Cynthia Lummis

Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis is no stranger to the world of politics. Her storied career has taken her across the country, spanning all levels of government — while making history along the way.

She’s notched several victories, but there have been moments of defeat as well. In her final weeks of legislating, the Wyoming senator had a taste of both.

Dubbed the “Crypto Queen” by those who know her on Capitol Hill, Lummis has spent the better part of the last 5½ years negotiating the CLARITY Act, a bipartisan deal to establish a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency. Although that proposal appeared to be reaching the finish line last month, talks abruptly fell apart — surprising nearly everyone, Lummis included.

“We are in a time right now where partisan politics is really taking a front seat, and policy is taking a back seat,” Lummis told the Deseret News in a sit-down interview in her Washington office. “That came down to a partisan exercise that I didn’t expect because I had been working for 5½ years to keep that very bipartisan, because it is not really a partisan topic. But the other party found a way to make it partisan because they really don’t like President Trump.”

Lummis has not lost hope that something can be done on the cryptocurrency issue after she is gone. But as she leaves office with that effort likely unfinished, it offers a window into her decadeslong career defined by an unusual combination of Western tradition, technological advancement, and the belief that good policy can always overcome stubborn partisanship.

Perched on a couch in her personal office, seated below a gargantuan copy of the Declaration of Independence hung on the wall, Lummis articulated what she hopes is her legacy when she leaves the halls of Congress behind: a spark that lit a larger flame.

“I hope that people think, ‘She was a real spark for the West.’ That the issues she cared about were Wyoming issues, the Rocky Mountain issues, and the Western issues specifically,” she said. “I’ve tried to bridge the gap between what are seen as traditionally rural issues and new technologies that can help every American, including the most remote Americans, and that I was just a spark for all those things. I’m very hopeful that people, when they think, ‘Oh, Cynthia Lummis,’ that they smile instead of frown.”

A trailblazer bridging rural America with elite Washington

When Lummis casts her final vote in the Senate, she’ll be 72 years old, capping off a wide-ranging career that began in local politics.

Lummis was first elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives when she was just 24 years old, making history as the youngest woman to serve in the state legislature. From there, she served in the Wyoming Senate and as the state’s treasurer before being elected to Congress in the U.S. House in 2009.

Amid her congressional work, she took on the challenge of chairing Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign in Wyoming. She later sought a Cabinet position in President Donald Trump’s first term, although she was not appointed.

In 2021, she made history as the first woman to represent Wyoming in the U.S. Senate.

“She’s been a trailblazer for Wyoming,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, whose early career overlapped with Lummis in the Wyoming Legislature, told the Deseret News in an interview.

“She’s done it all,” he added. “If she would have wanted to be governor, she could have run for governor and would have won. Because people from Wyoming have a great deal of trust and respect for Cynthia Lummis. She’s, as I said, all Wyoming all the time.”

It was that love for Wyoming, the least populous state with one of the smallest congressional delegations in the country, that drove Lummis’ philosophy: to ensure no one is forgotten by the federal government in Washington.

As part of that fight, Lummis found herself leading the Senate Western Caucus, a group of 29 senators aimed toward “sharing the Western message” with the rest of the chamber.

“They’re all west of the Mississippi, so we all have a lot of issues in common that we’re able to bring as a common cause and common solutions to the caucus,” Lummis said. “It’s a diverse group of senators.”

Ask anyone who has worked with her, they’ll note Lummis hasn’t slowed down since she got elected. Despite being older than the median age of senators, the Wyoming Republican has earned a reputation as a ball of energy, always with a smile on her face. (And often with a Celsius energy drink in hand to help get through the afternoon lulls.)

The way Barrasso put it: If he was riding shotgun in a stagecoach, she was “on her own fast horse in front of us with her six-shooter pulled, ready to go after anybody that took on Wyoming.”

Her greatest accomplishment? Something you might not expect

During her time in the Senate, Lummis secured dozens of legislative victories — and for the few stalled items of business, she believes she’s broken enough ground to keep the momentum going.

Although the CLARITY Act hit a wall in the Senate last month, Lummis has other bipartisan wins under her belt — even some that passed in the final legislative session before the lame duck period.

Among those is the Common Cents Act to end production of the penny — “It costs more to produce a penny than a penny, and so that’s a fiscal matter,” she said matter-of-factly when explaining the effort — as well as a bill to update regulations for domestic uranium enrichment facilities.

“Cynthia and I represent Western states that face a lot of the same challenges. I’ve valued our time together in the Senate and always respected her willingness to find common ground and get things done for the people we serve,” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who worked with Lummis on the latter bill, said in a statement. “I’ll miss having her as a colleague and wish her all the best in her next chapter.”

But when it comes to what she considers her greatest accomplishment, Lummis took a moment to think. After rattling off some of her favorite legislative projects, she landed on something more personal: a pardon she helped secure from the Trump administration for someone in her state.

Trump pardoned Troy Lake in November 2025 after the Wyoming diesel mechanic was imprisoned for violating the Clean Air Act by disabling emission-monitoring systems in commercial vehicles. Lake had pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison as well as a $2,500 fine — an unusually strong punishment for that type of crime.

After months of working with the Trump administration Lummis was able to secure a pardon for Lake seven months into his sentence — and called it her “greatest achievement” while serving in the Senate.

“The reason he altered them is they shut down the engines during cold weather, and states like Wyoming and Alaska and others need their diesel engines to work,” Lummis said. “That’s something people shouldn’t go to jail for. We have people in states that have committed heinous crimes that have never gone to jail, and a diesel mechanic goes to jail. So we helped him get a pardon.”

Lummis reflects on unfinished business

Even without Lummis’ firecracker energy in the Senate, she views the issues left behind as planted seeds that have already begun to take root. In fact, in some ways, she believes she’s helped find common ground between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to key issues.

For example, permitting reform.

Permitting talks were injected with optimism last week when a group of negotiators unveiled a bipartisan framework tackling issues ranging from data center costs, transmission power lines, environmental review deadlines, clearer guidelines for consultations, and more. While that framework is far from final, Lummis expressed confidence it won’t fall victim to the same political fights that sank her cryptocurrency bill.

“When you get to the season where we’re what, 40 days from an election or something, you just got to accept the lay of the land politically,” she said. “There are going to be some things that maybe have a prayer because both parties want them so much, like permitting reform — that’s one that I think still has some bipartisan appeal.”

Lummis also pointed to her work on nuclear energy as an area that can continue after she is gone, noting it’s an issue that may be little-understood now but can bridge the gap between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to energy solutions.

“It’s a non-carbon energy source. It’s also baseline, which means it can operate 24/7, whether the sun is shining and the wind’s blowing or not,” Lummis said. “The technology has improved so much that it consumes less water, it can be located in drier areas. … So this is next-gen. It’s very important in terms of meeting our baseload power needs as artificial intelligence and data centers and our energy needs grow.”

Lummis hopes for a brighter, kinder future

Lummis has learned a lot about working across the aisle and representing home values thousands of miles away from her permanent address.

After retiring from public office, she plans to head back to Wyoming where she’ll devote herself to full-time ranching. She also mentioned she’s looking forward to spending more time with her three young grandsons.

When asked what piece of advice she would offer to her colleagues as she departs, Lummis offered to keep it simple: “Just be more kind.”

“We’re not here to make each other’s lives miserable,” she said. “We’re here to represent our states and defend and support the Constitution of the United States. We can do that in ways that are kind and respectful to each other. That kindness goes a long way, and we need to remember that.”

Lummis reflected on what she described as a particularly dark time in Congress, which loomed in the months following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol — three days after she was sworn into the Senate.

For the first six months of her Senate career, Lummis recalled the Capitol being surrounded by security barriers — ”We were essentially in a fenced cage,” she said of those days — and the mood inside was tense. Trust between parties was at a low point, and the effects were isolating, she said.

“To thaw that atmosphere took time, and it took kindness, and it took patience,” Lummis said. “And there’s still an odd air of doubt and mistrust among members, and it’s antithetical to good government in this country.”

“So what I worry about is that we get farther and farther away from the founding fathers’ vision for our country,” she continued. “That we just need to keep those constitutions under our pillows and on our desks and in our purses.”

Many of her colleagues expressed a desire to hold on to those values, noting it’s what made her so well-known to her constituents — a trait that has made her “100% recognizable” in Wyoming, Barrasso said. (While waiting to interview Lummis for this story, I saw a tourist come into her office to express gratitude for the work she does.)

“Three words to describe her: principled, passionate, and patriotic,” Barrasso concluded. “And it’s been that way from the very, very beginning.”