Ryan names chief of staff
Rep. Paul Ryan will name a veteran of Capitol Hill and K Street as his chief of staff after he’s elected Speaker later this week, the Wisconsin Republican said on Sunday.
{mosads}David Hoppe, who served as chief of staff to then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and then-Majority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), would bring a steady hand to the Speaker’s office following weeks of turmoil within the House GOP conference.
Hoppe now works as a senior policy adviser at Squire Patton Boggs and is a senior adviser to the Bipartisan Policy Center, which was founded by four former Republican and Democratic Senate majority leaders.
The Washington Post first reported Hoppe’s hiring.
“Dave has been a foot soldier in the conservative movement, and he is a good friend,” Ryan said in a statement Sunday. “His decades of experience fighting for the cause and his passionate commitment to conservative principles are just what I’m looking for to create a new kind of speakership.”
Both Ryan and Hoppe are Wisconsin natives with much in common. Both are rabid fans and part owners of the Green Bay Packers.
Their friendship dates back to 1991, when Ryan was working on the staff of Sen. Bob Kasten (R-Wis.) and Hoppe was chief of staff to Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.). And earlier in his career, Hoppe served as chief of staff to the late Rep. Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.), Ryan’s political mentor.
Hoppe has long been in the fight for supply-side economic policies and pro-life causes, previously serving as vice president of government affairs at the conservative Heritage Foundation. Those conservative credentials will be needed as he helps Ryan navigate the House Freedom Caucus, which forced Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to leave office in the middle of his term.
Heritage founder Ed Feulner praised Hoppe as “a deeply principled man.”
“This is a great sign that Paul Ryan understands the importance of putting forward big conservative ideas,” Feulner said in a statement, “and I know that Dave has the expertise and passion to help implement them.”
In an email to The Hill, Kyl called Hoppe “thoughtful and experienced” and someone with an “excellent temperament.”
But Hoppe also has a reputation for working across the aisle. In addition to his work at the Bipartisan Policy Center, he has served as president of the bipartisan public affairs firm Quinn Gillespie and Associates.
A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Hoppe got his start in Congress in 1976 as a research aide for the House Republican Study Committee.
“Dave Hoppe is well respected as a man of integrity, passion and drive for the conservative movement,” said GOP strategist Ron Bonjean, a fellow Wisconsin native who worked for Hoppe when he was running the office of Majority Leader Trent Lott. “He’s a person with relentless energy with tremendous institutional knowledge on how to run a leadership office.
“On top of all that, Dave is someone that all sides can trust when the going gets tough to get the job done,” Bonjean said.
–This report was updated at 12:35 p.m.