Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett represents the At-Large Congressional District of the United States Virgin Islands in the House of Representatives and is currently serving her 6th term in Congress. For the 119th Congress, Plaskett is a member of both the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Ways and Means Committee. In the 118th Congress, Ms. Plaskett was appointed by Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries as Ranking Member of the House Select Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government and to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence where she was the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on National Intelligence Enterprise.
As Ranking Member of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, Ms. Plaskett worked to ensure Democratic members focused on evidence-based inquiries and not wild conspiracy theories. The Republicans’ attempts to derail the federal government’s obligation to investigate and conduct due process on actions, organizations, and individuals that threaten our republic and create an anti-democratic environment were met with strong resistance by Ms. Plaskett and her Democratic colleagues.
Congresswoman Plaskett is the first member of a territory to be named a Ranking Member of a Select Committee and the first to be a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. As a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service with a Bachelor of Science in History and Diplomacy and a concentration in Middle East and African Studies, Congresswoman Plaskett's training is uniquely oriented to focus on the geopolitical and global paradigm. Additionally, Congresswoman Plaskett's legal expertise and background lends to her oversight ability, in which she has exhibited an even-handed approach to engaging opposing sides on contentious issues.
As the Ranking Member of the Intelligence Committee's Subcommittee on National Intelligence Enterprise, Ms. Plaskett called on her knowledge to ensure accountability and transparency in US Intelligence work in counter and other intelligence matters. Ms. Plaskett has taken great interest and worked to develop expertise on the serious security situation in West Africa and the complex threats from terrorism and the malign influences of Russia and China, which jeopardize stability and increase the prospect for further democratic backsliding.
In 2021, Ms. Plaskett was appointed by then Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, to be one of the nine impeachment managers to prosecute President Trump in the U.S. Senate for incitement of the insurrection of January 6, 2021. Ms. Plaskett conducted some of the most detailed presentations of the events of the day and was one of the managers chosen to respond to the questions of U.S. Senators during a day of the proceedings. At the time of the Senate trial, Ms. Plaskett was the only Black woman in the Senate Chamber.
In the 117th Congress, Ms. Plaskett was unanimously elected by her Democratic colleagues to serve on the House Committee on Ways and Means, the oldest and one of the most exclusive committees in Congress. In true historic fashion, Ms. Plaskett was the first Member from a U.S. territory and only the fourth African American woman to serve on this committee. Additionally, she has served on the House Agriculture and Transportation and Infrastructure Committees, as well as the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
Congresswoman Plaskett has participated in numerous international panels and summits, including a guest presentation at Oxford Union on the ideological American Civil War of the 2020s and the Web Summit on the role of government in regulating and promoting the digital economy. Ms. Plaskett is one of the founders and co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Black Innovation, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and the New Democrat Coalition. Congresswoman Plaskett also co-chairs the Congressional Caribbean Caucus.
Ms. Plaskett is a staunch advocate for poverty-reduction and equal voting rights and is well versed in Caribbean economic development and public-private partnerships for growing the economies of developing areas. As the U.S. Virgin Islands Representative to Congress, she is acutely aware of the dire impacts of climate change. Following Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, Congresswoman Plaskett used her platform to increase awareness of the unique climate change and resilience challenges faced by island communities – and ensure that Congress delivers the innovation, information, and resources necessary to deliver solutions.
Prior to coming to Congress, Ms. Plaskett was counsel to a private equity firm. She served as General Counsel to the US Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority working on tax and project finance. Congresswoman Plaskett served as a political appointee in the Bush Administration’s Department of Justice after September 11 and started her legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in the Bronx, New York. She is a graduate of Choate Rosemary Hall, earned her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University, and received her Juris Doctorate from American University’s Washington College of Law. Most importantly, Ms. Plaskett is the mother of 5 – four adult sons and a younger daughter, and the wife of Jonathan Buckney-Small. She and Jonathan are avid readers, cooks and news junkies.
