Nikki Budzinski
DemocratU.S. Representative, IL-13| Age | 49 (b. 1977-03-11) |
| Gender | Female |
| In office since | 2023-01-03 (~3 yrs) |
| Education | B.A. in History and Political Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1999 |
| Prior occupation | Labor union organizer and political director (Laborers' International Union of North America, International Association of Fire Fighters, United Food and Commercial Workers as national political director); Senior Advisor to Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (2019–2020); President, Budzinski & Partners LLC (political consulting); Chief of Staff, White House Office of Management and Budget (2021–2022) |
| Military service | No |
| Birthplace | Peoria, Illinois |
| Marital status | married |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence | Springfield, Illinois |
Pending research: race / ethnicity · religion · languages · notable relatives · openly lgbtq.
Career & politics
| First elected | 2022 |
| Previous offices | Senior Advisor to the Governor of Illinois (J.B. Pritzker), 2019–2020 · Chair, Broadband Advisory Council, Office of the Governor of Illinois, 2019–2020 · Chief of Staff, White House Office of Management and Budget, 2021–2022 |
| Committees | House Committee on Agriculture (Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit — Vice Ranking Member; Subcommittee on Conservation, Research and Biotechnology; Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets and Rural Development) · House Committee on Veterans' Affairs (Subcommittee on Technology Modernization — Ranking Member) |
| Caucuses | New Democrat Coalition (Vice Chair for Policy, 119th Congress) · Congressional Biofuels Caucus (Co-Chair) · Bipartisan Building Trades Caucus |
| Leadership | New Democrat Coalition Vice Chair for Policy, 119th Congress · New Democrat Coalition Freshman Leadership Representative, 118th Congress · Congressional Biofuels Caucus Co-Chair |
| Ideology | Member of New Democrat Coalition (moderate/centrist Democrats); Heritage Action lifetime score 5% (liberal); described as pragmatic, bipartisan-oriented moderate Democrat |
| Signature legislation | American Rescue Plan implementation (as OMB Chief of Staff, 2021) · Illinois minimum wage increase to $15/hour (as senior advisor to Governor Pritzker) · H.R.3578 — Improving Veterans' Experience Act of 2025 · H.R.7241 — Protect Veterans from the THIEF Act · H.R.7280 — Veteran DATA Act |
Financial
Net worth: disclosed $700,000–$1,900,000 (2023) · estimate
No holdings recorded yet (from official Financial Disclosure filings).
Top donors: Building Trade Unions (PACs) · Industrial Unions (PACs) · Teachers Unions (PACs) · Andrea Soros (individual) ($3,300) · Jennifer & Jonathan Soros (individual) ($3,300 each)
Top industries: Building Trade Unions · Industrial Unions · Teachers Unions · Miscellaneous Unions · Pro-Israel Groups
Scandals & crimes ledger
No recorded incidents. Under the adjudicated-only methodology, an entry appears only when a court or official body has formally acted and the record is cited.