Morgan Deann Ortagus (born July 10, 1982) is an American government official serving as spokesperson for the United States Department of State since 2019. She previously held several government positions including Deputy Treasury Attaché and Intelligence Analyst at the United States Department of the Treasury and Public Affairs Officer at USAID. Ortagus worked as national security contributor at Fox News prior to her appointment as State Department spokesperson. She is also an officer in the United States Navy Reserve.
Ortagus was born in Auburndale, Florida to Ronald E. and Denise C. Ortagus. Her father owned a cleanup and restoration company and her mother was an office manager. She grew up in Florida and won the Miss Florida Citrus title in 2002.
In 2005, Ortagus graduated from Florida Southern College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science. In 2013, Ortagus graduated from Johns Hopkins University (JHU) with a dual Master degree; Master of Business Administration from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and Master of Arts in Government from JHU. Ortagus's research at JHU included work on counterinsurgency.