One of the biggest tragedies that befalls new members of congress is the propensity to draw from K Street to pick staff, in particular a Chief of Staff.

Many tea party supported candidates came into Washington in a wave of conservative glory in 2010 and promptly chose lobbyists for Chiefs of Staff. On the Senate side, Mitch McConnell’s office was professionally slick in easing new Senators over to K Street for picks. The House was no different. The average tea party backed candidate from 2011 to now has voted over 70% with leadership.

So I have held my breath waiting to see if Ted Cruz would fall into the trap of Washington politics as usual.

His choice? Chip Roy. It signals Senator-Elect Ted Cruz is not going to Washington sell out the conviction he ran on, but actually, as we’ve all known, does believe in federalism, the tenth amendment, and limited government.

Chip is a very long time friend of RedState and most all of the front page editors know him. Chip and his wife Carrah are dear friends of mine.

Chip currently works for Governor Rick Perry. If you’ve ever read Governor Perry’s book Fed Up!, well, you know Chip Roy as the guy who helped put pen to paper for the Governor and helped shape Governor Perry’s thinking on federalism issues.

In fact, during Chip’s confirmation as State-Federal Relations Director for Texas, Democrats in the State Senate engaged in a very rare act of obstruction of the confirmation in the Texas State Senate because of Chip’s views on state and federal relations. He’s very much a proponent of the 10th Amendment. Not only did the State Senate try to obstruct Chip’s confirmation, but the State House voted to defund the position. On the record, Chip Roy said he might have done so too were he in the House because

the office should either be eliminated or “stand for something” — citing “liberty, state sovereignty and an end to the crippling pile of debt and regulation coming from Washington that is destroying our nation and endangering the state.”

You can read another leftwing lament about Chip Roy here.

Yes, he is that awesome. He also is willing to work behind the scenes and let others shine — a necessity in either a Governor’s office or a Senate office. He views success by the outcome, not by the credit given him. Chip is a committed Christian and he works toward eternity, not toward me walls with pictures of handshakes of the famous and fleeting.

I know Chip and his wife personally. Christy and I and the front page editors here at RedState prayed regularly for Chip and his family as he battled cancer. He is not just one of us; he is one of the people I rely on for personal accountability. And I promise him and his boss I’ll return that favor over the next few years.

This is a most excellent first step by the Senator-Elect from Texas. The conservative movement should congratulate Ted Cruz. He’s off to a great start.

By the way, Chip will join one of our front page editors, Brian Darling, who is leaving both RedState and the Heritage Foundation to become Senior Counsel to Senator Rand Paul. The RedState sphere of influence grows.