Prior to her presidency, she had been a member of the National Assembly for Fidesz from 2018 to 2022, during which time she had also served as Minister for Family Affairs in the fourth Orbán government, from 2020 to 2021.

[5] On 21 December 2021, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced that Novák would be Fidesz's nominee in the 2022 presidential election.

In April 2023, the National Assembly passed a bill enabling and encouraging citizens to report same-sex couples who raise children to the state authorities, such as police and child protection.

[11] In April 2023, prior to and in commemoration of Pope Francis's pastoral visit to Hungary, Novák issued a series of presidential pardons, including that of far-right activist and domestic terrorist György Budaházy[12] and Endre Kónya.

[14] Protests erupted in Budapest demanding Novák's resignation,[15] with commentators viewing the scandal as especially damaging to Fidesz's credibility as a defender of traditional family values.

[22] As part of continued fallout from the scandal, Balog resigned from the synodal presidency of the Hungarian Reformed Church on 16 February 2024.

She supported a constitutional reform in 2020 to strengthen the ban on adoption by same-sex couples by stating that "the mother is a woman, the father is a man".

The amendments also stipulate that single people will only be able to adopt with the express authorization of the minister, to prevent homosexuals from circumventing the ban.