New Congressman Still Finds Family Time While Reaching Across Aisle

MIDDLE RIVER, MD — It's been a six-month whirlwind for newly minted Congressman Johnny Olszewski.

Since taking the oath of office in January, the District 2 Democrat has jockeyed around from his Baltimore County home to the District of Columbia and even to Pacific island nations.

Olszewski's biggest adjustments are the time away from home, the transition from executive to lawmaker and the hyperpartisan divide in Washington.

Nicknamed "Johnny O," Olszewski grew up in Dundalk and taught civics in Baltimore County Public Schools. He still lives in a waterfront home on Millers Island, located near Edgemere.

Most days, Olszewski still drives roughly 50 miles to his office in D.C. The drive routinely takes more than an hour and a half, thanks to extra traffic since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. Late-night votes sometimes force Olszewski to stay at a hotel, but he tries to make it home as often as possible to squeeze in some family time.

"I try to commute to and from D.C. every day," Olszewski said. "My rule has been if I can get home in time to tuck my daughter into bed or if I can be at home early enough to put her on the bus for school in the morning, I'll come home. No matter how late or how early that might be."

Patch caught up with Olszewski Monday at Martin State Airport, where officials broke ground on a new $22.2 million air traffic control tower.

Patch interviewed the congressman from the backseat of a pickup truck driving down the tarmac. The driver at one point had to pause the interview to request permission from air traffic controllers to enter the taxiway for airplanes.

Olszewski said that bumpy stretch of asphalt showed the airport needed further investment. That's why he is seeking another $3 million in federal funding for additional runway improvements at Martin State Airport.

Related: Martin State Airport Breaks Ground On New Air Traffic Control Tower In Middle River

Patch and Olszewski seem to have a knack for noteworthy interview settings. Our last exclusive interview was in August 2024 when a Patch reporter waded through Bowleys Quarters floodwaters to interview the then-county executive, who was surveying the damage.

This week's tower ground-breaking ceremony took place during a district week, a stretch when Congress is in recess and legislators return to their home states for field work. District weeks are also when representatives host town halls, like the April meeting Olszewski held in Towson, where he vowed to fight mass layoffs of government employees.

"It's what we do every district week. We try to make sure that we find both projects as well as opportunities to engage with individuals and organizations," Olszewski said. "Whether it's a town hall or a roundtable or just constituent meetings, we try to balance all that in addition to some family time."

Olszewski is still settling into his role as a lawmaker. He served from 2018 to early 2025 as Baltimore County executive, a role wherein he was an administrator who enforced laws and implemented policies.

After being elected to replace retiring Democrat C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger in the U.S. House of Representatives, Olszewski now makes laws and creates policies. The change in duties has taken some getting used to.

"There's certainly been some adjustments. Primarily, I'm used to being the executive and helping to drive finding solutions," Olszewski said. "That's what we did for years when I was county executive. We would identify a problem, we'd bring people together, and we'd figure it out."

Olszewski has introduced four bills for which he is the lead sponsor. All are still in their early stages.

The most prolific would reinstate some laid-off federal workers. Another would require a study on how federal agencies identify and record cases of housing loss.

Related: Marylanders Demand Action Against Trump, DOGE Cuts: 'We Have Got To Stop Them'

Foreign policy has been a focus for Olszewski. As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, he traveled to New Zealand, Palau and Taiwan in April.

Olszewski isn't used to the partisan frenzy in Washington. The Baltimore County Council was split between parties, forcing him to find compromise.

"That is the opposite of what my experience has been in D.C., particularly in a hyperpartisan environment," Olszewski said. "As county executive, we had four Democrats, three Republicans on the County Council. As we did that work, everything we did was bipartisan. And that meant that everyone had to give something to forge that compromise, but we did it."

The House chambers, where representatives sit, is organized in a semicircle with an aisle down the middle. Democrats and Republicans usually sit on opposite sides of the aisle, but Olszewski is looking for any opportunity to bridge the divide.

"It's finding those places where bipartisanship can exist and promoting it, trying to ... have conversations with literally crossing the aisle," he said. "These are important bills that we're passing, but not, obviously, as big as some of the other issues that we're tackling. And so trying to get to a place where we're building on the successes that we've been able to see so far."

Olszewski highlighted two bills that he co-sponsored with Republicans as examples of bipartisanship. He cited legislation that would protect ports from Chinese influence and connect small businesses with career and technical education graduates. Both passed the House and await action in the Senate.

Olszewski has co-sponsored 14 other bills led by Republicans, including one that would uplift first-time homebuyers. Olszewski is the lead sponsor of another bill that would protect African diplomats at the United Nations in New York City, an effort co-sponsored by a Republican.

"It's hard to see it as an American, and it's even harder to see it up close as a member of Congress that there are so few interested in really bridging that partisan divide," Olszewski said. "Don't get me wrong, there are people who are open to it and pursuing it in addition to myself, but for me, it's about finding every opportunity possible to promote that bipartisanship."

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