Rep. Chu currently serves on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over legislation pertaining to taxes, revenues, Social Security, and Medicare. In that Committee, Rep. Chu is a member of the Subcommittees on Health, giving her oversight over healthcare reform and crucial safety net programs. She also serves on the House Small Business Committee, which has oversight of the Small Business Administration, as well as the House Budget Committee. In 2011, Chu was elected Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, which advocates for the needs and concerns of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community across the nation. She helps lead the Tri-Caucus, a joint effort with the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Chu founded and co-chairs the Congressional Creative Rights Caucus, which advocates for the copyright protections of those in the creative industries, such as music, film and visual arts. She also serves in leadership of the House Democratic Caucus as a Member of the Steering and Policy Committee.

Some of Rep. Chu's proudest accomplishments in Congress include- introducing and passing a Congressional resolution of regret for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882; working with President Obama to declare the San Gabriel Mountains a national monument; requiring the Department of Defense to address military hazing; helping entrepreneurs by establishing two new Small Business Development Centers in the San Gabriel Valley; and helping small businesses refinance old, expensive real estate loans by reviving the Small Business Administration's 504 loan refinance program.

Chu was first elected to the Board of Education for Garvey School District in 1985. From there, she was elected to the Monterey Park City Council, where she served as Mayor three times. She then was elected to the State Assembly and then California's elected tax board, known as the State Board of Equalization. In 2009, she became the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress in history. Chu lives with her husband, Michael Eng, in the city of Monterey Park, where they have been residents for over 30 years.