Tim Burchett

Tennessee Republican who helped force the July 2023 UAP hearing; has since filed a bill to abolish AARO while backing the White House release effort.

Current role: U.S. Representative for Tennessee's 2nd district (R); Chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency since January 2026; co-chair of the UAP Caucus

Former roles:

Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee (2010–2018)

@timburchett on X

Background

Former mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, and U.S. Representative for Tennessee's 2nd district since 2019. With Reps. Luna and Moskowitz he pushed House Oversight into holding the 26 July 2023 UAP hearing, and he has been among the most outspoken members on the subject since, framing it as a cover-up to be exposed. In January 2026 Oversight Chair James Comer named him chair of the DOGE subcommittee. In April 2026 he introduced a bill to abolish AARO, while publicly crediting the Trump White House with putting UAP disclosure "on a priority". He was unopposed in his August 2026 primary (Ballotpedia).

On the record

2026-09-10 – Ask a Pol – "Stephen Miller has put it on a priority. He's actually assigned people to it, so I think that shows that it goes to the highest levels." and "I just want some proof. I'm tired of it." Ask a Pol
2026-07-26 – Ask a Pol – "The 'deep state' is blocking a lot of this stuff that the President's trying to get to." and "it's a fistfight. It's been that way since 1947, and we're not going to do it overnight." Ask a Pol
2026-04-06 – House – introduced H.R. 8197, requiring the Secretary of Defense to terminate AARO within 60 days, barring any similar centralised office at DoD or ODNI, and repealing 50 U.S.C. 3373. Referred to Armed Services and Intelligence; no further action. Text · congress.gov
2025-10-10 – Tucker Carlson interview – said Washington continues to conceal the truth about UAP and that contractors benefit from secrecy: "The government needs to tell the truth." Clip
2025-09-16 – Ask a Pol – said Navy personnel had described craft moving underwater at "impossible speeds": "What if these are entities that have been on this Earth for who knows how long?" Ask a Pol
2025-01-27 – NewsNation – "President Trump has confided that in fact he will be releasing some of these [UAP files]. I plan to have that conversation again with him very soon." Clip
2023-08-22 – letter to IC Inspector General Thomas Monheim, with Reps. Luna, Moskowitz, Burlison, Mace and Ogles, asking which actors are involved in UAP crash-retrieval and reverse-engineering programs. Letter · X
2023-07-30 – The Hill – "If there's not a cover-up, the government and the Pentagon are sure spending a lot of resources to stop us from studying it," The Hill
2023-07-28 – letter to Speaker McCarthy, with Reps. Gaetz, Luna and Moskowitz, requesting a select committee on UAP with subpoena authority. X
2023-07-26 – House Oversight hearing – opening statement: "We're going to uncover the cover up." In the hearing: "We've run into roadblocks from members from the intelligence community, the Pentagon". Clip · Transcript, p. 3
2023-07-20 – Capitol press conference, The Hill – "This is ridiculous folks. Either [UAP] do exist or they don't exist. They keep telling us they don't exist, but they block every opportunity for us to get a hold of the information to prove that they do exist," and "And we're gonna get to the bottom of that dadgummit. Whatever the truth may be. We're done with the coverup." The Hill

Reported claims (secondary / anonymous-sourced)

2026-03-22 – per Sentinel News, quoting posts on X – Rep. Luna wrote she would recommend to Burchett, as DOGE subcommittee chair, that AARO be disbanded and defunded; Burchett replied "Agreed! They are done." Sentinel News

Responses and criticism

2026-03-27 – Rep. Eric Burlison, UAP Caucus co-chair, on abolishing AARO: "it's my personal opinion, we need AARO. We need the FBI. We need everybody that can investigate this to be investigating it." Ask a Pol

Timeline of involvement

2019-01-03 – takes office in the House
2023-07-26 – House Oversight UAP hearing he helped organise
2023-07-28 – select committee request to Speaker McCarthy
2023-08-22 – ICIG letter on crash-retrieval and reverse-engineering programs
2025-01-27 – says Trump has told him UAP files will be released
2026-01-09 – named chair of the Oversight DOGE subcommittee
2026-04-06 – introduces H.R. 8197 to terminate AARO
2026-08-06 – unopposed in the TN-2 Republican primary

Relevant links

Part of the Key People in Disclosure series. Verified 2026-10-10. Spotted an error? Reach out.