Rep. Hillary Jeanne Scholten is an American attorney and Democratic politician from Grand Rapids, Michigan. She began her career as a social worker focused on housing insecurity and homelessness, including work with vulnerable populations. She later earned her law degree and clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, specializing in immigration law. Scholten went on to serve as an attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice from 2013 to 2017, where she worked on immigration and civil rights cases. She later returned to Michigan and worked in immigration advocacy and private practice before entering politics.After an initial unsuccessful congressional run in 2020, she was elected to Congress in 2022, flipping a long-held Republican seat. In Congress, she has served on committees related to transportation, small business, and infrastructure, and has emphasized local economic investment and public service delivery.