--- title: Remembering Jackie Walorski, a Quiet Force in Congress description: The Indiana Republican, who died in a car accident, was both a reliable ally to Kevin McCarthy and deeply respected by Democrats. canonical: https://time.com/6203729/jackie-walorski-remembrance/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-08-04T16:20:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:51:37.295Z article:section: Politics og:title: Remembering Jackie Walorski, a Quiet Force in Congress og:description: The Indiana Republican, who died in a car accident, was both an ally to Kevin McCarthy and deeply respected by Democrats og:url: https://time.com/6203729/jackie-walorski-remembrance/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca1050a75a2ac79a/698a345f011682d72f982234/GettyImages-997159478-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Ways and Means og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Remembering Jackie Walorski, a Quiet Force in Congress twitter:description: The Indiana Republican, who died in a car accident, was both an ally to Kevin McCarthy and deeply respected by Democrats twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca1050a75a2ac79a/698a345f011682d72f982234/GettyImages-997159478-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Remembering Jackie Walorski, a Quiet Force in Congress > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Visits Taiwan despite China's Protest [Watch (HLS stream): U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Visits Taiwan despite China's Protest](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xl20wT3x.m3u8) (1:43)  _Published 2022-08-02. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s tour in Asia this week would look like an ordinary congressional overseas trip during the dog days of summer—but for the purported intention to make a stop in Taiwan. The possibility is adding tension to the often fraught U.S.-China relationship._  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Aug 4, 2022 4:20 PM UTC  Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., is seen before a House Ways and Means Committee markup in Longworth Building on July 12, 2018. Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., is seen before a House Ways and Means Committee markup in Longworth Building on July 12, 2018. Tom Williams—CQ Roll Call  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Aug 4, 2022 4:20 PM UTC _This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite) _to get stories like this sent to your inbox._ Rep. Jackie Walorski’s role at the Capitol was easy to miss if you weren’t looking. The Indiana Republican wasn’t the type that elbowed her way to the front of a photo op or solicited invitations to insider events. When she had an issue with someone or something, she was civil but direct—never one to trade in the Capitol’s most dangerous currency, gossip and innuendo. She was a reliable ally for Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who took her counsel seriously because, well, _if Jackie is coming in for five minutes, she actually needs to talk_. As the news spilled out Wednesday that Walorski and two of her aides had been [killed](https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/2022/08/03/u-s-rep-jackie-walorski-killed-in-elkhart-county-car-crash/65391271007/) in an auto accident in her home state, the immediate response showed that as much as Washington is a place of deep division and dysfunction, Congress is in many ways a family. Feuds and disagreements are just more personal with kin. And the admiration that poured forth for the 58-year-old Republican who spent a decade in the House was as abundant as it was sincere. Walorski’s background read like an idealized “About Me” page for a Republican candidate, with time spent studying at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University and four years as a missionary in Romania. In the House, she was a good barometer for what Christian conservatives could stomach in compromises and where the red lines were. Put plainly: If you could read Walorski, you could read the broader Republican cohort on the Hill, and McCarthy and his team learned that quickly. (So, too, did Democrats.) --- ### More from TIME --- As such, McCarthy rewarded—or punished, depending on who tells the story—Walorski with the top Republican spot on the Ethics Committee, which handles some of the most sensitive self-policing in Washington. Discretion is that panel’s ultimate skill, and Walorski wielded it with aplomb. “When there was a vacancy for Republican leader of the Ethics Committee, she was my first call,” McCarthy said in a statement. “Everyone who knew Jackie knows she was tough, but fair—a no-nonsense, straight shooter who knew that Congress must reflect the will of the people with decency and honesty.” (Keep this idea about _the will of the people_ in mind as we get to Jan. 6.) She was in line to chair that thankless ethics panel if Republicans managed to take back the House this fall. Add to that her position on a powerful tax-writing committee and the top GOP slot on its subcommittee on worker and family support, and Walorski had juice. Because of this, Democrats could work with her because, unlike some of her other colleagues, they believed she was coming from a place of sincere conviction and desire to do right by her constituents back home. When she [fought](https://rollcall.com/2022/08/03/indiana-rep-jackie-walorski-killed-in-car-crash/) to preserve funding for Christian social service groups, it was because of her faith and not out of a bid to get booked on Tucker Carlson. Democrats could disagree with her position but begrudgingly respected it in a city filled with exploitative characters who too often view outrage as a ticket to power. And, always _just_ out of earshot, were the whispers that Walorski was destined to move up into a more serious job in Leadership. Her time as a local television reporter gave her a knack for telling stories in a compelling way, and the Republican Party’s messaging right has long needed an upgrade. Also, women remain grossly underrepresented in the GOP’s ranks: just [33](https://cawp.rutgers.edu/facts/levels-office/congress/women-us-house-representatives-2022) of the [211](https://pressgallery.house.gov/member-data/party-breakdown) Republicans in the House are female, roughly one-third behind Democrats. Occasionally, Walorski’s ability to read the rank-and-file membership of her party led to some questionable [choices](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/us/politics/jackie-walorski.html). It’s impossible to discuss her time in office without acknowledging her [support](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/03/rep-jackie-walorski-indiana-republican-killed-car-accident/) for The Big Lie, a lawsuit promoting it, and her vote against certifying Joe Biden as the rightful winner of the 2020 election. Walorski knew many of her [constituents](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/indiana-rep-jackie-walorski-killed-car-accident-rcna41410) back home held that belief to be true, even if she may have privately had doubts. “I share the concerns of many Hoosiers about irregularities in how some states conducted the 2020 presidential election,” she [said](https://walorski.house.gov/election-certification/) at the time. Still, even her political opposites shelved those facts for the day and instead focused on her character, which was forged in South Bend, Ind., where her dad ran an appliance store and fought fires and her mom manned the meat counter at the grocery store. After college, Walorski moved home to report on her community as a journalist before shifting into non-profit and fundraising for academia and, eventually, to Christian missionary work in Romania. Most importantly, she never lost sight of treating her fellow humans with respect, even when she thought they were unrepentantly wrong. “She passionately brought the voices of her north Indiana constituents to the Congress, and she was admired by colleagues on both sides of the aisle for her personal kindness,” Pelosi said. “As partisan as Congress has become, it is still a family, and this loss hits close to home,” said added Rep. Ted Deutch, a Florida Democrat who worked closely with Walorski as the Ethics Committee’s chairman. “Jackie Walorski was a colleague and a friend. She cared deeply about the House and about her constituents, and she will be dearly missed by all of us.” From the White House, Biden offered his own condolences: “We may have represented different parties and disagreed on many issues, but she was respected by members of both parties for her work on the House Ways and Means Committee on which she served.” Biden’s team had been working with Walorski on next month’s conference on hunger, with Walorski [serving](https://www.hungercenter.org/partners/u-s-house-of-representatives-hunger-caucus/) as co-chair of the House Hunger Caucus. (Yes, even food insecurity has a lobby that demands a congressional confab.) While much of Washington is preparing to empty for the August [recess](https://time.com/6202265/congress-august-recess-vacation-districts/) and the House is already gone, the loss was still keenly felt—especially among staff on the Hill who were remembering two of their own who also died in the crash. Every aide on Capitol Hill has been—or aspires to be—in a car with the boss. It’s facetime that’s a tough commodity to snag when lawmakers are hustling between votes, meetings, and fundraisers. Some of Congress’ top aides convinced their member they were a cut above during a long drive with interminably bad radio choices. That Walorski’s communications director and district director were killed in the crash sincerely shook many aides, even those who had never worked with 28-year-old Emma Thomson and 27-year-old Zachery Potts. It was a reminder of the risks that come with the constant churn of work travel. That the icy roads of Iowa and the treacherous mountains of New Hampshire don’t bring more crashes and losses is somehow overlooked, especially when thousands of new-to-politics optimists are working in unfamiliar terrain on little sleep. (The same conditions, it should be noted, plague journalists trying to keep pace with White House hopefuls.) Thomson and Potts were similarly [committed](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/us/politics/jackie-walorski.html) to their work in the House office. So, too, was Walorski’s commitment to service, even if it could be divisive. She could read the polls and this week’s [results](https://time.com/6203178/kansas-abortion-vote-results-takeaways/) in deep-red Kansas as well as anyone. But she also knew her conscience. In that, her legacy is in very, very safe territory in a city otherwise occupied by craven opportunists. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the D.C. 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