When he was appointed Chief of Staff to Speaker Paul Ryan in 2015, Dave Hoppe became the only person to have served as Chief of Staff to both the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader. 

As Chief of Staff to Speaker Ryan, Hoppe directed the transition of Ryan’s Congressional office into a Speaker’s office.  He was part of the senior staff that developed the Better Way agenda, and was also the liaison to the Member caucuses that represent House Republicans.  He served as the link to the Obama White House and was a critical player in the negotiations that resulted in the passage of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act of 2016.

He led the Senate Majority Leader’s office during the Clinton and Bush 43 administrations. In this job he oversaw and coordinated the flow of legislation through Congress, which required working with political personalities on both sides of the aisle as well as the White House.   A signal achievement was the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1997.

While working for Congressman and then Senator Trent Lott, Hoppe directed Whip offices in both the House and Senate, where Lott developed the modern whip process still in use today.   In 1981 as the House Republican Whip, Lott reinvented the whip organization in order to secure the votes President Reagan needed to pass the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, key elements of the first Reagan administration agenda.  This modern whip structure replaced an outmoded, ineffective and largely ceremonial role with an aggressive and hard-nosed vote counting system which could be relied upon to advance the agenda.  Later, as Senate Republican Whip, Lott revamped the Whip office there, making it a critical component in the passage of welfare reform and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 during the Clinton presidency.

Other Hill positions held by Hoppe include Chief of Staff to Rep. Jack Kemp during his presidential bid.  During his 4-year tenure with Rep. Kemp, the Tax Reform Act of 1986 was passed and signed into law. He also served as Chief of Staff to Sen. Dan Coats after he was appointed to replace former Senator Dan Quayle in 1988. Early in his Hill career, Hoppe served as energy and environmental policy analyst for the Republican Study Committee.

In 2003, Hoppe left the Hill to work for the public affairs firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates, serving as President of QGA 2007-2011, when he returned briefly to the Senate to direct the Whip office for Sen. Kyl. He served as a Senior Advisor to the Bipartisan Policy Center. He holds a B.A. in Government from the University of Notre Dame, and an M.A. in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.