New top Hill aide

Trump economic adviser to become his new top Hill aide

By ANDREW RESTUCCIA and JAKE SHERMAN

Shahira Knight, a top economic adviser to President Donald Trump who played a central role in shepherding the Republicans’ tax bill through Congress, will be named the White House’s legislative affairs director, according to two people familiar with the decision.

Knight will replace Marc Short, the White House’s longtime liaison to Capitol Hill, when he steps down later this month.

The decision to tap Knight for the job comes as the White House is preparing for a fight with Democrats over the president's nominee to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, and as Trump looks ahead to November’s midterm election.

Knight, a deputy director of the National Economic Council, announced in June that she would be leaving the administration for a job at the Clearing House, a banking policy and lobbying group. But she agreed to temporarily extend her tenure in the administration in the aftermath of NEC director Larry Kudlow’s recent heart attack.

Since then, Knight has been in quiet discussions with the White House to take over for Short, and Trump has started publicizing the move internally.

During a recent meeting at the White House, Trump went off topic and told people in the room that Knight would be taking the legislative affairs director job and starting in the coming weeks, according to one person familiar with the matter.

The White House declined to comment, but a White House official confirmed Knight’s role would be announced soon. Knight did not respond to requests for comment.

Knight, a former House Ways and Means Committee staffer, was a regular presence on the Hill during the debate over the Republican plan to rewrite the federal tax code. She was one of the administration’s point people on the bill, regularly coordinating with top lawmakers.

Before joining the White House, Knight was a vice president at Fidelity Investments and the managing director of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, a trade group representing securities firms.