Trump’s Former Top Lobbyist Chosen as Pence’s Chief of Staff

(Bloomberg) -- Former White House legislative affairs director Marc Short is returning to the Trump administration as Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.

Short, 48, has a long connection with the vice president extending back to serving as then-Congressman Pence’s chief of staff on the House Republican Conference, a party leadership organization. He later worked as a senior aide to Pence during the 2016 presidential campaign.

“He has a strong relationship with the vice president,” Sanders said. “Everybody feels like it’ll be a good fit.” Sanders said. Short will start in the position in mid-March, she added.

Short was at the center of key Trump administration legislative battles including the failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act and passage of the president’s tax overhaul. He left the administration last June to work for a consulting firm, Guidepost Strategies, and serve as a senior fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

Short will fill the vacancy left by Nick Ayers, who recently resigned as Pence’s top aide.

--With assistance from Alyza Sebenius.

To contact the reporters on this story: Margaret Talev in Washington at mtalev@bloomberg.net;Justin Sink in Washington at jsink1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Mike Dorning, Larry Liebert

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