Jason Chaffetz

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Jason Chaffetz

Jason E. Chaffetz (born March 26, 1967 in Los Gatos , California ) is an American politician . From January 2009 to June 2017 he represented the third congressional constituency of the state of Utah in the United States House of Representatives .

Family, education and work

Chaffetz studied at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where he played on the football team and was noticed as a talent in dealing with the media. During this time, the then democrat Chaffetz , who came from a Jewish family with Russian ancestors, joined the Mormon religious community . In 1988 he worked for the unsuccessful presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis , whose wife had been the first wife of Chaffetz 'father; Dukakis is still friends with Chaffetz to this day. He graduated with a communications degree in 1989 and joined the Republicans in 1990 after witnessing a speech by ex-President Ronald Reagan and being carried away.

After his studies, Chaffetz worked in the private sector. He worked for Nu Skin Enterprises for a total of eleven years , including as press spokesman. In 2004, he was the campaign manager of later Utah Governor Jon Huntsman . After the successful election, Huntsman took him on to his advisory board, in which Chaffetz was not without criticism and left after a year. In 2005, Chaffetz founded the company Maxtera Utah , which offers services in the communications sector and in marketing. Since 2007 he has been the curator of Utah Valley State College .

Jason Chaffetz is married and lives in Alpine .

Political career

In 2007, Chaffetz announced his candidacy for the US House of Representatives. In the following internal party primary , he ran in the third congressional electoral district against long-time Republican mandate holder Chris Cannon - and thanks to a grass-roots campaign surprisingly won 60% of the vote. In the actual congressional election in 2008 , he won 66% of the vote against the Democrat Bennion Spencer and took up his seat in Congress on January 3, 2009. He was re-elected in all subsequent elections, including that of 2016.

He is a member of the Justice Committee and the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and three of its sub-committees. He has headed the latter committee, which is responsible for overseeing the executive branch, since 2015. He was elected to this key position - unusual for an MP with a relatively short term in office - after he had presented an ambitious program, in particular the Obama administration , which was then dominated by Democrats to drive ahead. In this role, Chaffetz was one of the loudest critics of the government's actions in the Benghazi attack . After the change of government, Chaffetz was responsible for investigating ethics allegations against President Donald Trump . He came under fire in 2017 for his role, perceived by some observers as partial.

In April 2017 it was announced that Chaffetz would not run again for the November 2018 election . After leaving Congress, he wanted to return to the private sector, but did not rule out a return to politics. He is considered a possible gubernatorial candidate in Utah in the 2020 election . Chaffetz gave up his mandate early on June 30, 2017, for which he gave private reasons in May.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert announced that a special election would be held to determine a successor; until then, the mandate should remain vacant for two to four months. Trey Gowdy was named as the successor to Chaffetz '- especially for the further investigation against President Trump - important committee chairmanship .

In the fall of 2017, Chaffetz became a visiting fellow at Harvard Kennedy School , began working for Fox News and in his own consulting firm, and started writing a book.

Positions

Chaffetz is considered conservative in his positions; for example, contrary to the liberal views of some family members, he spoke out against equality of same-sex partnerships.

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e McKay Coppins: The Prince of Oversight. In: The Atlantic , March 31, 2017 (English).
  2. ^ Noah Bierman: Conservative GOP leader has unexpected Democratic fan: Michael Dukakis. In: The Los Angeles Times , October 6, 2015.
  3. ↑ a b Kate McNeil: 3D: Chaffetz Profile. In: The Daily Herald , October 19, 2008 (English).
  4. ↑ Sarah Bufkin: Jason Chaffetz ADMITS House GOP Cut Funding For Embassy Security: 'You Have To Prioritize Things'. In: The Huffington Post , October 10, 2012.
  5. ↑ Emmarie Huetteman, Matt Flegenheimer: Jason Chaffetz Powerful House Republican, Will not Run in 2018, In: The New York Times , April 19, 2017 (English).
  6. ↑ Blair Guild: Rep. Jason Chaffetz announces that he will step down in June. In: CBS News , May 18, 2017 (English); Jake Sherman, Rachael Blade: Chaffetz to announce early departure from Congress. In: Politico , May 18, 2017 (English).
  7. ↑ Julia Ritchey: Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz To Leave Office At The End Of June. In: National Public Radio , May 18, 2017 (English); Eliza Collins: Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz to leave Congress in June, opening top investigative spot. In: USA Today , May 18, 2017 (English).
  8. ↑ Michelle L. Price: Former US Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah to Be Harvard Fellow. In: US News , August 9, 2017.
  9. ^ Lee Davidson: Congressman Jason Chaffetz, family differ on gay marriage. In: Deseret News , December 22, 2009 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Chaffetz, Jason
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Chaffetz, Jason E.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH March 26, 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Los Gatos , California