She went toe to toe with Schwarzenegger. Now Karen Bass is ready to take on Trump.
As Democrats prepare to take over the House, the spotlight has been on Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi of California. Yet standing in the wings are a number of rising stars – some of whom are already being mentioned as potential speakers down the road.
One of them is Rep. Karen Bass, from Los Angeles. Back in 2008, as California was facing the Great Recession and a state budget crisis, she became the first female African-American speaker of the California Assembly – or any state legislature. Two years later, she was elected to Congress.
Today, Representative Bass is the incoming chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), which is growing in numbers and clout. Of its 55 members, five will chair full committees in the next Congress: government oversight, financial services, homeland security, science and technology, and education and workforce. Another 28 will chair subcommittees. That includes Bass, a former physician’s assistant, who will head the subcommittee on Africa and global health and human rights.
The Monitor recently sat down with Bass, a determined woman who has brown belts in the Korean martial arts and who weathered a
