Hatch Applauds Selection of Chief of Staff as Senior White House Aide, Names Senior Counsel as New Chief
WASHINGTON, DC—Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the senior Republican in the United States Senate, applauded President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Hatch’s current Chief of Staff, Robert Porter, to serve as a senior aide in the new presidential administration. Porter, who will serve as Assistant to the President and White House Staff Secretary, has led Hatch’s Washington- and Utah-based staff for nearly three years.
“President-elect Trump has made an inspired choice. Rob is not only a brilliant leader; he is also a dear friend and a trusted confidante who has my full confidence and support. As Chief of Staff, he has led my legislative efforts with honor and distinction. While his selection is a loss for me personally, it is an enormous gain for the incoming President and the nation to have such a capable, devoted public servant in such a senior role. I wish him all the best, and know that he will remain a close ally of our office and a loyal friend to Utah.”
With Porter’s departure, Hatch promoted Senior Counsel Matthew Sandgren to Chief of Staff. Sandgren is a native of Provo, Utah. Hatch also promoted Deputy Legislative Director John Tanner—a native of Brigham City—to Legislative Director.
“Matt is one of the leading policy experts on Capitol Hill, and has served as one of my top advisers for more than a decade,” Hatch said on the promotion of Matthew Sandgren. “His expertise on a number of legislative issues critical to Utah, particularly in tech and innovation, has been invaluable to Utah’s thriving economy. He has the necessary leadership skills—as well as the strong reputation in Utah and in Washington—to lead our office at this critical time.”
“With more than a decade of experience working for Utah’s congressional delegation, John has a deep understanding of the policies that affect Utah the most. He has built strong relationships with the state legislature, our county commissioners, and numerous other stakeholders throughout the state. The respect he has earned from scores of local leaders all over Utah is a real tribute to his character and his record of producing real results.”
Background on the Office of the Staff Secretary
The Office of the Staff Secretary “coordinat[es] the decision-making process in the White House,” in the words of one former senior administration official. Specifically, the Staff Secretary is charged with deciding what papers reach the president’s desk, choosing which staff members are involved in key meetings, and ensuring that major administration decisions are fully vetted. In the words of another senior administration official, this office is “the one office in the White House that knows the most about what is going on and where it is taking place.”
A number of prominent individuals have held the office of Staff Secretary in past administrations, including:
Porter joined Hatch’s office in March 2014 as Deputy Chief of Staff and was promoted to Chief of Staff in June of that year. As Chief of Staff, Porter supervises all of legislative, communications, administrative, and state-level work. Under Porter’s leadership, Hatch’s office has experienced one of its most productive periods of policymaking ever, assisting the Senator in passing 45 bills into law.
Porter is a summa cum laude graduate of Harvard College and a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School. He also holds an MPhil from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. In addition to his service with Hatch, Porter has served as General Counsel to Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Chief Counsel to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a law clerk to Judge Thomas Griffith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, a Visiting Scholar at Brigham Young University, and an associate at Sidley Austin LLP.
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Hatch Meets with Interior Secretary Nominee Ryan Zinke to Discuss Bears Ears, Recommends Mike Noel for BLM Director
Washington, D.C.—Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the senior Republican in the United States Senate, issued the following statement following a meeting with Congressman Ryan Zinke, President-elect Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of the Interior:
“When President Obama locked away over one million acres of public land by designating the Bears Ears National Monument, I expressed my intention to discuss this drastic overreach in a special meeting with Secretary-designate Zinke. I stated that my support for Zinke’s nomination would depend largely on his willingness to work with our congressional delegation to help us clean up the mess the Obama administration created in San Juan County. After meeting with Secretary-designate Zinke today, I am confident that the new administration will work with us to right this wrong.”
“In Secretary-designate Zinke, we have a willing partner who not only understands Western values but is also eager to repair much of the damage caused by the Obama administration. Secretary-designate Zinke even told me that his first trip will be to Utah to meet with our Congressional delegation and the people of San Juan County to get to work fixing this mess. He also said that restoring the public’s trust in the Department of the Interior is among his top priorities. After two overbearing monument designations in our state, many Utahns have soured toward the federal government, so I appreciate Secretary Designate Zinke’s willingness to act in good faith.”
(B-Roll sound only video—Via YouTube)
In his meeting with Zinke, Senator Hatch also took the opportunity to express his support for Utah State Representative Mike Noel to be nominated as the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. Senator Hatch gave Zinke a number of letters recommending Noel to this position, including a letter Hatch wrote himself. In his endorsement, Hatch wrote, “Mike Noel boasts the impressive combination of over 20 years as an employee of the BLM and over 10 years as a member of the State of Utah House of Representatives. Paired with his experience as a state legislator, his appreciation of the complex administrative dynamics within the BLM make him uniquely qualified for the position.”
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Utah Business Leader Gail Miller: Hatch is an Indispensable Leader for Utah
From the Salt Lake Tribune on Sunday
“One tenet of my personal philosophy is that success is defined as doing the right thing for the right reason in the right way. Though others may disagree, I believe if each of us would ‘go about doing good until there was too much good in the world,’ the energy expended and the results attained would create a very different world from the one in which we now live. Many people spend a lifetime trying to change the world by ‘doing good.’ Sen. Orrin Hatch is one of those people.
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“Strengthening local communities and supporting law enforcement are just two issues Hatch has championed that are near and dear to my heart. There are, of course, myriad other causes he has embraced to the benefit of all Utahns. From his unyielding efforts to protect religious liberty and uphold the Constitution to his principled leadership on education and health care reform, Hatch has demonstrated time and again his willingness to go to bat for the people of Utah. Hatch's value to our state — indeed, to our nation — is difficult to overstate. He is arguably the most effective legislator in the nation, having sponsored more bills that have become law than any member of Congress. And he shows no signs of letting up anytime soon. If anything, Hatch is in his prime. Consider that in the 114th Congress alone, he sponsored more bills that became law than any other sitting senator — Republican or Democrat. His experience is unequaled and his influence immeasurable.
Hatch is a legislative powerhouse and an indispensable leader for Utah. He has already secured countless victories for our state. As a key member of the Senate leadership team, chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee and as a trusted confidante of the President-elect, Hatch will have more influence than ever before, giving Utah an outsized voice in the affairs of our nation.”
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