Cathy Anne McMorris Rodgers (born May 22, 1969) is an American politician who served from 2005 to 2025 as the United States representative for , which encompasses the eastern third of the state and includes Spokane, the state's second-largest city. A Republican, McMorris Rodgers previously served in the Washington House of Representatives. From 2013 to 2019, she chaired the House Republican Conference.
McMorris Rodgers was appointed to the Washington House of Representatives in 1994. She became the minority leader in 2001. In 2004, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She eventually became the highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress in 2009, when she ascended to leadership as vice chair of the House Republican Conference, and later, chair of the House Republican Conference. She gained national attention in 2014, when she delivered the Republican response to President Barack Obama's 2014 State of the Union Address.
In February 2024, she announced she would not seek reelection for the 2024 elections. Republican Michael Baumgartner was elected to her seat and succeeded her in the 119th Congress.
Early life and education Cathy McMorris was born May 22, 1969, in Salem, Oregon, the daughter of Corrine (née Robinson) and Wayne McMorris. Her family had come to the American West in the mid-19th century as pioneers along the Oregon Trail. In 1974, when McMorris was five years old, her family moved to Hazelton, British Columbia, Canada. The family lived in a cabin while they built a log home on their farm. In 1984, the McMorrises settled in Kettle Falls, Washington, and established the Peachcrest Fruit Basket Orchard and Fruit Stand. McMorris worked there for 13 years.
In 1990, McMorris earned a bachelor's degree in pre-law from Pensacola Christian College, a then-unaccredited Independent Baptist liberal arts college. She earned an Executive MBA from the University of Washington in 2002.
Career Washington House of Representatives, 1994–2005 After completing her undergraduate education, McMorris was hired by state representative Bob Morton in 1991 as his campaign manager, and later as his legislative assistant. She became a member of the state legislature when she was appointed to the Washington House of Representatives in 1994. Her appointment filled the vacancy caused by Morton's appointment to the Washington State Senate. After being sworn into office on January 11, 1994, she represented the 7th Legislative District (parts or all of Ferry, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Spokane, and Stevens Counties). She retained the seat in a 1994 special election.
In 1997, she co-sponsored legislation to ban same-sex marriage in Washington State.
In 2001, she blocked legislation "to replace all references to 'Oriental' in state documents with 'Asian'", explaining, "I'm very reluctant to continue to focus on setting up different definitions in statute related to the various minority groups. I'd really like to see us get beyond that."
She voted against a 2004 bill to add sexual orientation to the state's anti-discrimination law, and was a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage. She is credited for sponsoring legislation to require the state reimburse rural hospitals for the cost of serving Medicaid patients, and for her work overcoming opposition in her own caucus to pass a controversial gas tax used to fund transportation improvements.
From 2002 to 2003, she served as House minority leader, the top House Republican leadership post. She chaired the House Commerce and Labor Committee, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee, and the State Government Committee. She stepped down as minority leader in 2003 after announcing her candidacy for Congress. During her tenure in the legislature, she lived in Colville; she has since moved to Spokane.
U.S. House of Representatives Elections In 2004, McMorris ran for the United States House of Representatives in the 5th District; she already represented much of the district's northern portion. She received 59.7% of the vote for an open seat, defeating the Democratic nominee, hotel magnate Don Barbieri. The seat had become vacant when five-term incumbent George Nethercutt retired to run for the U.S. Senate.
Tenure McMorris Rodgers is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, the Congressional Constitution Caucus, and the Congressional Western Caucus.
In November 2006, McMorris Rodgers was reelected with 56.4% of the vote, to Democratic nominee Peter J. Goldmark's 43.6%. In 2007, she became the Republican co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, which pushed for pay equity, tougher child support enforcement, women's health programs, and laws protecting victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
In 2008, McMorris Rodgers received 211,305 votes (65.28%), to Democratic nominee Mark Mays's 112,382 votes (34.72%). On November 19, 2008, she was elected to serve as vice chair of the House Republican Conference for the 111th United States Congress, making her the fourth-highest-ranking Republican in her caucus leadership (after John Boehner, Minority Whip Eric Cantor, and conference chair Mike Pence) and the highest-ranking Republican woman. In 2009, she became vice chair of the House Republican Conference, and served until 2012, when she was succeeded by Lynn Jenkins.
McMorris Rodgers won the 2010 general election with 150,681 votes (64%), to Democratic nominee Daryl Romeyn's 85,686 (36%). Romeyn spent only $2,320, against McMorris Rodgers's $1,453,240. On November 14, 2012, she defeated Representative Tom Price to become chair of the House Republican Conference.
In the 2012 general election, McMorris Rodgers defeated Democratic nominee Rich Cowan, 191,066 votes (61.9%) to 117,512 (38.9%).
McMorris Rodgers sponsored legislation that would speed the licensing process for dams and promote energy production. According to a Department of Energy study, retrofitting the largest 100 dams in the country could produce enough power for an additional 3.2 million homes. The legislation reached President Obama's desk without a single dissenter on Capitol Hill.Hill, Kip, "Bill eases regulations on hydropower projects" , The Spokesman-Review, August 16, 2013.
In January 2014, it was announced that McMorris Rodgers would give the Republican response to President Barack Obama's 2014 State of the Union Address. House speaker John Boehner and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell made the decision. McMorris Rodgers is the 12th woman to give the response, and the fifth female Republican, but only the third Republican to do so alone, after New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman in 1995 and the Spanish response by Florida representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the most senior female Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, in 2011. Ros-Lehtinen also gave the Spanish response that year, which was largely a translation of McMorris Rogers' remarks.
In 2014, the Office of Congressional Ethics recommended that the United States House Committee on Ethics initiate a probe into allegations by a former McMorris Rodgers staff member that McMorris Rodgers had improperly mixed campaign money and official funds to help win the 2012 GOP leadership race against Price. McMorris Rodgers denied the allegations. In September 2015, Brett O'Donnell, who worked for McMorris Rodgers, pleaded guilty to lying to House ethics investigators about how much campaign work he did while being paid by lawmakers' office accounts, becoming the first person to be convicted of lying to the House Office of Congressional Ethics. The OCE found that McMorris Rodgers improperly used campaign funds to pay O'Donnell for help in her congressional office, and improperly held a debate prep session in her congressional office. A lawyer for McMorris Rodgers denied that campaign and official resources had ever been improperly mixed. The House Ethics Committee did not take any action on the matter.
In 2014, McMorris Rodgers faced Democratic nominee Joe Pakootas, the first Native American candidate to run for Congress in Washington state. McMorris Rodgers defeated Pakootas, 135,470 votes (60.68%) to 87,772 (39.32%).
In 2016, McMorris Rodgers defeated Pakootas again, 192,959 votes (59.64%) to 130,575 (40.36%).
In 2018, McMorris Rodgers faced Democratic nominee Lisa Brown, a former majority leader of the state senate and former chancellor of WSU Spokane. In the August blanket primary, McMorris Rodgers received 49.29% of the vote to Brown's 45.36%. As of early August, McMorris Rodgers had raised about $3.8 million, and Brown about $2.4 million. McMorris Rodgers and Brown participated in a September 2018 debate. Both said they would oppose any cuts to Medicare or Social Security. Both said they supported the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. An audience member asked how old the candidates believed the earth is; Rodgers said she believed the account in the Bible, and "Brown said she believed in science, but didn't provide a specific age". McMorris defeated Brown with 55% of the vote. Shortly after the election, McMorris Rodgers announced she would stand down from her position as conference chair. Liz Cheney of Wyoming was elected in January 2019 to succeed her.
On February 8, 2024, McMorris Rodgers announced her intent to not run for reelection.
Committee assignments Committee on Energy and Commerce, Chair
Caucus memberships Congressional Ukraine Caucus Republican Main Street Partnership Republican Study Committee Republican Governance Group Rare Disease Caucus United States–China Working Group
Interest group ratings 201520142013 2012201120102009 Selected interest group ratings757272 84 80 96 96 American Conservative Union005 0 0 0 0 Americans for Democratic Action58625970 61 94 82 Club for Growth——— – 0 0 22 American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees929275 83 90 100 – Family Research Council——70 76 72 89 84 National Taxpayers Union1009383 100 100 100 80 Chamber of Commerce of the United States054 9 7 3 10 League of Conservation Voters
Political positions Health care McMorris Rodgers opposes the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and has voted repeatedly to repeal it. In late 2013, she wrote a letter accusing Democrats of being "openly hostile to American values and the Constitution", and citing the Affordable Care Act and immigration as evidence that Obama "rule[s] by decree". She blamed the ACA for causing unemployment, and when FactCheck.org reported studies that proved the opposite and asked her office for evidence to support her claims, "McMorris Rodgers's office got back to us not with an answer, but with a question".
McMorris Rodgers responded in 2014 to reports that Obama's program had provided coverage to over 600,000 Washington residents by acknowledging that the law's framework would probably remain, and that she favored reforms within its structure. In May 2017, she voted in favor of the American Health Care Act, a Republican health-care plan designed to repeal and replace large portions of the ACA. McMorris Rodgers was the only member of Washington's congressional delegation to vote for the bill, which passed the House by a 217–213 vote. The bill would have eliminated the individual mandate, made large cuts to Medicaid, and allowed insurers to charge higher rates to people with preexisting conditions.
In her 2018 reelection campaign, McMorris Rodgers did not mention the Affordable Care Act.
In 2023, McMorris Rodgers led on a health care bill that aimed to increase transparency in health care pricing and ultimately reduce medical costs. The bipartisan piece of legislation passed the House of Representatives with 320-71
LGBT rights