Matthew L Lira

Trump has hired himself another aide: Matt Lira, a longtime digital aide to leading Republican lawmakers and GOP causes. Lira will serve as a special assistant to the president for innovation policy and initiatives, the White House. He joins the Trump administration most recently from the office of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., where Lira helped advance an entire initiative focused on tech policy issues. It was Lira, for example, who aided McCarthy’s efforts to pass a bill that allows tech engineers to serve brief tours of duty for the federal government — a measure that Barack Obama signed into law in the final hours of his presidency. Before joining the GOP leader’s office in July 2015, Lira served as top aide to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm that helps fund and elect GOP candidates for the U.S. Senate. Lira has also served as a senior adviser to former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and he worked as a digital director for Paul Ryan while Ryan was running as a vice presidential candidate on GOP contender Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential ticket.