While in college and graduate school, Norton was active in thecivil rights movement and an organizer for theStudent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). By the time she graduated from Antioch, she had already been arrested for organizing and participating insit-ins in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Ohio. While in law school, she traveled to Mississippi for theMississippi Freedom Summer and worked with civil rights stalwarts such asMedgar Evers. Her first encounter with a recently released but physically beatenFannie Lou Hamer forced her to bear witness to the intensity of violence andJim Crow repression in the South.[11]
Norton specialized infreedom of speech cases, and her work included successfully arguingCarroll v. President & Commissioners of Princess Anne, aSupreme Court case brought on behalf of thewhite supremacistNational States' Rights Party.[17] She put this victory into perspective in an interview with one of theDistrict of Columbia Bar's website editors: "I defended theFirst Amendment, and you seldom get to defend the First Amendment by defending people you like ... You don't know whether the First Amendment is alive and well until it is tested by people with despicable ideas. And I loved the idea of looking a racist in the face—remember this was a time when racism was much more alive and well than it is today—and saying, 'I am your lawyer, sir, what are you going to do about that?'"[9] She worked as an adjunct assistant professor atNew York University Law School from 1970 to 1971.[18] In 1970, MayorJohn Lindsay appointed her as the head of the New York City Human Rights Commission, and she held the first hearings in the country on discrimination against women.[19] Prominent feminists from throughout the country came to New York City to testify, while Norton used the platform as a means of raising public awareness about the application of theCivil Rights Act of 1964 to women and sex discrimination.[11]
PresidentJimmy Carter appointed Norton as the chair of the EEOC in 1977; she became the first female head of the agency.[15] Norton released the EEOC's first set of regulations outlining what constituted sexual harassment and declaring that sexual harassment was indeed a form of sexual discrimination that violated federal civil rights laws.[20]
Norton was elected in 1990 as aDemocratic delegate to the House of Representatives. She defeated city council memberBetty Ann Kane in the primary despite the last-minute revelation that Norton and her husband, both lawyers, had failed to file D.C. income tax returns between 1982 and 1989.[25] The Nortons paid over $80,000 in back taxes and fines.[26][27] Her campaign manager wasDonna Brazile.[27] The delegate position was open because Del.Walter Fauntroy was running for mayor rather than seeking reelection.[28] Norton received 39 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary election,[29] and 59 percent of the vote in the general election.[30] Norton took office on January 3, 1991, and has been reelected every two years since.[28]
William Thomas and theWhite House Peace Vigil inspired Norton to introduce the Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act, which would require the United States to disable and dismantle its nuclear weapons at such time as all other nations possessing nuclear weapons do likewise.[33] Norton has been introducing a version of the bill since 1994.[33]
The legislation proposed in 2009 did not grant Norton the right to vote in the 111th Congress, as she would have had to remain in her elected office ofdelegate for the duration of her two-year term.[34]
In September 2010, the national press criticized Norton after the release of a voice message in which she solicited campaign funds from a lobbyist representing a project that she oversaw. Norton countered that the message was typical of appeals made by all members of Congress and that the call was made from campaign offices not paid for by taxpayers.[35] In March 2012, the public radio seriesThis American Life featured the voicemail message at the start of a program on lobbying titled "Take the Money and Run for Office".[36]
In May 2012, Norton was blocked from testifying on an anti-abortion bill in her district—the second time she has been blocked from speaking about abortion. She insisted that it was a denial of a common courtesy. RepresentativeJerrold Nadler supported Norton's protest, saying "Never in my 20 years as a member of Congress have I seen a colleague treated so contemptuously."[37][38][39]
In August 2014, after the D.C. Board of Elections voted to put a question about marijuana legalization on the ballot in November 2014, Norton vowed to defend against any congressional attempt to stop the district from voting on the issue and to, if approved, fight any attempt to prevent implementation.[40]
In June 2025, some colleagues and D.C. officials questioned Norton's ability to carry out her duties, citing a noticeable decline in her public activity and increased reliance on aides.[41] Norton, the oldest member of the House, initially said she would seek a nineteenth term but later stated she was "still considering [her] options" for the 2026 election.[41]
On October 2, 2014, ABC News reported that Norton, discussing her co-sponsorship of a bill aimed at changing theNational Football League's tax-exempt status, stated: "The NFL greed is so widespread that they've chosen to operate as a tax-exempt organization. So we want to take that choice away from them unless, and until, they decide not to profit from a name that has now officially been declared a racial slur."[63] In essence, Norton's position was that until the NFL forced theWashington Redskins owner (Daniel Marc Snyder) to change the team name she would support legislation that would change the NFL's tax status thereby costing the league money.[64]
On June 23, 2020, Norton announced plans to introduce legislation to remove theEmancipation Memorial. (The wages of formerly enslaved people funded the Emancipation Memorial statue.[65]) That same day, protesters on site vowed todismantle the statue on Thursday, June 25, at 7:00 p.m. local time. A barrier fence was installed around the memorial to protect it from vandalism, which was later removed.[66] Norton reintroduced her bill on February 18, 2021.[67]
Norton supported theDigital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (S. 994; 113th Congress), a bill that would make information onfederal expenditures more easily accessible and transparent.[68] The bill would require theU.S. Department of the Treasury to establish common standards for financial data provided by all government agencies and to expand the amount of data that agencies must provide to the government website, USASpending. Norton said that the bill "will improve the quality of data that agencies make available about their spending."[69]
Norton supported the bill "To amend the Act entitled An Act to regulate the height of buildings in the District of Columbia to clarify the rules of the District of Columbia regarding human occupancy of penthouses above the top story of the building upon which the penthouse is placed" (H.R. 4192). The bill would increase the height limit of penthouses in D.C. to 20 feet, allowing for human occupancy. Norton said that "this bill is not a mandate directing the city to make any changes to penthouses or to its existing comprehensive plan or local zoning laws more generally."[70]
On July 27, 2006, Norton appeared on the "Better Know a District" segment ofComedy Central'sThe Colbert Report, in which she spiritedly defended the District of Columbia's claim to being a part of the United States.[71] She also appeared on the jointThe Colbert Report/The Daily Show "Midterm Midtacular" special on November 7, 2006.[72] Norton gave further interviews toStephen Colbert on March 22, 2007,[73] and April 24, 2007, on the subject of representation in the District of Columbia.[74] On February 12, 2008, Colbert and Norton discussed her status as asuperdelegate as well as her support ofBarack Obama for president.[75] She appeared once again on February 11, 2009, to discuss D.C. representation and promised Colbert that she would make him an honorary citizen of Washington, D.C., and give him a key to the city, if D.C. citizens were given representation. Colbert in turn gave Norton a "TV promise" that he would be there should that happen.[76] Norton made a further appearance on Colbert's show on June 25, 2014, where she discussed the impact that African-American Democrats had on incumbentThad Cochran'sprimary defeat ofChris McDaniel, aTea Party candidate, as well as Colbert's final episode among a cadre of past guests.[77]
Norton was married to Edward Norton. They separated on November 17, 1990,[81] and he died in 2014.[82] She has two children: John, and Katherine who hasDown syndrome.[82][83] Norton is anEpiscopalian.[84][85][86]
In October 2025, Norton was reportedly scammed out of approximately $4,400 by a group claiming to beHVAC cleaners. According to aDC Police report that classified the incident as potential felony fraud, Norton appeared to be in the early stages of dementia and the incident was reported by her campaign treasurer, who the report characterized as a caretaker withpower of attorney. In a statement toNBC4 Washington, Norton's office said that the person who made the report was not qualified to make a medical diagnosis, described her treasurer as a house manager who lived elsewhere as opposed to a caretaker, and did not address whether a power of attorney situation existed.[87][88]
SNCC Digital Gateway: Eleanor Holmes Norton, Documentary website created by the SNCC Legacy Project and Duke University, telling the story of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee & grassroots organizing from the inside-out
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