25 Most Powerful Women In D.C. Politics

From the Pink Wave to the women of the White House, the future of Washington power brokering is female. Fortune runs down the names to know in 2020 and beyond.

- Emma Hinchliffe

IN A WASHINGTON WHERE MORE WOMEN than ever before are serving in Congress—and running for the nation’s highest office— identifying the 25 most powerful is a Herculean task. After all, in the world of politics, power can take many forms: the power to command votes, to shape the national agenda, to stoke or deflate the economy, to become a king—or should we say—queenmaker. So our 2019 list includes elected officials, appointees, influencers, and money movers (and, we admit, a little fuzzy math). But no matter the role, we weighed the same factors: the power granted by her position, her influence on policy and political conversation, and the trajectory of her career.

The result: names you see in the headlines daily—and a few you might be reading for the first time. The combination is fitting, says Stephanie Cutter, a former senior adviser to President Obama turned consultant: “The dirty little secret about Washington is that women have been running things behind the scenes for a long time, but now they’re getting credit for it.”

THE ELECTED OFFICIALS

IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO TALK about political power players without talking about Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The longtime California representative is on her second go-round as Speaker of the House—still, the first and only woman to hold the job—eight years after losing the gavel in the 2011 midterms. The most powerful woman in U.S. elected office has gone toe-to-toe with President Trump, set the tone for Democrats on impeachment, and gone viral simply by donning a Max Mara coat. If that’s not power, what is? Says Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University: “She’s a constant reminder that women are tough enough and strong enough to lead at the highest levels.”