Debbie Dingell

For the British soap opera character with a similar name, see Debbie Dingle.

Debbie Dingell
Official portrait, 2019
Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office April 16, 2024
Leader	Hakeem Jeffries
Preceded by	Joe Neguse
Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee
In office January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2023 Serving with Matt Cartwright, Ted Lieu, and Joe Neguse
Leader	Nancy Pelosi
Preceded by	Cheri Bustos David Cicilline Hakeem Jeffries
Succeeded by	Veronica Escobar Dean Phillips Lauren Underwood
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2015
Preceded by	John Dingell
Constituency	12th district (2015–2023) 6th district (2023–present)
Personal details
Born	Deborah Ann Insley (1953-11-23) November 23, 1953 (age 71) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Political party	Republican (until 1981) Democratic (1981–present)
Spouse	John Dingell ​ ​ (m. 1981; died 2019)​
Relatives	John Dingell Sr. (father-in-law)
Education	Georgetown University (BS, MS)
Website	House website

Deborah Ann Dingell (/ˈdɪŋɡəl/; née Insley; November 23, 1953) is an American politician serving as a U.S. representative from Michigan since 2015, representing the state's 6th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she succeeded her late husband, John Dingell, who was the longest-serving member of Congress in U.S. history.

Dingell is active in several organizations in Michigan and Washington, D.C., and serves on a number of boards. She is a founder and past chair of the National Women's Health Resource Center and the Children's Inn at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).^[1] She is also a member of the board of directors for Vital Voices Global Partnership.^[2] She is a 1975 graduate of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

She worked as a consultant to the American Automobile Policy Council.^[3] She was a superdelegate for the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.^[4][5]

Life and career

Dingell with her husband John in 2011

Descended from one of the Fisher brothers, owners of Fisher Body,^[6] from 1919 a part of General Motors, she has served as president^[7] of the General Motors Foundation and as executive director of Global Community Relations and Government Relations at GM.

She married Representative John Dingell in 1981.^[8] She had grown up as a Republican, but became a Democrat soon after marrying Dingell. Their marriage lasted 38 years until her husband's death on February 7, 2019, at the age of 92. Like her husband, she is a Catholic.^[9]

She is a member of the Democratic National Committee from Michigan and chaired Vice President Al Gore's campaign in Michigan in 2000. In 2004, she also helped secure the Michigan Democratic primary and general election vote for John Kerry in Michigan.

In November 2006, Dingell was elected to Wayne State University's board of governors.^[10]

Dingell and Senator Carl Levin were proponents of moving up Michigan's presidential primary before February 5 in an attempt to garner greater political influence for Michigan during the 2008 Democratic primaries.^[11] This resulted in Michigan almost losing its delegates' votes in the Democratic National Convention.^[12]

When Carl Levin announced his retirement from the U.S. Senate at the end of his term in 2015, Dingell indicated that she was interested in running for his seat.^[13] When former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm declined to run for the seat, a Politico writer declared Dingell to be one of the front-runners for the Democratic nomination, alongside Representative Gary Peters.^[14] She chose not to run, and Peters won the seat.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2014

Dingell indicated that she planned to run for her husband's congressional seat after he announced his retirement.^[15] On August 5, she won the Democratic primary. On November 4, she won the general election, defeating Republican Terry Bowman.^[16] When Dingell was sworn in, she became the first U.S. non-widowed woman in Congress to succeed her husband. His father, John Dingell Sr., held Michigan's 12th district for 22 years before his son won it. Altogether, the Dingells have represented this district and its predecessors for 89 consecutive years as of 2021.^[17][18] The district was numbered as the 15th from 1933 to 1965, the 16th from 1965 to 2003, the 15th again from 2003 to 2013, the 12th from 2013 to 2023, and has been in the 6th since 2023.

Tenure

In 2018, Dingell introduced a law that would give the Consumer Product Safety Commission the authority to recall defective firearms. John Dingell was a key lawmaker who initially granted the firearms industry this exemption from the 1972 Consumer Product Safety Act that created the Consumer Product Safety Commission.^[19]

In July 2019, Dingell voted against a House resolution introduced by Representative Brad Schneider opposing efforts to boycott the State of Israel and the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement.^[20] The resolution passed 398–17.^[21]

In April 2021, Dingell introduced the Recovering America's Wildlife Act of 2021, a bill that would provide funding for conserving and protecting endangered and threatened species, strategies to do so, and wildlife-related recreational activities.^[22] The bill passed the House by 230–190 on June 14, 2022.^[23]

In 2023, Dingell was among 56 Democrats to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21 which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.^[24][25]

Trump impeachment

After Dingell voted to impeach President Donald Trump, Trump attacked Dingell during a campaign rally in Battle Creek, musing that her late husband, might be in hell, saying of him, "Maybe he's looking up, I don't know, I don't know, maybe, maybe. But let's assume he's looking down."^[26] She was attending a bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus gathering when she was told of Trump's remarks. Numerous members of both parties came to Dingell's defense.^[27] In her response to the incident, Dingell called for a return to civility, saying, "some things should be off limits."^[28] In her 2022 book Confidence Man, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman wrote that Dingell received a call from a man claiming to be a reporter who asked whether she was "looking for an apology from Trump". According to Haberman, "Dingell couldn't shake the idea that his voice sounded like that of the forty-fifth president."^[29]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Health
  • Subcommittee on Communications & Technology
  • Subcommittee on Consumer Protection & Commerce
  • Subcommittee on the Environment & Climate Change
• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public lands
  • Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Progressive Caucus^[30]
• Congressional Arts Caucus^[31]
• Congressional Caucus on Macedonia and Macedonian-Americans^[32]
• Congressional Solar Caucus^[33]
• Medicare for All Caucus
• Blue Collar Caucus
• Problem Solvers Caucus^[34]
• Rare Disease Caucus^[35]

Political positions

Dingell voted to provide Israel with support following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.^[36][37]

Dingell voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.^[38]

See also

• Women in the United States House of Representatives

References

1. "Meet Debbie". Office of Debbie Dingell. Archived from the original on June 30, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
2. "Board of Directors". Vital Voices. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
3. Beene, Ryan (October 26, 2009). "Debbie Dingell to take new post at American Automotive Policy Council". Crain's Detroit Business. Crain Communications. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
4. Akers, Mary Ann (February 27, 2008). "Debbie Dingell: Angst-ridden Superdelegate and Congressional Spouse". The Washington Post. No. The Sleuth (blog). Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
5. "Congressman John Dingell Makes Washington Quake, but Not His Executive Wife, Debbie". People.com. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
6. "TeddyDavis.org - Dingell's Powerful Wife". Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
7. "A closer look at Debbie Dingell". Pennsylvania Main Line News covering local news including local sports, video and multimedia coverage, and classified advertising. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
8. "Debbie Dingell". Click. Politico. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
9. "An unlikely Washington love story: Debbie Dingell on her 38-year marriage to John Dingell". Macomb Daily. June 17, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
10. "Debbie Dingell". Wayne State University. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
11. Levin, Carl; Dingell, Deborah (March 19, 2008). "New Hampshire Cheated, Too". The New York Times. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
12. Shear, Michael D. (December 2, 2007). "DNC Punishes Michigan For Early Primary Date". The Washington Post. No. PostPolitics (blog). Retrieved March 22, 2013.
13. Bash, Dana (March 11, 2013). "Debbie Dingell considering Senate bid in Michigan". Political Ticker (blog). CNN. Retrieved March 22, 2013.^{[dead link‍]}
14. Hohmann, James (March 22, 2013). "Jennifer Granholm: No run for Carl Levin's seat". Politico. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
15. Allen, Mike (February 25, 2014). "Politico Playbook for Feb. 25, 2014". Politico. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
16. Allen, Jeremy (November 4, 2014). "Debbie Dingell defeats Terry Bowman in 12th District U.S. House race". MLive Media Group.
17. Ostermeier, Eric (February 26, 2014). "Debbie Dingell Eyes Historic Win in 2014". Smart Politics.
18. Catalina Camia, USA TODAY (November 2, 2014). "Women poised to break glass ceiling on Election Day". Usatoday.com. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
19. "Defective firearm bill pits Dingell v. Dingell". The Detroit News. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
20. Foran, Clare (July 24, 2019). "Who voted 'no' on the House resolution opposing Israel boycott movement". CNN. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
21. Schneider, Bradley Scott (July 23, 2019). "H.Res.246 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Opposing efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel and the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement targeting Israel". www.congress.gov. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
22. Dingell, Debbie (June 14, 2022). "H.R.2773 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Recovering America's Wildlife Act of 2021". www.congress.gov. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
23. "House passes Recovering America's Wildlife Act: Bill heads to Senate". Augusta Free Press. June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
24. "H.Con.Res. 21: Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of … -- House Vote #136 -- Mar 8, 2023".
25. "House Votes Down Bill Directing Removal of Troops From Syria". Associated Press. March 8, 2023.
26. Bender, Michael C. (December 19, 2019). "Trump Rallies His Base as House Votes to Impeach". The Wall Street Journal.
27. Kane, Paul; Flynn, Meagan; Horton, Alex; Dawsey, Josh (December 19, 2019). "Rep. Debbie Dingell thanks colleagues for support after Trump suggests John Dingell is in hell". The Washington Post.
28. Cummings, William (December 19, 2019). "'Some things should be off-limits': Dingell calls for civility after Trump's attack on late husband". USA Today.
29. "Trump weighed bombing drug labs in Mexico after he mistook adviser, new book shows". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
30. "Caucus Members". Congressional Progressive Caucus. Archived from the original on October 22, 2017. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
31. "Membership". Congressional Arts Caucus. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
32. "Macedonia Caucus Co-Chairs on NATO Accession Agreement". March 14, 2019.
33. "Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi And Ralph Norman Relaunch The Bipartisan Congressional Solar Caucus For The 118th Congress". United States Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
34. "Featured Members". Problem Solvers Caucus. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
35. "Rare Disease Congressional Caucus". Every Life Foundation for Rare Diseases. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
36. Demirjian, Karoun (October 25, 2023). "House Declares Solidarity With Israel in First Legislation Under New Speaker". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
37. "Roll Call 528, Bill Number: H. Res. 771, 118th Congress, 1st Session". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. October 25, 2023. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
38. Bycoffe, Aaron; Wiederkehr, Anna (April 22, 2021). "Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden?". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved November 15, 2023.

External links

• Debbie Dingell official U.S. House website
• Debbie Dingell for Congress

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Appearances on C-SPAN

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by John Dingell	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 12th congressional district 2015–2023	Succeeded by Rashida Tlaib
Preceded by Fred Upton	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 6th congressional district 2023–present	Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Mark DeSaulnier	United States representatives by seniority 159th	Succeeded by Tom Emmer