Vice President-elect Mike Pence this week named longtime aide Josh Pitcock to serve as chief of staff. The mild-mannered Pitcock is one of Pence’s longest-serving staffers, dating to the vice-president-elect’s time in the US House before eventually rising to the role of chief of staff for the then-congressman.
After Pence’s election as governor of Indiana in 2012, Pitcock remained on special detail in Washington to serve as the state’s federal lobbyist. During the presidential campaign and transition, Pence again leveraged Pitcock to serve as a senior policy advisor.
With the incoming president’s relative lack of Beltway experience, veteran Washington hands believe that Pence, as a skilled legislator, will play an increasingly pivotal role in the new administration as a liaison between sometimes-fractious congressional Republicans and the White House. That added responsibility for Pence fostered the expectation, both within and without the transition, that Pitcock would assume the top post, given his closeness to the vice-president elect and his experience in navigating the pitfalls of the Capitol Hill.
Pitcock is a graduate of DePauw University in Indiana and earned his law degree from Wake Forest University.
