Tom Perez

Background

About Tom Perez

Tom Perez is a nationally recognized lawyer and leader who’s spent his entire career in public service at the federal, state & local levels. He recently served as Senior Advisor to Pres. Biden and Dir. of the WH Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. In the Obama administration, he was US Labor Secretary and Asst AG for Civil Rights at DOJ. Under his leadership, the DOJ dramatically stepped up civil rights enforcement in a wide variety of areas. He oversaw the three largest residential fair lending settlements in the history of the Fair Housing Act, dramatically expanded voting rights, and was actively involved in the DOJ’s police reform work. At DOL, Perez oversaw employees and a $45 billion budget. He settled two major union disputes involving west coast port workers and Verizon workers. Working closely with business and labor leaders, he led a “Future of Work” Initiative to create innovative solutions for building a 21st century workforce. During the Clinton administration, Perez served as a prosecutor in the Civil Rights Division, as well as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. As a DOJ Prosecutor, he was involved in a number of high profile civil rights prosecutions across the country. He also served as the Director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS. Perez also served as Special Counsel to Senator Edward Kennedy. In 2017, Perez was elected Chair of the DNC. He took over an organization in disarray, overhauled its critical infrastructure, broke fundraising records, and helped rebuild voter trust and party unity. These efforts helped enable Democrats to win key victories throughout his term, culminating with the historic 2020 Presidential election. Prior to serving in the Obama administration, he served as Secretary of Maryland’s Department of Labor. In this capacity, Perez led an agency whose mission was to enforce consumer protection, worker safety and financial regulations. In 2002, Perez became the first Latino elected to the Montgomery County Council in Maryland. He also taught at University of Maryland Law School, and served on the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid & the Uninsured and did work for the National Academies of Sciences and the Association of American Medical Colleges. He was selected for the prestigious Rodel fellowship at the Aspen Institute, which is awarded to a bipartisan group of elected officials who are considered “rising stars” in politics, & who have a track record of working effectively across the ideological spectrum. In 2017, he was named as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People.