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Michael Needham (political advisor)
American political advisor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Michael Austin Needham (born December 22, 1981)[1] is an American political advisor who has been the 37th and current Counselor of the Department of State since 2025.
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Early life
Needham was born on December 22, 1981, in Manhattan, and grew up in New York City.[1][2] His father ran a boutique investment bank and his mother was an executive for Saks Fifth Avenue.[3] He attended the Collegiate School in New York City and then Williams College in Massachusetts, where he majored in political science, edited the school newspaper,[3] and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2004.[1] Between 2008 and 2010, he attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he graduated with a Master of Business Administration.[1]
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Career
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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]
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.”[7] 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.”[7] 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.”[8]
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,[9][10] He later left Rubio's office to join American Compass, a think tank created by Oren Cass, as chairman in July 2024.[11]
In December 2024, after Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, Needham was appointed Counselor of the United States Department of State.[12]
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Personal life
Needham married Rachel Holt, whom he had met at Stanford, in 2012.[13]
References
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