Cathy McMorris Rodgers

Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Born	Cathy Anne McMorris 22 5, 1969
Birthplace	Salem, Oregon, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Politician
Known for	U.S. Representative for Washington's 5th congressional district (2005–2025), Chair of the House Republican Conference (2013–2019), Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee (2023–2025)
Education	University of Washington (MBA)
Awards	Highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress (2009–2019)

Cathy Anne McMorris Rodgers (born May 22, 1969) is an American politician who represented Washington's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2025. A member of the Republican Party, she rose through the ranks of House leadership to become the highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress, serving as vice chair of the House Republican Conference from 2009 to 2013 and then as chair from 2013 to 2019. During the 118th Congress, she served as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, one of the most influential committees in the House. Before entering federal politics, McMorris Rodgers served in the Washington House of Representatives, where she was appointed in 1994 and eventually became minority leader. She gained national prominence in January 2014 when she was selected to deliver the Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address. In February 2024, she announced she would not seek reelection, concluding a two-decade congressional career. Following her retirement from Congress, she launched a nonprofit leadership institute based in Spokane, Washington, focused on developing the next generation of political leaders.

Early Life

Cathy Anne McMorris was born on May 22, 1969, in Salem, Oregon. She grew up in a family where she would become the first member to graduate from college, a biographical detail she has frequently cited in her public life and policy advocacy. Her upbringing in the Pacific Northwest and her experience as a first-generation college student shaped her perspective on issues related to education and economic opportunity, themes that would become central to her political career.

McMorris Rodgers eventually settled in eastern Washington, where she built her political career representing the communities of the state's rural and semi-urban eastern third, anchored by Spokane, Washington's second-largest city.

Education

McMorris Rodgers attended Pensacola Christian College in Florida, where she earned her undergraduate degree. She later pursued graduate studies at the University of Washington, where she earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA). Her status as the first in her family to earn a college degree became a defining element of her public identity and informed her legislative priorities around educational access and reform.

Career

Washington State Legislature

McMorris Rodgers began her political career in the Washington House of Representatives, to which she was appointed in 1994 following the retirement of state Senator Bob Morton. She served in the state legislature for a decade, during which time she rose to the position of minority leader in 2001, making her the first woman to hold that role in the Washington state House Republican caucus. Her tenure in state government provided her with experience in legislative leadership and coalition-building that would prove valuable in her subsequent federal career.

Election to U.S. Congress

In 2004, McMorris Rodgers ran for the U.S. House seat in Washington's 5th congressional district, which was being vacated by Republican George Nethercutt, who chose to run for the U.S. Senate. She won the general election and took office on January 3, 2005, succeeding Nethercutt.

The 5th congressional district encompasses the eastern third of Washington state, including Spokane, and is characterized by a mix of agricultural communities, small cities, and the Spokane metropolitan area. The district has historically leaned Republican, and McMorris Rodgers maintained a strong electoral record throughout her tenure.

McMorris Rodgers was reelected consistently over her ten terms in Congress. In the 2008 general election, she won her seat with a comfortable margin. In 2010, she continued to hold the district with strong support. The 2012 election saw another victory for McMorris Rodgers in the district. Her 2014 campaign also resulted in reelection.

Rise in House Republican Leadership

McMorris Rodgers's ascent within the House Republican leadership ranks was a defining feature of her congressional career. In January 2007, she was selected to head the Congressional Women's Caucus on the Republican side.

In 2009, she was elected vice chair of the House Republican Conference under the leadership of John Boehner, succeeding Kay Granger in the role. This position made her the highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress at the time, a distinction she would maintain for a decade. She served as vice chair until January 3, 2013, when Lynn Jenkins succeeded her in the role.

In January 2013, McMorris Rodgers was elected chair of the House Republican Conference, succeeding Jeb Hensarling. The conference chair is the fourth-highest position in the House Republican leadership, responsible for messaging, communications strategy, and coordinating the caucus's policy agenda. She served under Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan, with Lynn Jenkins and later Doug Collins serving as her deputies in the vice chair position. She held the conference chair position for three terms, from the 113th through the 115th Congress (2013–2019), before being succeeded by Liz Cheney in January 2019.

Her long tenure in Republican leadership reflected both her political skills and the party's interest in having a prominent woman in a senior role. During her time as conference chair, she was frequently the public face of the House Republican caucus on television and in media appearances.

House Energy and Commerce Committee

In the 117th Congress (2021–2023), McMorris Rodgers served as ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, succeeding Greg Walden in that role. When Republicans regained the House majority in the 2022 elections, she became chair of the committee in January 2023, succeeding Democrat Frank Pallone. The Energy and Commerce Committee has broad jurisdiction over health care, energy policy, telecommunications, technology, and consumer protection, making it one of the most powerful committees in the House.

As chair, McMorris Rodgers oversaw legislative efforts on a range of issues within the committee's jurisdiction during the 118th Congress (2023–2025). She was succeeded as chair by Brett Guthrie when she left Congress in January 2025.

State of the Union Response (2014)

McMorris Rodgers received significant national attention on January 28, 2014, when she was chosen by Republican leaders to deliver the party's official response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address. The selection of McMorris Rodgers, as the highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress, was seen as a strategic choice by party leadership. In her response, she shared personal stories about her family and her experience raising a child with Down syndrome, and she critiqued the Affordable Care Act.

Some of her claims regarding the effects of the Affordable Care Act on employment drew scrutiny from fact-checkers. The speech nonetheless elevated her national profile and showcased her role as a prominent voice in the Republican Party.

In a 2015 piece for Time magazine, McMorris Rodgers wrote a letter to her children reflecting on the experience of delivering the State of the Union response, describing the moment of being told to close her eyes and think about the people she was speaking for just before going on camera.

Legislative Priorities and Policy Positions

Throughout her congressional career, McMorris Rodgers engaged on a number of policy areas. Her voting record and policy evaluations were tracked by organizations such as Vote Smart.

One of her consistent areas of focus was disability policy. As the mother of a child with Down syndrome, McMorris Rodgers was an advocate for individuals with disabilities throughout her time in Congress. After leaving office, she continued this advocacy; in January 2026, she co-authored an opinion piece in Roll Call arguing that Congress should ban the use of a quality-of-life metric that she and co-authors contended devalues people with disabilities when determining coverage of medical treatments.

McMorris Rodgers also took positions on social policy issues during her time in office. In 2013, she was among Republicans who engaged in the debate over the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

On education policy, McMorris Rodgers has been an advocate for school choice and educational freedom, drawing on her personal experience as a first-generation college graduate. In a January 2026 opinion piece in The Spokesman-Review, she made what she described as a bipartisan case for educational freedom and a tax credit to support it.

Retirement from Congress

In February 2024, McMorris Rodgers announced that she would not seek reelection in the 2024 elections, ending a 20-year career in Congress. Republican Michael Baumgartner was elected to succeed her and took office in January 2025 as part of the 119th Congress.

Post-Congressional Career

Following her retirement from Congress at the end of 2024, McMorris Rodgers returned to Spokane, Washington, where she spent time with her family before launching her next public endeavor.

On June 3, 2025, she announced the launch of a new nonprofit leadership institute based in Spokane, aimed at developing the next generation of political leaders. In a subsequent interview with Spokane Public Radio, she appeared relaxed and spoke about enjoying life after Congress while preparing to focus on her new leadership institute.

She has also continued writing and advocacy on policy issues, contributing opinion pieces on education and disability rights to national and regional publications.

Personal Life

McMorris Rodgers is based in Spokane, Washington. She has spoken publicly about being the mother of a child with Down syndrome, an experience that shaped her legislative work on disability-related issues and her personal advocacy for individuals with disabilities. Her son Cole was her first child, and his birth and diagnosis became a central part of her public narrative.

She also gave birth to a daughter during her time in Congress, as reported by Talking Points Memo. Her experience balancing motherhood and a demanding congressional career was a topic she addressed publicly on multiple occasions, including in her 2014 State of the Union response and her 2015 letter published in Time magazine.

After retiring from Congress, McMorris Rodgers returned to Spokane to be closer to her family, describing the transition as an opportunity to spend more time at home while continuing public service through her nonprofit leadership institute.

Recognition

McMorris Rodgers's position as the highest-ranking Republican woman in the United States Congress, which she held from 2009 to 2019, was her most prominent distinction during her career. Her selection to deliver the Republican response to the 2014 State of the Union Address was a further recognition of her standing within the party.

Her chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee during the 118th Congress (2023–2025) represented the pinnacle of her legislative authority, placing her at the helm of one of the oldest and most far-reaching committees in the House.

McMorris Rodgers received evaluations and ratings from numerous political and policy organizations throughout her career, reflecting her positions across a range of issues.

Legacy

Cathy McMorris Rodgers's 20-year career in the United States House of Representatives made her one of the longest-serving members from Washington's 5th congressional district and one of the most prominent Republican women of her era in Congress. Her rise from the Washington state legislature to the chairmanship of both the House Republican Conference and the House Energy and Commerce Committee charted a path through the upper echelons of House Republican leadership.

Her tenure coincided with a period of significant change in the Republican Party and in Congress more broadly. As the highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress for a decade, she occupied a position of particular visibility at a time when the party faced questions about gender diversity in its leadership ranks. Her selection to deliver the 2014 State of the Union response underscored that role.

McMorris Rodgers's advocacy on behalf of individuals with disabilities, rooted in her personal experience as the parent of a child with Down syndrome, represented a consistent thread throughout her career and into her post-congressional public life. Her continued writing and advocacy on disability policy after leaving office, including her 2026 Roll Call piece on quality-of-life metrics in health care, suggests this area of work will remain a focus.

Her decision to establish a leadership institute in Spokane after retirement reflects an effort to translate her decades of experience in government into a new form of public engagement, aimed at cultivating future political leaders in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

Republican Michael Baumgartner succeeded her in representing Washington's 5th congressional district beginning with the 119th Congress in January 2025.