Katie Porter is an attorney, law professor, and U.S. Congresswoman representing the 45th Congressional District in Orange County, California.
Porter is a member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee and Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Government Operations. She frequently calls bank executives and administration officials into question to hold them accountable to the American people. In recent years, she has become known for the signature whiteboard she uses during Congressional hearings. Her examination of Chief Executive Officer of JP Morgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, over how an entry-level employee at his bank couldn’t make ends meet, went viral. She also used the board to break down potential cost barriers to COVID-19 tests, which helped her secure a commitment to make testing free for every American.
Porter was born in 1974 and grew up in the farming community of Fort Dodge, Iowa. She attended Yale University, where she majored in American studies, and later Harvard Law School, where she was the Notes Editor for the Harvard Women's Law Journal and a member of the Board of Student Advisers. After graduating magna cum laude with her Juris Doctor in 2001, she was a law clerk for Judge Richard S. Arnold of the United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Porter was an Associate Professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Law, and a full Professor at the University of Iowa College of Law. She is also a tenured Professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. The textbook she authored, Modern Consumer Law, is the only text developed after Dodd-Frank and the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Porter is a single mother of three kids, and her political platform focuses on challenges that families face. In 2016, she was elected to the House of Representatives as the first Democrat to represent California’s 45th District since it was created in 1953. In 2018, she won her reelection bid. In office, she has fought against abusive credit card fees and helped pass federal credit card protections for families.