<BillNo> <Sponsor>
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 50
By Faison
HJR0050
000512
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A RESOLUTION to recognize and congratulate Susie Wiles, the
first woman to serve as White House chief of
staff.
WHEREAS, it is the privilege of the members of this General Assembly to acknowledge
those intrepid leaders whose trailblazing efforts are an inspiration to current and future
generations; and
WHEREAS, one such individual is Susie Wiles, who was recently tapped to serve as
White House chief of staff under President Donald Trump, her term beginning on January 20,
2025; and
WHEREAS, this appointment gives Ms. Wiles the distinction of being the first woman in
our country's nearly 250-year history to serve as the president's chief of staff; and
WHEREAS, born Susan Summerall on May 14, 1957, in New Jersey, Ms. Wiles is one
of three children born to Pat and Kathy Summerall; she graduated from The Academy of the
Holy Angels in 1975 and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of
Maryland, College Park; and
WHEREAS, her extensive career in politics began in 1979 when she was hired as an
assistant for Representative Jack Kemp; the following year, she joined Ronald Reagan's 1980
presidential campaign as a campaign scheduler; and
WHEREAS, in the 1990s, Ms. Wiles served as chief of staff to John Delaney, then-
Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, and worked for U.S. Representative Tillie Fowler; from 2004 to
2009, she continued her work in Florida, advising Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton; and
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WHEREAS, in 2010, she was credited with helping elect businessman Rick Scott in the
Florida gubernatorial election, against the odds, as Mr. Scott was considered an outsider at the
time with few connections within the Florida Republican Party; and
WHEREAS, in 2011, Ms. Wiles was hired as a campaign manager for the former
Governor of Utah Jon Huntsman, Jr.'s presidential campaign; while on the Huntsman campaign,
she and former Jacksonville Jaguars player Tony Boselli launched a Ponte Vedra Beach-based
consulting firm in Florida; and
WHEREAS, Susie Wiles concurrently ran the lobbying firm Ballard Partners in
Tallahassee, Florida, for approximately a decade, departing from the firm in September 2019;
and
WHEREAS, she began working with the Trump presidential campaign in 2016 when she
ran the campaign's operations in Florida, and in 2018, she came on board with the successful
gubernatorial campaign for Ron DeSantis, who called her "the best in the business"; and
WHEREAS, in March 2021, Susie Wiles was appointed chief executive officer of
President Trump's Save America PAC, and in the run-up to the 2022 mid-term elections and his
2024 presidential campaign announcement, she was tapped as his chief of staff; and
WHEREAS, the selection of Ms. Wiles as President-elect Trump's White House chief of
staff was announced two days after his 2024 election victory, thus setting the stage for her
historic role as the first woman to hold this position; and
WHEREAS, it is fitting that we recognize Susie Wiles on this auspicious occasion; now,
therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED
FOURTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE
CONCURRING, that we recognize and congratulate Susie Wiles on her appointment to serve
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as the next White House chief of staff, wishing her every success as she assumes this
imperative role in the next presidential administration.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that an appropriate copy of this resolution be prepared
for presentation with this final clause omitted from such copy and upon proper request made to
the appropriate clerk, the language appearing immediately following the State seal appear
without House or Senate designation.