of podcasts,
including This Week in Startups and The Arsenal of Democracy. In 2024, he was named as one of The Top 7 People in AI Defense Tech.
He holds a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cornell University and an M.S. in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University.
In addition to his work at Palantir, Shyam also serves as the Chairman of Ginkgo Bioworks.
Jake has been covering national politics for more than a decade, and has focused his reporting on Congress, the congressional leadership and the politics of legislating. He chronicled all of the major legislative battles of the Obama and Trump presidencies, and has traveled the country and the world, reporting on power and politics.
Jake and Anna Palmer are the co-authors of “The Hill to Die On: The Battle for Congress and the Future of Trump’s America,” which was a New York Times and national bestseller in 2019. He has been reporting and writing partners with Anna and Punchbowl News co-founder John Bresnahan for 11 years.
Jake is a contributor to NBC News, and appears almost daily across all of the network’s platforms. He’s a graduate of the George Washington University and Columbia Journalism School. He lives in Washington with his wife and two children and is an avid runner, and listener of the Grateful Dead and Phish.
