Bennie Gordon Thompson is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Mississippi's 2nd congressional district since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Thompson served as the chair of the Committee on Homeland Security from 2007 to 2011 and from 2019 to 2023. He was both the first Democrat and the first African American to chair the committee. He is the dean of Mississippi's congressional delegation since 2018 after Thad Cochran left Congress, as well as its only Democrat.