ICYMI: Megan O'Rourke featured in USA Today article highlighting doctors and scientists running for Congress

O'Rourke is challenging Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. to help restore common sense and credibility to the decisions being made in Washington

Democratic doctors run for Congress to challenge Trump, RFK Jr.

By Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAY

March 13, 2026 | Updated March 14, 2026, 8:14 a.m. ET

Read the full article here.  <https://mc.meganorourkeforcongress.com/links/bfsYZPChuSdnKexzDxKMcDfSfGyKifMkVHJdxKRHGzFMVHevEMcZIihPkMKzjSMBeXzuxbMdahdfMe/3511128>

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Congress is already home to doctors, nurses and scientists − both Republicans and Democrats. According to the Congressional Research Service's biennial report, in 2025, the Senate had four physicians and one optometrist. The House had 16 physicians and four dentists. The House also included one psychologist, two pharmacists, four nurses and one emergency medical technician.

But one year into the tenure of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the rise of the Make America Healthy Again movement, scientists and doctors like Fisher are stepping into politics, motivated by concerns over changes to health policy, anti-science movements and cuts to social programs.

They're hoping they can slow down or stop new policies modifying vaccination timetables, blaming common pain medicines for autism and changing federal dietary guidelines.

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Facts and data

Megan O'Rourke, 46, of Blairstown, New Jersey, said she knew quickly after Trump took office and started making changes that she was not going to be able to stay on as a civil worker focused on food security and climate change at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"It was clear to me that I was not going to follow orders and to be complicit and do the things they wanted me to do. And so I did what I thought was the most strategic thing I could do in my capacity, which was resign and run to take him down," O'Rourke said.

O'Rourke, who has a doctorate in ecology, said that running for Congress was "one of the most strategic ways that we can push back against this presidency and the executive overreach and restore checks and balances and uphold my oath to the Constitution as a civil servant was to run for office in a flip-able seat, which was my hometown," she said.

O'Rourke is one of eight Democrats competing in the June 2 primary to represent central New Jersey's 7th District.

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About Dr. Megan O’Rourke

Dr. Megan O’Rourke is running for Congress in New Jersey’s Seventh Congressional District in the Democratic primary. Megan grew up in a family of six in Blairstown. She earned her Ph.D. and ran a small farm before becoming a lead climate scientist at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). During her time with the USDA, Dr. O’Rourke was a labor leader and fought for workers’ rights. Dr. O’Rourke left the federal government in the Summer of 2025 because she could not work for an Administration that was taking America backwards on climate and advancing policies that raise costs and hurt working families.

Learn more: https://meganorourkeforcongress.com  <https://mc.meganorourkeforcongress.com/links/bfsYZPChuSdnKexzDxKMcDfSfGyKifMkVHJdxKRHGzFMVHevEMcZIihPkMKzjSMBeXzuxbMdahdfMe/3511625>