--- title: There Is Only One Woman GOP Leader in Congress description: The GOP has selected its new House and Senate leaders, and only one of them is a woman - Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington. canonical: https://time.com/4575440/cathy-mcmorris-rodgers-gop-congress/ author: Kastalia Medrano article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-17T19:36:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:54.487Z og:title: Meet the Last Woman Standing in the GOP Leadership og:description: 'It's an unfortunate occurrence' og:url: https://time.com/4575440/cathy-mcmorris-rodgers-gop-congress/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25d4544a366bc907/69887809428a9ea8dfcd0d63/state-of-the-union-response-06-cathy-mcmorris.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: Cathy McMorris Rodgers Prepares For GOP Response To State Of The Union Address og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the Last Woman Standing in the GOP Leadership twitter:description: 'It's an unfortunate occurrence' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25d4544a366bc907/69887809428a9ea8dfcd0d63/state-of-the-union-response-06-cathy-mcmorris.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meet the Last Woman Standing in the GOP Leadership > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Each week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=cedb2e61-1021-4ba0-bb15-ad7631fc3e0f&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) by [Kastalia Medrano](https://time.com/author/kastalia-medrano/) ## Kastalia Medrano Nov 17, 2016 7:36 PM UTC  U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers sits on a couch before responding to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Jan. 28, 2014 on Capitol Hill in Washington. U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers sits on a couch before responding to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Jan. 28, 2014 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Alex Wong—Getty Images by [Kastalia Medrano](https://time.com/author/kastalia-medrano/) ## Kastalia Medrano Nov 17, 2016 7:36 PM UTC The GOP has selected its new House and Senate leaders, and only one of them is a woman. Of the three women in Congressional leadership positions, only Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington to run for re-election. NBC reported that the new GOP leadership team will be the [least diverse in at least six years](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republican-leadership-will-have-fewer-women-2017-n684966). All six Senate GOP leadership positions are filled by men. For the Democrats, two of the top four spots in the Senate are women — Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. House Democrats will vote on Nov. 30, and Nancy Pelosi’s leadership role is largely seen as [under threat](http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/17/politics/nancy-pelosi-leadership-fight-democrats-congress/index.html). There are no minorities among Congressional leaders in either party. “It’s an unfortunate occurrence when you look at it in the aggregate but then you have to also look at the fact tha \[sic\] some of us chose to not spend our time on those activities,” Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee told NBC. “It’s not our choice for where we want our energies to be placed.” In addition to McMorris Rodgers, Reps. Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise [also ran unopposed and were unanimously re-elected](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/11/15/internal-house-leadership-battle-shifts-from-ryan-to-pelosi-dems-delay-vote.html), as was [Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.](http://www.house.gov/leadership/) McMorris Rodgers represents [Washington’s 5th Congressional District](https://mcmorris.house.gov/). She became the [first female leader](http://www.biography.com/people/cathy-mcmorris-rodgers-20929793#early-life) of the House Caucus when elected in 2002\. During the course of her career, she has been [vocal](http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Cathy%5FMcMorris-Rodgers.htm) in her opposition to same-sex marriage and sexual orientation-based anti-discrimination laws. The new roster makes her the highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress. > [](https://twitter.com/cathymcmorris/status/799058487946801152) **Correction:** The original version of this story misstated which state Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers represents in Congress. 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