American politician Cathy McMorris Rodgers serves as the Washington‘s 5th congressional district’s representative in the US.  She presided over the House Republican Conference from 2013 until 2019. She has served as the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s ranking member since 2021. She is the member of the Republican Party.

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The daughter of Corrine (née Robinson) and Wayne McMorris, Cathy McMorris was born in Salem, Oregon, on May 22, 1969. Pensacola Christian College awarded McMorris a bachelor’s degree in pre-law in 1990. In 2002, she graduated with an Executive MBA from the University of Washington. 

Rodgers began working for State Representative Bob Morton as his campaign manager in 1991 after completing her college studies. She eventually became his legislative assistant. 1994 saw the appointment of McMorris Rodgers to the Washington House of Representatives. In 2001, she was elected minority leader.

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She collaborated on legislation to outlaw same-sex unions in Washington State in 1997. She held the position of House Minority Leader, the senior position in the House Republican leadership, from 2002 to 2003. She served as the chairman of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee, the State Government Committee, and the House Commerce and Labor Committee. After declaring her candidacy for Congress in 2003, she resigned from her position as minority leader.

She won a seat in the US House of Representatives in 2004. She was a prominent opponent of same-sex marriage and cast her vote against a 2004 proposal to include sexual orientation in the state’s anti-discrimination statute. In 2009, as she rose to leadership positions as vice chair of the House Republican Conference and then chair of the House Republican Conference, she eventually became the highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress. 

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McMorris Rodgers has consistently voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare). McMorris Rodgers was a finalist for Secretary of the Interior in 2016 under President Donald Trump. Congressman Ryan Zinke of Montana ultimately got the job.

The U.S. primaries for Arizona, Michigan, Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, and Washington are set to be held on August 2, 2022. The mid-term elections are slated for November 8.