Scalise on Oct. 11, 2023. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Republicans today picked Rep. Steve Scalise to be their nominee for speaker of the House.
If he wins in the floor vote, here's the key staff that tech policy watchers should know.
1. BJ Koohmaraie, majority leader counsel
- Before joining Scalise's team last year, Koohmaraie held various roles on the Energy and Commerce Committee.
- That includes counsel roles on the tech-focused subcommittees before becoming chief counsel for the full panel.
- Koohmaraie previously served as an assistant attorney general in Nebraska; he attended Nebraska College of Law.
- He's worked on policies around autonomous vehicles, AI and quantum computing, successfully moving a handful of bipartisan bills.
2. Francis Brooke, policy director
- A baseball pitcher while at Northwestern, he worked for Mitch McConnell before taking a policy role with former Vice President Mike Pence.
- Brooke was a prominent staffer in the Trump White House.
- He also did a stint in 2020 as deputy director of the National Economic Council, per LegiStorm and Scalise's office.
- "Francis is seasoned. He's deep in policy expertise and has a tremendous amount of experience at a pretty senior level," said George David Banks, who worked with Brooke in the Trump White House.
Catch up fast: Where Scalise stands on tech policy
Nick Sobczyk contributed to this report.
