Congresswoman
California's 38th Congressional District
Linda T. Sánchez, a former labor lawyer and lifelong progressive, has devoted her career to helping working people get ahead: advocating for working families, improving America’s education system, and bringing jobs to Southern California.
Sánchez was born in Orange, California, the sixth of seven children, to immigrant parents from Mexico. Growing up in a proud Latino household, Sánchez’s parents inspired her to take advantage of the opportunities they never had.
Sánchez currently represents California’s 38th congressional district on the House Committee on Ways and Means, where she advocates for the protection of Social Security and Medicare, fairness for U.S. workers and businesses in trade agreements, and an even-playing field for the middle class through tax code reform.
Prior to her service in the House of Representatives, Sánchez was an attorney practicing appellate law, civil rights, and employment law. Sánchez worked for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 441 and the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) as a compliance officer on public works and prevailing wage projects. In 2000, she was elected Executive Director of the Orange County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. In the 114th Congress, Sánchez served as Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), and in the current Congress, she chairs the CHC’s Immigration Task Force, charged with reviewing our nation’s outdated immigration laws.
Sánchez has made history several times while serving in Congress. She and her sister Loretta, who served in the House from 1997 to 2017, became the first women of any relation to serve together in Congress. She has been the first Latina to serve on the Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees and to be elected as Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus (2015-2017). But most of all, Sánchez takes pride in her son, Joaquín, who was born in 2009 and made her the eighth woman in the history of Congress to give birth while serving as a member.
Sánchez holds a law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She worked her way through school as a bilingual aide and ESL instructor and has never forgotten her roots and where she came from.