Democrat · Michigan's 12th District · 2026
Rashida Tlaib
Tlaib grew up in Detroit as the oldest of 14 children, helping raise her siblings while her Palestinian immigrant parents worked.
Biography
Rashida Tlaib grew up as the oldest of fourteen children in southwest Detroit, helping care for younger siblings while keeping up with schoolwork.1 Her parents were Palestinian immigrants, and she spoke Arabic at home before learning English.1 She is also the mother of two sons.2
Tlaib graduated from Wayne State in 1998 and earned a law degree in 2004.3 Her early work included the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services and a job with state Representative Steve Tobocman.1 She served in the Michigan House from 2009 through 2014 and later worked as an attorney at the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice.3 and.1
She entered Congress in January 2019.3 She is the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress and one of its first two Muslim women.2 Her Neighborhood Service Centers help residents with matters including Social Security, veterans' benefits, utility bills, immigration cases and student debt.2 A bill she introduced with Republican Mark Meadows to protect federal retirees from fraud by people managing their benefit payments became law in March 2020.4 and.5
Tlaib currently serves on Financial Services and Oversight and Government Reform.6 Her platform supports Medicare for All, reproductive healthcare and eliminating medical debt.7 Her proposals also include permanent federal assistance for household water bills, challenging pharmaceutical monopolies and curbing grocery price gouging.2
Record and controversies
Campaign salary
In 2020, the House Ethics Committee directed Tlaib to repay $10,800 in campaign salary covering periods after the 2018 election.8 It found the payments violated campaign finance restrictions, but found no intent to unjustly enrich herself and required no sanction if she returned the money.8 Tlaib had maintained that the payments compensated campaign work.9 The FEC confirmed full repayment and dismissed its case in December 2021, citing the circumstances and its limited enforcement resources.9
House censure
On November 7, 2023, the House voted 234 to 188 to censure Tlaib over her comments about the Israel and Hamas war.10 The measure accused her of calling for Israel's destruction and spreading false narratives about the October 7 attacks.10 Tlaib said her words were being distorted and defended the slogan “from the river to the sea” as a call for freedom, while critics saw it as calling for Israel's elimination.10 Censure is a formal House condemnation and did not remove her from office.10