Molinari, Susan, 1958-

Susan Molinari (born March 27, 1958) is an American politician, journalist, and lobbyist from New York. A Republican, she was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Staten Island for three terms. She was considered a rising star in the GOP and was selected to deliver the keynote address at the 1996 Republican National Convention. However, the next year, she resigned from Congress to become a TV journalist for CBS News. Later she became a vice president for public policy at Google from 2012 to 2018.

Born in New York City, Molinari graduated from St. Joseph Hill Academy in Staten Island before matriculating to the New York State University at Albany, earning a BA and MA there. From 1981 to 1983, Molinari worked as a finance assistant for the Republican Governor’s Association. She also worked two years as an “ethnic-community liaison” for the Republican National Committee in Washington. She served on the New York City Council from 1986 to 1990 before winning a special election to the House of Representatives in 1990 as a Republican to replace her father, who retired from Congress to become Staten Island Borough President.

While in the House of Representatives, Molinari was among the more moderate and liberal members of the Republican Party. She signed on to the Republicans' 1994 Contract with America, which promised a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and opposed the placing of U.S. troops under U.N. command. Concerning social policy, she leaned more liberal than many of her Republican colleagues in her support of abortion rights. She also sided with the Democrats in voting for the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a cornerstone of Bill Clinton's social policy.

In late May 1997, Molinari announced her retirement, effective that August, to pursue her lifelong passion as a television personality and focus on raising her family. Susan Molinari’s career in television as cohost of the CBS Saturday Morning program was short-lived. After nine months, she left to teach as a visiting Fellow at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in the fall of 1998. In 1998 she wrote Representative Mom: Balancing Budgets, Bill, and Baby in the U.S. Congress, a memoir of her career on Capitol Hill. She continued to do television political commentary and opened a Washington-based consulting firm. Molinari also chaired the Century Council, a nonprofit which aimed to curb underage drinking and drunk driving. Molinari and her family reside in Alexandria, Virginia.