Michelle Eunjoo Steel ( Park, born June 21, 1955) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 45th congressional district since 2023, previously representing the 48th congressional district from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, she concurrently served as a member of House Minority Whip Steve Scalise's Whip Team for the 117th Congress. Steel served as the member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors from the 2nd district from 2015 to 2021 and of the California State Board of Equalization from the 3rd district from 2007 to 2015. Steel, fellow California Republican Young Kim and Democrat Marilyn Strickland of Washington are the first Korean-American women to serve in Congress. Steel and Kim, along with David Valadao, also became the first Republican congressional candidates since 1994 to unseat incumbent House Democrats in California. Early life and education Steel was born in Seoul, South Korea. Her father was born in Shanghai to Korean expatriate parents. Steel was educated in South Korea, Japan, and the United States. She holds a degree in business from Pepperdine University and an MBA from the University of Southern California. She is fluent in Korean and Japanese. California politics Steel has been active in Republican Party politics and served on various commissions in the George W. Bush administration. California State Board of Equalization Steel was elected to the California State Board of Equalization in 2006 when Republican incumbent Claude Parrish ran unsuccessfully for state Treasurer. Throughout her tenure, she served as the country's highest-ranking Korean American officeholder, and California's highest-ranking Republican woman. She represented more than eight million people in the 3rd district, which then included all of Imperial, Orange, Riverside and San Diego Counties and parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. In 2011, she was elected vice chair of the Board of Equalization. Orange County Board of Supervisors In 2014, Steel was elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors representing the 2nd district, defeating state Assemblyman Allan Mansoor. In March 2018, Steel was the only elected official to greet President Donald Trump when he landed at LAX on his first official visit to California as president. In 2019, Trump appointed her to the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Steel chaired the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 2017 and again in 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she opposed mandatory face masks in Orange