Michelle Park Steel

Michelle Eunjoo Steel ( Park, born June 21, 1955) and confirmed by a 55–39 vote of the U.S. Senate on June 17, 2026.

She served as the U.S. representative for California's 45th congressional district from 2023 to 2025, previously representing the 48th congressional district from 2021 to 2023. Steel, fellow California Republican Young Kim and Washington Democrat Marilyn Strickland were the first Korean-American women to serve in Congress. A member of the Republican Party, she concurrently served as a member of House minority whip Steve Scalise's Whip Team for the 117th Congress. Steel ran for re-election to a third term in 2024, but she was defeated in the general election by Democratic challenger Derek Tran.

Steel served as the member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors from the 2nd district from 2015 to 2021 and of the California State Board of Equalization from the 3rd district from 2007 to 2015.

Early life and education Steel was born in Seoul, South Korea.

California State Board of Equalization Steel was elected to the California State Board of Equalization in 2006 when Republican incumbent Claude Parrish was term limited and ran unsuccessfully for state treasurer. Throughout her tenure, she served as the country's highest-ranking Korean American officeholder, and California's highest-ranking Republican woman.

Orange County Board of Supervisors Steel during her tenure as Orange County Supervisor in 2014.

In 2014, Steel was elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors representing the 2nd district, defeating state assemblyman Allan Mansoor.

In March 2018, Steel was the only elected official to greet President Donald Trump when he landed at LAX on his first official visit to California as president. In 2019, Trump appointed her to the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Steel chaired the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 2017 and again in 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she opposed mandatory face masks in Orange County. She voted against requiring face coverings for retail employees and opposed mask mandates in public schools. She questioned masks' efficacy in preventing the virus spread.

On September 15, 2020, the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved plans that could lead to increased private jet traffic at John Wayne Airport. Steel was criticized by her Democratic opponent, Harley Rouda, for taking campaign contributions from ACI Jet, the corporation that was awarded the contract.

Steel and her husband Shawn supported the 2020–21 recall initiative against California governor Gavin Newsom and endorsed Larry Elder to replace him.

In 2024, Steel was criticized for her management of $1.2 million allocated for food aid during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. With funds from the federal government Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, each Supervisor contracted to provide meals for needy senior citizens in their district. Steel awarded the contract to a marketing company she was using for her campaign, a company that reportedly had no prior experience with this type of government funding. An audit revealed that the meals had been considerably more costly than in other Orange County districts.

U.S. House of Representatives Elections 2020

In 2020, Steel ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in California's 48th congressional district. She received 34.9% of the vote to advance from the primary and defeated incumbent Democrat Harley Rouda in the November 3 general election with 51.1% of the vote. Steel raised $200,000 more than Rouda.

During her campaign, Steel spoke out against COVID-19 mask mandates. A conservative, she aligned herself with President Donald Trump.

2022

On December 23, 2021, Steel announced that she would run in California's 45th congressional district in 2022 due to redistricting. She was endorsed by Kevin McCarthy, Young Kim, Ken Calvert, Mimi Walters, Andrew Do, and the Republican Party of Orange County.

During the campaign, Steel faced protests over her campaign ads aiming to portray her Democratic rival, Naval reserve officer and Taiwanese American Jay Chen, as a Chinese Communist Party sympathizer. Steel defeated Democratic nominee Jay Chen in the November 8, 2022, general election.

2024

Steel ran for reelection in the district in 2024. During the campaign, Steel sought to characterize her Democratic opponent Derek Tran as a communist sympathizer by sending mailers of Tran alongside Mao Zedong and a hammer and sickle. Tran is a second-generation Vietnamese American. During the campaign, Steel, who is Korean-born, said "I am more Vietnamese than my opponent."

Tenure

Along with several other Republican U.S. House freshmen, Steel was a member of the Freedom Force, an informal group styled as a Republican counterpart to the Democratic group The Squad. Steel tested positive for COVID-19 in January 2021. She referenced her own mild symptoms from her bout with COVID to advocate for opening up schools and businesses.

Steel did not vote on the certification of Joe Biden's Electoral College victory. She voted against the second impeachment of Donald Trump on January 13, 2021. In early February 2021, Steel called for the reopening of schools in California. On February 25, 2021, Steel voted against the Equality Act, a bill that would prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation by amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act to explicitly include new protections. On February 27, 2021, Steel voted against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief and stimulus bill.

In March 2021, Steel introduced a bill that would block federal funding from being used to support California's high-speed rail project, which she called a "failure." In June 2021, Steel was one of 49 House Republicans to vote to repeal the AUMF against Iraq. In 2021, Steel joined a majority of Republican representatives in signing onto an amicus brief to overturn Roe v. Wade.

In July 2022, Steel voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, which would require the U.S. federal government to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages. As of December 2022, Steel had voted in line with President Joe Biden's stated position 21% of the time. In September 2023, Steel was among a bipartisan group of eight U.S. House members who co-sponsored a mental health focused bill aimed at integrating behavioral health services for Medicare beneficiaries in primary care settings.

Steel was a co-sponsor of the Life at Conception Act introduced in January 2023 during the 118th Congress. In March 2024, Steel rescinded her co-sponsorship of the bill due to her support for IVF.

Committee assignments For the 118th Congress: Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Subcommittee on Work and Welfare Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party

Caucus memberships Conservative Climate Caucus Republican Governance Group

Post-congressional activities In February 2025, Steel was appointed by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to a bipartisan commission designed to study the feasibility of establishing a new national museum dedicated to the history and culture of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Ambassador to South Korea On April 13, 2026, U.S. president Donald Trump nominated Steel to be the 25th U.S. Ambassador to South Korea.

Personal life Steel with her husband, former California Republican Party chair Shawn Steel, in 2018. In 1981, Steel married Shawn Steel, who was the California Republican Party chairman from 2001 to 2003 and has been the Republican National Committeeman from California since 2008. They have two daughters and live in Seal Beach, California. She is a Protestant Christian.

At a 2014 Tea Party event in Newport Beach, Steel said she had withdrawn her younger daughter from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and sent her to Loyola Marymount University for a one-year "brainwash" after her daughter voiced support for same-sex marriage and President Barack Obama.

Electoral history