Trump expected to name Marc Short legislative affairs director

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name Marc Short, a top adviser to Vice President-elect Mike Pence, to lead the legislative affairs shop for the White House, a key position helping guide Trump’s agenda through the Republican Congress, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Rick Dearborn, the executive director of the presidential transition and a longtime chief of staff to Sen. Jeff Sessions, was originally in line for the legislative affairs post, but he is now expected to be named a deputy chief of staff, according to multiple transition officials. Dearborn’s expected title is deputy chief of staff for legislative, intergovernmental and cabinet affairs, according to a person familiar with the matter, and Short would be part of Dearborn’s team.

Short, who previously worked as a top operative running the expansive political network of billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, is a longtime adviser to Pence and has previously worked in both the House and Senate.

Short’s new perch will give Pence’s inner circle a critical foothold inside the White House, as Pence himself is expected to play a major role in shepherding Trump’s agenda through Capitol Hill.

The Trump transition team and Short did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Short’s job was first reported on Twitter by Axios’ Mike Allen.

Short is a longtime Republican operative who served as chief of staff to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Pence, when he was in the House. During the 2016 campaign, Short worked as an adviser for Sen. Marco Rubio during the primaries and later as a senior adviser for Pence during the general election.

Since the election, Short has attended some meetings with Pence on Capitol Hill.

