Kathryn Burgum turned her 20-year addiction struggle into a White House mission

By The Washington Times (U.S.) | Created at 2026-05-30 14:35:52 | Updated at 2026-06-08 03:17:04 1 week ago

By Alex Swoyer - The Washington Times - Saturday, May 30, 2026

Kathryn Burgum is the White House’s senior adviser for addiction recovery — and for her, it’s a searingly personal issue.

Ms. Burgum, wife of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, has been recovering from alcohol addiction for 24 years.

She told a group of women hosted by CPAC’s Women Warriors Summit that she first blacked out from drinking in high school. She turned to alcohol at the time after being overwhelmed by abuse at home and pressure to be perfect in school.

“I just couldn’t stop, so that started me on a 20-year struggle with addiction, and I tried to get sober in many different ways,” she recalled, adding that she relapsed every few years and even became suicidal.

While Mr. Burgum was governor of North Dakota, Ms. Burgum led his Office of Recovery Reinvented, which sought to erase the stigma around getting help. She has now brought that to the national level, co-chairing the White House’s Great American Recovery Commission.

She tells her own story as part of that.

“Sometimes it helps to understand somebody else’s struggle,” Ms. Burgum said.