Hugh Halpern
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Hugh Nathanial Halpern is an American government official serving as the director of the
United States Government Publishing Office The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO; formerly the United States Government Printing Office) is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States Federal government. The office produces and distributes information ...
. He is the 28th person to lead the agency.


Early life and education

A native of
Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania Hollidaysburg is a borough in and the county seat of Blair County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located on the Juniata River, south of Altoona and is part of the Altoona, Pennsylvania, metropolitan statistical area. In 1900, 2,998 ...
, Halpern received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from
American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...
in 1991 and 1992, respectively. He also received 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 ...
degree from George Mason University Law School in 1997.


Career


Government Publishing Office

Halpern was nominated by President
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 ...
to lead the
United States Government Publishing Office The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO; formerly the United States Government Printing Office) is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States Federal government. The office produces and distributes information ...
on October 17, 2019, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him on December 4, 2019. In his role as director, he also serves as GPO's chief executive officer. He led the agency through the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and created and implemented GPO SAFE, an approach to working in the COVID-19 era. During the pandemic, Halpern led the agency to be named "Most Valuable Employer During COVID-19 Pandemic". After a year of
remote work Remote work, also called work from home (WFH), work from anywhere, telework, remote job, mobile work, and distance work is an employment arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work, such as an office building, ware ...
by GPO employees, Halpern implemented a remote work policy that allowed eligible employees to work remotely full-time or work from somewhere outside the agency's headquarters in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
During his time as GPO director, Halpern pledged to make Congressional documents more modern, which he has advocated will benefit both Congress and the public. Also during his tenure, GPO fully embraced its new digital publishing technology, XPub, that replaced GPO's more than 30-year-old MicroComp composition system.


U.S. House of Representatives

Prior to leading GPO, Halpern gained leadership experience on Capitol Hill, where he worked for 30 years and was a customer of GPO. In his role serving as director of floor operations for the
speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U. ...
, Halpern was the highest-ranking floor staffer in the House. He served as Speaker
Paul Ryan Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member o ...
's chief advisor on all procedural matters, including managing daily operations of the House, serving as the principal liaison with the Senate for coordinating legislative strategy and supervising all events on the house floor. In 2018, he received the John W. McCormack Award of Excellence, which recognizes a lifetime of bipartisan service to the House. During his career, he served half a dozen different committees in both policy development and procedural roles. During his 11 years on the
United States House Committee on Rules The Committee on Rules, or more commonly, the Rules Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for the rules under which bills will be presented to the House of Representatives, unlike other commit ...
, Halpern served as staff director leading the management and terms of debate on the House floor. In 2001, he was named general Counsel by chairman
Mike Oxley Michael Garver Oxley (February 11, 1944 – January 1, 2016) was an American Republican politician and attorney who served as a U.S. Representative from the 4th congressional district of Ohio. Early life and career Oxley was born in Find ...
for the newly-established
United States House Committee on Financial Services The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees t ...
. During his tenure, the committee provided legislation addressing terrorist financing and money laundering, improving investor confidence in the wake of the Enron and WorldCom scandals and granting consumers important new tools to fight identity theft. During the 1990s, Halpern served on the
United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce The Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name changes and jurisdictional changes—for more tha ...
, where he handled a variety of legislative issues, including automobile safety, insurance, FTC consumer protection, and tobacco regulation. Halpern began his career in Congress as an intern for Rep.
Bud Shuster Elmer Greinert "Bud" Shuster (; born January 23, 1932) is an American politician who represented Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican from 1973 to 2001. He is best known for his ad ...
in 1987. Halpern served a number of temporary positions during his time on Capitol Hill. He was the parliamentarian to the First Select Committee on Homeland Security, which created the
United States Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the Federal government of the United States, U.S. United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the I ...
, general counsel to the
United States House Select Committee on the Voting Irregularities of August 2, 2007 The House Select Committee on the Voting Irregularities of August 2, 2007 is a defunct select committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. It was established August 3, 2007 when the House adopted resolution , introduced by House Republican lea ...
, and assistant parliamentarian to the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Republican National Conventions. Halpern has been included in ''
Roll Call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of c ...
''’s list of 50 most powerful Congressional staffers 14 times and featured in a ''
National Journal ''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes da ...
'' profile as one of "The New Power Players" on Capitol Hill.


References

{{Reflist Employees of the United States Congress 21st-century American politicians American University alumni People from Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania George Mason University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people United States Government Publishing Office