Topic summary

Orrin Hatch

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Personal detailsBornOrrin Grant Hatch
(1934-03-22)March 22, 1934
DiedApril 23, 2022(2022-04-23) (aged 88)
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
PartyRepublicanSpouse
Elaine Hansen
(m. 1957)
Children6EducationBrigham Young University (BA)
University of Pittsburgh (JD)
Awards
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2018)
Canterbury Medal (2020)Signature

Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-servingRepublican U.S. senator in history, overtaking Ted Stevens, until Chuck Grassley surpassed him in 2023.

Hatch chaired the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions from 1981 to 1987. He served as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 2001 and from 2003 to 2005. On January 3, 2015, after the 114th United States Congress was sworn in, he became president pro tempore of the Senate. He was chair of the Senate Finance Committee from 2015 to 2019, and led efforts to pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.