The First Congressman to Take Parental Leave Is Ready to Fight for It
If Colin Allred had been in Washington two weeks ago, he would have gone to the White House for the Congressional Black Caucus’s meeting with the president. Instead, he was in his garage in Dallas, cradling his newborn, pedaling his exercise bike, and occasionally reading briefing memos from his staff on his phone.
The representative from Texas was the first member of Congress to take paternity leave, in 2019, when his first son was born. He’s now the second member of Congress to take paternity leave: His second son was born at the end of March.
At least, Allred was the first member of Congress to admit that he was taking paternity leave. Others may have snuck in a few days here and there, but if they did, they weren’t gone for long. Congress does not maintain a human-resources file. And like much of the rest of America, Congress doesn’t have an official paid-leave policy. When Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois gave birth to her second daughter, in 2018, she was told that if she took official leave, that could lead to her being stripped of some of her parliamentary rights in the chamber. Allred took two weeks with his first son and is taking a month with his second. He gives his staff three months of leave; every member of Congress is the CEO and HR director of their own office.
Allred isn’t the stereotype of a paid-leave advocate. His background will confuse people who think of paid leave as a “women’s issue” or one for bleeding-heart liberals and dreamy ideologues. He’s a 38-year-old former NFL player, a Black man who
