Slate: Barb Wire

Sen. Barbara Mikulski is the no nonsense woman from Baltimore who keeps the country running—at least according to a recent article.

According to a Slate profile, Sen. Barbara Mikulski does not suffer fools well, but as the powerful chairwoman of the U.S. Senate’s Appropriations Committee, the long time legislator from Maryland is keeping the country running.

She’s described as the diminutive Democrat who keeps the wheels of government going by keeping spending in bills.

"She’s an appropriator," Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin told Slate. "She believes in this—she goes back and forth with the subcommittees. It’s a natural fit."

Mikulski made her mark on the Baltimore City Council as an opponent—and major irritant of former Mayor William Donald Schaefer—of a proposed highway that would’ve paved over the city’s East side.

"Then-Mayor Schaefer called me up and said, 'Barbara, I am going to roll you. I am the Mayor. You can't run the city.' When the votes came in, I lost 16 to 3. Mayor Schaefer said, 'Bob Embry thinks the waterfront could mean something. I don't know. What do you got to say, kiddo?" Mikulski recalled in a statement about Schaefer at the time of his death.  

Mikulski, now a North Baltimore resident, is considered the "dean of women" in the U.S. Senate.

Despite drawing the ire of local Republicans, she’s fondly remembered by local Democrats as a trailblazer.

Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, who made history as the city’s first woman City Council President, previously recalled Mikulski as a friend, and someone she had to convince voters she wasn’t competing against.

"She's a woman. I'm a woman. I must be running against her. It's a quota system," Clarke joked.  

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