Derek S. Lyons is an American attorney and former

White House Staff Secretary The Staff Secretary ("Staff Sec") is a position in the White House Office responsible for managing paper flow to the President and circulating documents among senior staff for comment. It has been referred to as "the nerve center of the White H ...

and

Counselor to the President Counselor or counsellor may refer to: A professional In diplomacy and government * Counsellor of State, senior member of the British royal family to whom the Monarch can delegate some functions in case of unavailability * Counselor (dipl ...

in the administration of former

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

Education

Lyons was a student of

Strake Jesuit College Preparatory Strake Jesuit College Preparatory (properly referred to as Strake Jesuit or Jesuit but often informally called Strake by students and alumni) is a Jesuit, college-preparatory school for Single-sex education, boys, grades 9–12, in the Chinatown, ...

, from which he graduated in 2000. He went to

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

, where he earned a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts in 2004. In June 2007, Lyons was a student of

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

and worked as a Summer Associate at

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1890, the firm includes approximately 1,400 attorneys and 1,000 staff located in 20 offices around the world, including North ...

. Lyons graduated with a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 2008.

Career

In 2007 Lyons was admitted to the

State Bar of Texas The State Bar of Texas (the Texas Bar) is an agency of the judiciary under the administrative control of the Texas Supreme Court. It is responsible for assisting the Texas Supreme Court in overseeing all attorneys licensed to practice law in Te ...

and the Bars of

the District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...

and

Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the U.S. federal court ...

in 2010. He started his professional career as a law clerk to

Brett Kavanaugh Brett Michael Kavanaugh ( ; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since Oc ...

, a former judge serving on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and current

Associate Justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some state ...

of the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

and a former White House Staff Secretary. After his clerkship, he worked for

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

Jeb Hensarling Thomas Jeb Hensarling (born May 29, 1957) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 5th congressional district from 2003 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the House Republican Conference from ...

as a legislative assistant. He then moved to the private sector, working as a senior litigation assistant for the law firm

. His practice was mainly related to federal regulatory policy. In May 2014, he went back to

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

, becoming

General Counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

in the office of

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Rob Portman Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Ohio since 2011. A member of the Republican Party ...

. In this role, he accompanied Senator Portman to meetings of the Subcommittee on Investigations for the

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee The United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is the chief oversight committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over matters related to the Department of Homeland Security and other homeland s ...

. Lyons worked for the

Jeb Bush 2016 presidential campaign The 2016 presidential campaign of Jeb Bush, the List of governors of Florida, 43rd Governor of Florida, was formally launched on June 15, 2015, coming six months after announcing the formal exploration of a candidacy for the 2016 Republican Party ...

. In February 2016, he joined the law firm Boyden Gray & Associates. From January 2017 to February 2018, Lyons worked at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Staff Secretary. After the sudden departure of

Rob Porter Robert Roger Porter (born October 25, 1977) is an American lawyer and former political aide who served as White House Staff Secretary for President Donald Trump from January 20, 2017, until February 7, 2018. He was previously Chief of Staff fo ...

in February 2018, Lyons was promoted to acting White House Staff Secretary. In June he was formally appointed to the role on a permanent basis. Lyons oversaw, together with the White House Chief of Staff, the flow of information to the President. In May 2020, Lyons was slated to serve as the Director of the

United States Domestic Policy Council The Domestic Policy Council (DPC) is the principal forum used by the president of the United States for the consideration of domestic policy matters and senior policymaking, Cabinet, and White House officials. The Council is part of the Office o ...

, but Lyons' appointment was derailed after influential " America First" conservatives voiced opposition due to his previous position with Jeb Bush's 2016 presidential bid and his consideration was withdrawn. Instead, he was promoted to the position of

, alongside

Hope Hicks Hope Charlotte Hicks (born October 21, 1988) is an American public relations executive and political advisor who served in President Donald Trump’s administration from 2017 to 2018 and 2020 to 2021. She served as White House Director of Strate ...

and

Kellyanne Conway Kellyanne Elizabeth Conway ( née Fitzpatrick; born January 20, 1967) is an American political consultant and pollster, who served as Senior Counselor to the President in the administration of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2020. She was previousl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Derek Assistants to the President of the United States Duke University alumni Harvard Law School alumni Living people People associated with Gibson Dunn Strake Jesuit College Preparatory alumni Texas Republicans Trump administration personnel United States congressional aides United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit White House Staff Secretaries Year of birth missing (living people)