Profile of FTC Commissioner Slaughter: ‘I Don’t Feel Superhuman. I Feel Like a Mom Who Has a Career.’

For the next several weeks, until her daughter Pippa goes to day care as a slightly older baby, she will join Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter on the fifth floor, either in a gray bouncy seat behind a desk or nestled in a wrap attached to her mother’s chest. It was the imperfect but best solution for Commissioner Slaughter, whose appointment in March to serve as an FTC commissioner just happened to coincide with the birth of her third child. 

The work culture for families has been stubbornly slow to change in Washington. To take a position of leadership in federal agencies, on Capitol Hill or in the White House requires long and unpredictable hours. Modest pay, demanding travel and meager family leave benefits also deter many women from rising in the government ranks. Such considerations have held back female representation in every corner of government. Women comprise 20 percent of Congress. They hold a quarter of the cabinet posts in the Trump administration.