She previously served as the 24th Secretary of the United States Air Force from 2017 through 2019, as the 12th president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology from 2013 to 2017, and as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives for New Mexico's 1st congressional district from 1998 to 2009.

[8] On March 8, 2019, Wilson announced that she would resign as Secretary, effective May 31, in order to assume the office of President of the University of Texas at El Paso.

[14] Her grandfather, George Gordon "Scotty" Wilson, flew for the Royal Air Force in World War I and emigrated to America in 1922 where he was a barnstormer and airport operator in the 1920s and 1930s.

He served as a courier pilot during World War II and started the New Hampshire Civil Air Patrol where he was a Wing Commander.

[25] Her principal responsibilities included guiding the U.S. position on the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) negotiations and NATO affairs during the period of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Warsaw Pact.

[citation needed] After leaving government in 1991, Wilson founded Keystone International, Inc. in Albuquerque, New Mexico to promote business development in the United States and Russia.

[26][27] In 1995, Governor Gary Johnson appointed Wilson to be Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department.

[26] During her tenure, Wilson made efforts to reform child welfare laws, modernize the juvenile justice system, and improve early childhood education.

The department opened a juvenile work camp and a secure facility for young, non-violent offenders, as well as streamlining the foster care system.

[28] Five-term Republican Congressman Steven Schiff declared he would not run for re-election in February 1998 because of his battle with squamous cell carcinoma.

[32] In the special election, it was discovered that Wilson in her Cabinet role had removed sensitive department files relating to her husband from the agency's central database and later lied about doing so.

Wilson's campaign countered with a policy ad stating Romero "voted against the death penalty for child molesters who murder their victims.

[48] The Albuquerque Journal reported several instances in 2004 when Wilson acted in opposition to Republican interests: requiring the Bush administration to release cost figures for his prescription drug plan, criticizing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about the failure to properly respond to violations of the Geneva Conventions during an Abu Ghraib hearing, and opposing a move by House Republicans to protect Tom DeLay from his fundraising scandal.

While critics said these were calculated moves to moderate her image for her upcoming election, Wilson later lost her seat on the House Armed Services Committee due to the actions of Republican Joe Barton, an ally of DeLay.

[49][50][51] In 2003, Wilson joined 221 Republicans and 1 Democrat in voting against a Motion to Recommit the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (HR 1).

On January 21, 2004, legislation was introduced by Congressman Fred Upton to increase the fines and penalties for violating the prohibitions against the broadcast of obscene, indecent, or profane language.

On February 11, 2004, the United States House Energy Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held a hearing on the bill, at which representatives of the Federal Communications Commission, major broadcasting corporations, and the National Football League testified.

You knew what kind of entertainment you're selling, and you wanted us all to be abuzz, here in this room and on the playground in my kids' school, because it improves your ratings.

Eric Lichtblau of The New York Times said that "the congresswoman's discomfort with the operation appears to reflect deepening fissures among Republicans over the program's legal basis and political liabilities."

In February 2007, former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias alleged that Wilson's competitive 2006 campaign for re-election to the House was a significant reason for his dismissal from the Justice Department.

[63] Wilson was a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, the chairs of which introduced legislation to make the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a cabinet department.

[65] The LCVAF also issued a press release in which Wilson was criticized for voting against a $58 million fund for voluntary conservation measures in the state.

[72] Wilson served as president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology from 2013 to 2017, leaving to accept the appointment of Secretary of the Air Force.

In addition, Wilson stated that she "was not a lobbyist for Sandia and [she] was not a member of the Contract Strategy Team criticized by the Inspector General's report.