Chairman of Senate Finance Committee is set to oversee confirmation of many cabinet nominees and approval of president-elect’s legislative agenda
.. Mr. Hatch was one of the first senators to endorse Mr. Trump for president
.. The committee will handle several other priorities for Mr. Trump, including replacing President Barack Obama’s health-care law and overhauling the tax system.
.. Mr. Trump doesn’t have close ties with many members of Congress, so Mr. Hatch has become an important middleman between Mr. Trump and the Senate. A few weeks ago, Mr. Trump tapped Mr. Hatch’s chief of staff, Robert Porter, to assist with his transition process.
.. Mr. Hatch has also forged a close relationship beginning this summer with Reince Priebus, who has been chairman of the Republican National Committee and is Mr. Trump’s incoming chief of staff. Mr. Hatch donated a total of $75,000 from his political-action committee to the RNC and Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign, one of the few senators to do so.
.. Mr. Hatch endorsed Mr. Trump in May, when the nomination was all but sewn up. Still, he was among the first senators to do so.
.. When Mr. Trump suggested a federal judge’s Mexican heritage should disqualify him from overseeing a case involving Trump University, the now defunct real-estate school, Mr. Hatch told the Los Angeles Times: “Be nice to him. He’s a poor first-time candidate.”
.. At the summer’s Republican convention, Mr. Hatch sat in the Trump family’s box on occasion
.. In October, after the release of a tape of Mr. Trump making lewd comments about groping women, Mr. Hatch was steadfast in his support, though he called Mr. Trump’s comments “offensive and disgusting.”
.. Last month, the two had several conversations about potential nominees for secretary of state, including former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.