Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE), the first transgender person elected to Congress, has been named deputy whip for policy.

“I’m thrilled to be named a Deputy Whip for Policy in the 119th Congress, advising House Democratic Leadership on policy priorities and plans for our caucus,” she wrote in a post on X. “Just as I was in the State Senate, I remain focused on lowering the cost of housing, health care, child care, and helping.”

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Secretary Pete offered insight into how Democrats can win back the electorate over the next four years.

On Bluesky, she explained that she wants Democrats to get legislation passed for paid family and medical leave, to lower the cost of childcare, and to restore the child tax credit.

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My number one priority in Congress is helping to lower costs facing Delawareans and American families. We can do this by guaranteeing paid family and medical leave, lowering the cost of childcare and restoring the child tax credit.

— Congresswoman Sarah McBride (@mcbride.house.gov) January 16, 2025 at 10:51 PM

A “whip” in Congress is someone who gets rank-and-file party members to vote the same way on legislation. The current Democratic whip in the House is Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA).

The chief deputy whip is the whip’s primary assistant and serves as a vote counter for the party. There are several Democratic chief deputy whips – a list that includes out Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS) – and senior chief deputy whip is Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). The whip is voted in by party members while deputy whips are appointed by the leadership.

Other deputy whips, a list that now includes McBride, serve in an advisory role to Democratic leadership. McBride will help shape the party’s legislative priorities, especially on the issues related to economic issues.

McBride made history last year when she was elected to the House, becoming the first trans person elected to Congress. She explained how she won in November on MSNBC.

“I think this victory is a testament to Delawarians,” she said, “that in our state of neighbors, we are fair-minded, that we judge candidates based on their ideas and not their identities. And I think voters across the state of Delaware — Democrats, independents, and Republicans alike — responded to our message of building a government that respects all of us, that respects all of us across all of our different backgrounds and of course across all of our different beliefs.”

In contrast to the GOP’s anti-trans ads, McBride pointed to her own record in the Delaware Senate fighting for working families as the source of her appeal to the state’s voters.

“I was really singularly focused on bringing down costs facing workers, their families, and retirees. I helped pass paid family and medical leave, I helped secure the largest investment in our state’s Medicaid program since the Affordable Care Act passed, and I was able to do all of that with bipartisan support,” she explained. “We put forward a positive, inclusive message during the course of this year-and-a-half-long campaign, and I think voters really responded to that.”

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