Whether you agree with his politics or not, you can’t deny Representative Brian Jack’s rise to power. And he started in Peachtree City, raised in Kedron Village. He even served internships with Peachtree City Hall before getting involved in national politics, via Ben Carson’s campaign, followed up by a long nine-year term of working for President Trump, including as White House Political Director.
Just how well connected is Brian Jack? Besides serving in Trump’s White House for all four years, for the last six year’s he’s been President Trump’s principal liaison to Congress. For a relatively young person, 36-year-old Jack has achieved high status, especially with his most recent election to serve in Congress as the representative of Georgia’s 3rd District.
When he arrived in Washington DC as a Freshman Representative to Congress for orientation, he was not really “new.” That’s why his freshman class of representatives gave him the one of the highest authorities they grant as Steering Committee Representative, even though only five of the freshmen were younger than Jack.
Rep. Jack explained, “The steering committee representative is often regarded as the most coveted slots because you control the committee assignments for all your fellow freshmen. So my job over the course of mid-November through this past week was to work to generate committee assignments for my fellow freshmen. And it’s an honor. It’s a role that many strive to earn.” If you remember your Civics class, nothing happens in Washington outside of a committee putting it together.
Brian placed all 33 Freshman Republicans into their committee assignments. Does that mean he took the best assignments for himself? No. “By tradition, the steering committee representative sacrifices their own ambition to help benefit that of the freshmen.
“I was able to generate the best committee assignments freshmen have received in the last 28 years. There are four committees that are perceived to be the most prestigious: the Appropriations Committee, the Energy and Commerce Committee, the Financial Services Committee, and the Ways and Means Committee, and I was able to appoint nine freshmen, nine of the 33 freshmen to across those four committees. That’s the highest share of freshmen since the 1990s to earn placement on those coveted committees. So I’m very proud of that and certainly generated a lot of goodwill from my colleagues,” said Rep. Jack.
Jack placed himself on the Small Business Committee and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He said he expects to be appointed by the Speaker of the House to another committee.
Rep. Jack has a firm power center. Besides being extremely well networked with his fellow freshman class, Brian Jack knows every other Republican member of Congress. He believes it will only help him in serving the people of the third district.
“In addition to supporting and helping achieve the goals of my freshman colleagues this time, I also have worked incredibly closely with every Republican member of Congress over the last six years, helping them achieve their goals. So my hope and aim is to leverage those relationships to support our district. And though I may not serve on this committee or that committee, I certainly have a relationship with every Republican member of Congress on each committee, which I think is rare for a freshman and perhaps would generate incredible support for our district through the rarity of those relationships,” he said.
He continued, “To be a successful legislator requires good relationships and trust and confidence from your colleagues because it takes 218 votes to pass a bill, and that’s 217 people you need to convince to support your legislation. So it is a very relationship oriented business, and I’m certainly excited about the relationships I’ve developed thus far.”
Where is Brian Jack’s 3rd District? It covers about ¾ of Fayette County, including all of Peachtree City, most of Fayetteville and all the southern small towns like Brooks. The third district also covers all of Coweta, and 13 other Georgia counties.
Representative Brian Jack got clear support in his district with about 2/3 of the vote. In Coweta his support was even higher with 68.61% of the vote. In Fayette, less so, but still a clear win with 57% of the vote.
In order to get his win, Congressman Jack spent $1.94 million from the primaries to his primary run-off to the general election. More than of his winning percentages, Jack is proud that he ran a positive campaign, “Not one penny was ever spent on negative advertising. Likewise, at no point did I ever attack any one of my opponents.”
That might be Jack’s Fayette County values shining through. His mom, who held the Bible for his swearing in, lives 5 minutes from the house Jack bought in Peachtree City. Jack graduated from Woodward Academy and Pepperdine University. He interned twice at Peachtree City Hall, once for the city planner and again for then Mayor Vanessa Fleisch. He said, “In my office at the White House, I had a miniature golf cart from Peachtree City, from the mayor on my desk that everybody remembered fondly seeing. I’m really proud of Peachtree City. I’m very proud of my home.”
More recently, Jack held his election night events at the Hilton Hotel and Conference Center in Peachtree City.
He is both local and single. He has a favorite Mexican restaurant, La Parrilla in Newnan, and a favorite hibachi restaurant, Mr. Fuji in Peachtree City. In his spare time, you can find him at the movies at NCG in Sharpsburg. Last Saturday he went to go see the new Bob Dylan biopic.
Rep. Jack ambitiously campaigned on a promise of holding town halls in every one of his covered counties over the next year. Jack wants to be accessible.
“I pledged throughout my campaign to hold 15 town halls across the 15 counties within our congressional district to help enable me to be a better representative so that those constituents who seek to influence my vote are able to communicate directly with me in a forum that’s respectful and congenial and enables us to have frank conversations. So I think hearing from constituents will enable me to be that much more of an effective representative. And likewise, a majority of the requests that a congressional office receives are helping citizens of our district.
“There’s no party registration or identification as it relates to constituent requests. Any constituent that has a need of their member of Congress, regardless of whether you voted for me or not, is going to be addressed with urgency. Because my job is to support every single constituent in this district. And I’m excited about that aspect as it relates to my votes and how I seek to legislate.”
Democrats shouldn’t get too excited. Brian Jack could not be more in the Trump camp. “There’s no secret that most of my professional life has been associated with President Trump, so I’m strongly supportive of his agenda. And likewise, I believe that the American people gave him and his America First Agenda a clear mandate in this last election. Across our district, the president won about 68% of the vote. And of course, I was proud to earn roughly the same number. So I look forward to legislating in that capacity.”
One priority that Jack has is continuing to move government agencies outside of Washington and into the areas they serve. He gave the example of the Department of the Interior moved to Colorado. “If you move departments and agencies outside of Washington DC into areas that are most affected by their policies, and the employees of those departments and agencies are connected to the areas most affected by their policies, you’ll get much better policy for all Americans.”
“But at the same time, when it comes to constituent services, there’s no party registration or identification or constituent services. If any constituent Republican, Democrat, or independent has a problem with federal government, I want to be their advocate,” said Jack.
What kind of issues can a citizen take to the federal government through Rep. Brian Jack’s office? Brian Jack listed them, “So first off, passport issues, social security benefit issues, veteran’s affairs issues, Medicaid or Medicare issues. The way I would frame it is if you are engaging with the federal government in any capacity and need assistance through that engagement, my office is responsible for helping you navigate the Byzantine Federal government. And I think every constituent Republican, Democrat, or independent can relate to how complicated things are sometimes with the federal government.”
Rep. Jack also suggest that those considering a visit to Washington DC contact his office if they want to tour the White House or Congress, or any of the other federal buildings that requires congressional support. Those interested in interning in Washington can also contact Jack’s office.
How do you get ahold of Representative Brian Jack? His federal website at Jack.house.gov has all the contact details and forms needed for requests.
With his power, his connections, his energy, it’s no surprise that Rep. Brian Jack says he’s “optimistic.” Things are on the upswing for him.
