Current Position: Chief of Staff to Sen. Lamar Alexander (since 2005)
Boss: Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)
Why He Matters
As chief of staff for the leader of the Senate Republican Conference, Morgenstern plays a key role in developing the Republican Party’s agenda. He has been in Lamar Alexander’s office since 2005 and was a Senate staffer for four more years before that. He will help craft the message that Senate GOPers hope will lead to political resurrection.
A former Jeopardy! winner, Morgenstern is serving his second stint on the Hill. He worked on two campaigns and in the Senate directly out of college, but then went to law school at Duke University before returning to the Hill.
At a Glance
Current Position: Chief of staff to Sen. Lamar Alexander (since 2009)
Career History: Legislative director for Sen. Lamar Alexander (2005 to 2009); Legislative assistant and counsel for Sen. Lincoln Chafee (2001 to 2005); Manager for Business Development for University Markets (1999 to 2000); Litigation associate for Schmeltzer, Aptaker & Shepard (1999); Litigation associate for Rudnick & Wolfe (1997 to 1999)
Birthday: Sept. 4, 1970
Hometown: Born in Mt. Kisco, N.Y., and raised in Westport, Conn.
Alma Mater: Emory University, B.A., 1992; Duke University School of Law, J.D., 1997
Spouse: Single
Religion: Jewish
DC Office: 455 Dirksen Senate Office Building, 202-224-4944
Email N/A
Web site
Path to Power
Morgenstern was born in Mt. Kisco, N.Y., in 1970 and was raised in Westport, Conn. He graduated from Emory University in Atlanta in 1992 and immediately got involved in politics. In 1992, he served as finance director for the losing House campaign of Emory Morsberger (R-Ga.), and in 1994, he was political director for Brenda Fitzgerald’s (R-Ga.) losing House campaign. He also worked as a legislative correspondent for then-Sen. Paul Coverdell (R-Ga.) before going to Duke University School of Law.
Directly out of law school, Morgenstern joined the law firm of Rudnick & Wolfe as a litigation associate. He worked there for three years and at Schmeltzer, Aptaker & Shepard for a year before temporarily leaving law. Before getting involved in government, Morgenstern worked for a little more than a year as the manager for business development for Varsitybooks.com, a company that sells textbooks over the Internet.
Then, in 2001, Morgenstern took a job as a legislative assistant and counsel for then-Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a moderate Republican from Rhode Island who was serving his first full term after taking over for his father, who died in 1999. He spent the next four years in Chafee’s office, taking a couple of days off in 2004 to campaign in 2004 on behalf of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) in his successful bid to defeat Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.).
After the 2004 election, Morgenstern left Chafee’s office and joined Sen. Lamar Alexander’s staff (R-Tenn.) as legislative director, a senior-level job that allows Morgenstern to make recommendations on policy issues. When Tom Ingram left Alexander's office in 2009, Morgenstern took over as chief of staff.
The Issues
In 2007, Alexander was chosen by his party to lead the Republican Senate Conference. He beat out the more conservative Sen. Richard Burr (N.C.) in part because of his ability to appeal to moderates and independents. “What I want people to see coming out of the Republican conference is a steady stream of ideas based on Republican principles that can earn bipartisan support,” Alexander said.
When he took over in 2007 after Republicans lost both houses of Congress in the 2006 midterms, Alexander focused on issues that could build consensus. He put immigration reform, earmark reform and other polarizing issues on the back burner and said he was open to legislation sponsored by Democrats if it was relevant to even one Republican senator. Alexander “is most interested in Republican legislation with Democratic co-sponsorship, but also interested in Dem-sponsored bills that your boss is the lead Republican on — if it’s something your boss really cares about,” Morgenstern wrote in an e-mail to all members of the Republican Senate Conference.
The Network
Morgenstern has worked with Sen.
Lamar Alexander since 2005, and he worked closely with former chief of staff
Tom Ingram before Ingram left the office in 2009 and staff director Ryan Loskarn in Alexander’s office. He also worked for Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) for four years and volunteered on the campaign of Sen.
John Thune (R-S.D.) for a few days in 2004.
