When Rep. Linda T. Sánchez had her son in 2009, she planned to spend a month with her baby before returning to Congress. It didn’t work out that way. Still recovering from a cesarean section, the California Democrat was needed for votes on the House floor two weeks after giving birth.
And when the House Ways and Means Committee started marking up the 2010 health care law soon after, she sat in meetings that stretched late into the night, using a nearby office to breastfeed.
By the time Rep. Brittany Pettersen had her son in early 2025, not much had changed. The Colorado Democrat flew to Washington sooner than she’d hoped, casting a vote against Republicans’ budget resolution with her four-week-old infant in tow.
