Three days ahead of inauguration, Vice President-elect JD Vance has filled out his senior staff with some major hires.
Vance has tapped nine senior employees to lead his operation in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is just a stone’s throw away from the West Wing, according to a source familiar with the hires.
One of the most notable hires is Sean Cooksey, the former chair of the Federal Election Commission in 2024, who will serve as counsel to the vice president. Trump appointed Cooksey to the role of FEC commissioner in 2020. Prior to his time in that position, Cooksey was general counsel to Sen. Josh Hawley, and had been deputy chief counsel to Sen. Ted Cruz.
Cooksey resigned as a commissioner at the FEC on Jan. 13.
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Vance is also bringing a number of people over from his Senate office to work with him as vice president.
His top aide will be Jacob Reses, who served as chief of staff to Vance in his Senate office. Reses will now be chief of staff to the vice president.
Reses, a graduate of Princeton University and Stanford Law School, previously served as senior policy adviser to Sen. Josh Hawley.
Bryan Gray, who was the political director of Vance’s 2022 Senate campaign and state director for his Senate office, will now be deputy chief of staff to the vice president.
Ben Moss, a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and previously an appellate litigator at Vinson & Elkins LLP in Houston, will serve as director of domestic policy for the vice president. He previously was general counsel in Vance’s Senate office.
Andy Baker, who served as national security adviser in Vance’s Senate office, will now be the national security adviser for the vice president. Baker previously served as a foreign service officer at the State Department for more than 10 years.
The director of operations from Vance’s Senate office, Abby Delahoyde, will also be making the transition to the executive branch. She will serve as the director of operations for the vice president. Delahoyde was previously deputy chief of staff for Rep. Byron Donalds and served as director of operations for former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson in the first Trump administration.
Vance’s communications team will be led by William Martin, who will be communications director for the vice president. Martin previously served as communications director in Vance’s Senate office, worked on the Trump-Vance campaign, and was deputy communications director on Vance’s Senate campaign. Luke Schroeder will serve as deputy communications director for the vice president, having served in the same role for Vance on the presidential campaign. He was previously press secretary for Vance in his Senate office.
Taylor Van Kirk, who served as communications director on Vance’s Senate campaign and as national press secretary for Vance on the presidential campaign, will also be press secretary for the vice president.
Meanwhile, Second Lady Usha Vance is bringing in a close ally to serve as her top aide. Shannon Fisher, who served as deputy director of external affairs for the Republican National Convention and as the special assistant to Usha Vance on the Trump-Vance campaign, will be chief of staff for the second lady.
From 2017 to 2023, Fisher served as director of operations in the office of the RNC chair.
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Reese Gorman is a reporter at NOTUS.
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