Career
After graduating from Williams College in 2004,fellow Williams graduate and California politician Bill Simon helped him secure a job at the Heritage Foundation,a Washington,D.C.-based conservative think tank. Described as "ambitious and hard-working," within six months he was promoted to be chief of staff to Edwin Feulner,the foundation's president. [3] In 2007 and 2008,he worked briefly with Rudy Giuliani's unsuccessful presidential campaign. [2]
Feulner later hired him help found and lead Heritage Action,a sister organization of the Heritage Foundation,which Feulner described as being focused on holding "lawmakers accountable for their votes." [2] As Heritage Action's first CEO,Needham was described as "a leading practitioner of the uncompromising,scorched-earth style of political combat that was a trademark of Tea Party-inspired politicians and activists." [4] He led the group's unsuccessful effort to stop the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and supported the 2013 United States federal government shutdown,which unsuccessfully sought to defund ACA and proved politically unpopular. [2] [3] [5] Needham was widely recognized as a leader in the Tea Party movement. In 2013,columnist Tim Carney described him as “the sharp tip of the [Tea Party] spear.” [6] He was also a Claremont Institute Lincoln Scholar in 2013. [7]
Needham was initially critical of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign,saying on Fox News in July 2015 that “Donald Trump’s a clown. He needs to be out of the race.” [8] In the same interview,however,he acknowledged Trump’s populist appeal,saying “if the Washington political class is setting their hair on fire,Trump must be doing something right.” [8] By November of that year,Trump publicly praised Needham on Twitter:“Thank you for your nice words @MikeNeedham @Heritage for the nice words on @FoxNewsSunday with Chris Wallace.” [9]
In 2018,Needham left Heritage Action,and became chief of staff to U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL). [4] In June 2023,Needham left Rubio's office to found and serve as president of America 2100,a think tank, [10] [11] He later left Rubio's office to join American Compass,a think tank created by Oren Cass,as chairman in July 2024. [12]
In December 2024,after Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election,Needham was appointed Counselor of the United States Department of State. [13]
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