kporter21@nul.org

Congresswoman Katie Porter represents the 45th Congressional District in Orange County, California.

In Washington, Congresswoman Porter has remained committed to putting Orange County families first. As a member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, she’s asked tough questions of bank CEOs and administration officials to hold them accountable to the American people. She’s also a proud member of the House Natural Resources Committee, where she works tirelessly to protect our beaches and public lands, elevate science-based solutions to the climate crisis, and keep Orange County families safe from wildfires. She chairs the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, where she leads efforts to hold polluters accountable.

Eager to invite families into the conversations happening in the halls of Congress, Rep. Porter has developed a reputation for her use of visual aids during Congressional hearings. She wielded a whiteboard while grilling the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, over how an entry-level employee at his bank couldn’t make ends meet. She also used her signature whiteboard to break down potential cost barriers to COVID-19 tests, which helped her secure a commitment from the Trump Administration to make testing free for every American.

Rep. Porter has also published several reports that break down issues and identify solutions on behalf of Orange County families. She’s exposed how Big Pharma’s mergers and acquisitions destroy innovation and harm patients, shined a spotlight on how the coronavirus pandemic is disproportionately burdening working women, blasted the Trump Administration for mismanaging medical supplies during a pandemic, and detailed how the Trump tax law hurts Orange County homeowners.

As a single working mom, Rep. Porter knows firsthand about the challenges that families face. She’s introduced bipartisan legislation that would more than double the amount families can set aside pretax to help pay for preschool, summer day camp, before or after school programs, and child or adult daycare. She’s continued to press for a repeal of the limits on the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction, which has hit California’s middle-class families especially hard. Her bill to hold insurance companies accountable for covering mental health was signed into law by President Trump.

Rep. Porter believes our democracy and government should reflect the people of America and serve their needs, not special interests or corporate donors. As a progressive, she’s a leader in the fight to protect taxpayers and crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse. In Congress, she’s a key voice for ending political corruption, increasing government transparency, and holding leaders of both parties accountable. She’s matched her commitment to transparency with concrete action by hosting regular town halls and publicly posting a list of meetings she takes.

Before coming to Congress, Rep. Porter spent nearly two decades taking on the special interests that dominate American politics and drown out the voices of working families. A lifelong consumer advocate, she taught bankruptcy law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. As California’s independent watchdog against the banks, she oversaw big banks that had cheated Orange County homeowners to get them to follow through on their promise to help families get back on their feet. As a consumer finance expert, Congresswoman Porter also helped Congress pass the original Credit CARD Act in 2009, which enacted federal protections from abusive credit card fees.

Rep. Porter is a single mom of three school-aged kids. She lives with her family in Irvine, California.