Lanhee Chen | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 陳仁宜 | |||||||||||||
 Official portrait, 2014 | |||||||||||||
| Member of theAmtrak Board of Directors | |||||||||||||
| Assumed office December 21, 2024 | |||||||||||||
| Appointed by | Joe Biden | ||||||||||||
| Member of theSocial Security Advisory Board | |||||||||||||
| In office September 8, 2014 – September 2018 | |||||||||||||
| Appointed by | Barack Obama | ||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||
| Born | Lanhee Joseph Chen (1978-07-04)July 4, 1978 (age 47) | ||||||||||||
| Party | Republican | ||||||||||||
| Education | Harvard University (BA,MA,JD,PhD) | ||||||||||||
| Website | Campaign website | ||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 陳仁宜 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 陈仁宜 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Lanhee Joseph Chen (/ˈlænhiːtʃɛn/;Chinese:陳仁宜;pinyin:Chén Rényí; born July 4, 1978)[1] is an Americanpolitical scientist, lawyer, and academic who has served as a member of theAmtrak Board of Advisors since December 2024. Chen is also the David and Diane Steffy Fellow in American Public Policy Studies at theHoover Institution,[2] director of domestic policy studies and a lecturer in public policy atStanford University,[3] and a lecturer atStanford Law School.[4]
Born to aTaiwanese American family, Chen earned four degrees fromHarvard University. He was the policy director for the 2012Mitt Romney presidential campaign and Romney's Chief Policy Adviser. Chen has been described as the "orchestra leader" behind the Romney 2012 campaign.[5] Romney confidanteBeth Myers described Chen as the person Romney relied on "entirely" for policy direction.[5] Chen was also a senior adviser to the 2016 presidential campaign of SenatorMarco Rubio.[6] He has twice been the senior policy adviser to theNational Republican Senatorial Committee.
Chen has served in presidential administrations of both major parties. He was nominated by PresidentBarack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to a seat on the bipartisan and independentSocial Security Advisory Board, which advises the president, Congress, and the Social Security Administrator on Social Security policies.[7] He was recommended for the post by Senate Republican LeaderMitch McConnell and served from 2014 to 2018.
Chen currently serves as chair of the board of directors of El Camino Health, a major hospital inSilicon Valley.[8] Chen was the Republican nominee for the2022 California State Controller election.[9] In September 2024, Chen was nominated by PresidentJoe Biden to a seat on the Board of Directors ofAmtrak.[10] He was confirmed by theU.S. Senate on December 21, 2024.[11]
Chen was born inFayetteville, North Carolina, to aTaiwanese American family.[12] His parents were Taiwanesebenshengren who had immigrated fromYunlin County, Taiwan, to the United States.[5] At age seven, Chen moved with his family toRowland Heights, California, where he was raised in a large Taiwanese community.[13][14] In 2023, Chen recalled that "when I was young, I visited Taiwan every summer. I spoke Taiwanese at home, and we often ate Taiwanese food at home".[15] He speaksTaiwanese Hokkien more fluently thanMandarin Chinese.[5]
Chen attendedJohn A. Rowland High School, where he founded aJunior State of America (JSA) chapter in 1992 and was the chapter's president through the 1993–1994 academic year.[16] Chen was one of the top students in California and one of the top nationally in the International Extemporaneous speaking and Lincoln-Douglas debate. He was also one of the nation's top student senators in the 1994National Speech and Debate Association John C. Stennis National Student Congress.[17]
After high school, Chen enteredHarvard University, where he graduatedmagna cum laude with aBachelor of Arts (B.A.) in government fromHarvard College in 1999 on a John Harvard Scholarship. From 2000 to 2009, he pursued graduate studies at Harvard in political science, during which time he simultaneously enrolled inHarvard Law School, where he was classmates with political commentatorSarah Isgur, and worked as ateaching fellow (2003–2005).[18] Chen received hisMaster of Arts (M.A.) inpolitical science from the university in 2004 and hisJuris Doctor (J.D.),cum laude, in 2007. In 2009, Chen earned hisPh.D. from theHarvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in political science.[5][19][20]
While at Harvard, Chen was active in multiple political and policy-oriented activities.[21] He was a roommate ofTom Cotton,[1] who later became a US Senator representingArkansas, and businessmanBom Kim.[22] In 1999, Chen served as a co-president ofHarvard Model Congress.[23] His Ph.D. dissertation, titled "Essays on Elections," examined electoral politics by analyzing judicial elections, presidential elections, and the impact ofredistricting on electoral outcomes.[23][24] His doctoral advisers included political scientistsSidney Verba andGary King.[22]
After graduating with his first degree in 1999, Chen moved toWashington, D.C., to work at alobbying firm.[5]
Chen served in 2014 and again in 2018 as a senior adviser on policy to theNational Republican Senatorial Committee. Prior to serving as Romney's chief campaign policy adviser, he joined Romney's Free and Strong America PAC in 2011 as policy director.[21] Previously, he was deputy campaign manager and policy director onCalifornia Insurance CommissionerSteve Poizner's campaign for governor, Domestic Policy Director during Romney's 2008 campaign for president, and Senior Counselor to the Deputy Secretary ofHealth and Human Services.[25] He was the healthcare adviser for theGeorge W. Bush 2004 presidential campaign.[5] He was also an Associate Attorney at the international law firm ofGibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. In 2003, Chen was the Winnie Neubauer Visiting Fellow in Health Policy Studies atThe Heritage Foundation, an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C.[26]
In 2015, Chen was named one of thePOLITICO 50, a list of the top "thinkers, doers, and visionaries transforming American politics".[27] He earned a similar honor in 2012, when he was named to a list of POLITICO's "50 Politicos to Watch." In 2012, Chen was called a "rising star" of theRepublican Party.[28]
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Chen announced his candidacy for theCalifornia State Controller in July 2021, seeking to replace termed out controllerBetty Yee.[1] He lost toMalia Cohen in the2022 California State Controller election.
In 2025, Chen opposedProposition 50, or the legislative congressional redistricting map amendment, proposed by GovernorGavin Newsom is response to congressional redistricting in Texas. Chen described the proposal as “cynical” and argued that while the Texas gerrymander had precedent stemming from a2003 Supreme Court case, Newsom’s proposal “specifically contravenes California law and the expressed will of the state’s voters“.[29]
On September 9, 2024, PresidentJoe Biden announced he wouldappoint Chen to theAmtrakBoard of Directors for a term of five years.[30] Chen testified before theUnited States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on 25 September. During his confirmation hearing, Chen said he would advocate forlong-distance routes while at Amtrak.[31] Chen also stated he would prioritize strategic planning and financial efficiency at Amtrak.[32] He was confirmed by theSenate in avoice vote on 21 December.[33]
Chen was aCNN political commentator in 2016, and is believed to be the first Asian American to hold that position. He is often on television and radio, and frequently appears on a variety of networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, CNBC, FOX Business Network, Bloomberg TV and the BBC. He has appeared as a roundtable guest on ABCThis Week,Face the Nation,Meet the Press, andFox News Sunday and is a guest on top television political programming, including MSNBC'sMorning Joe andMTP Daily, and CNN'sState of the Union andThe Lead with Jake Tapper. Chen is also a frequent guest on theHugh HewittShow, a conservative talk radio program. He was also one of the lead commentators on Bloomberg TV's 2014 election night coverage withMark Halperin andJohn Heilemann.
He periodically hosts a podcast called "Crossing Lines with Lanhee Chen."[34]
Chen holds multiple appointments at Stanford University. In addition to his roles at the Hoover Institution, School of Law, and Public Policy Program, he is also an affiliated faculty member of the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law in the Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Studies[35] and on the Faculty Steering Committee of the Haas Center for Public Service.[36] In 2017, Chen served as the William E. Simon Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy atPepperdine University.[37] From 2010 to 2011, he was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Governmental Studies at theUniversity of California, Berkeley. During his time as a graduate student, Chen taught extensively as a teaching fellow and won the Harvard University Certificate for Distinction in Teaching eight times.[38] He ran for a position on Harvard University’s Board of Overseers in May 2025.[39][40]
Chen is a Strategic Advisor with NewRoad Capital Partners, aprivate equity fund focused ongrowth equityinvesting.[41] He advises on the fund's health care investments.
Chen is a member of the board of trustees of the Junior Statesmen Foundation[42] and is on the advisory board of the Partnership for the Future of Medicare[43] and the Global Taiwan Institute.[44]
He was named the inaugural director and currently serves as a senior adviser to the Aspen Economic Strategy Group, a project of theAspen Institute co-chaired byHenry Paulson andErskine Bowles, aimed at gathering, in a non-partisan spirit, a diverse range of distinguished leaders and thinkers to address significant structural challenges in the U.S. economy.[45]
In 2015, Chen was selected as a member of theCommittee of 100, a membership organization ofChinese Americans dedicated to the spirit of excellence and achievement in America.[46][47]
Chen has argued for repeal ofPresident Obama's healthcare law. More recently, he has stated that changes to Obamacare can help reduce the deficit[48] and that the law is problematic because it distorts the healthcare marketplace.[49] He contributed to a conservative, market-based replacement for the Affordable Care Act, which was published by theAmerican Enterprise Institute in 2015.[50]
Chen advised Romney on tax policy.[51][52] Chen proposed in part aflat tax or "flatter" tax, and tax simplification.[51][53]
Chen is a proponent of the "Feldstein cap"—the proposal by Harvard'sMartin Feldstein to cap the tax reduction that each taxpayer could get from tax expenditures to 2 percent of his or heradjusted gross income.[54] Chen also has said that Romney would "make permanent" theBush tax cuts from 2001 and 2003.[55]
Chen and Romney are advocates for so-called "paycheck protection" (laws barring unions from automatically deducting fees from paychecks for political activities).[22]
Chen said that Romney would get "rid ofDodd-Frank" and replace it with regulation "that works".[53] He said that Romney's plan would instead use more limited regulation with more "reasonable" regulation, including those that governderivatives and "some kind of consumer protection".[52]
Chen criticized the Obama administration for its"pivot" to Asia, arguing that it lacked substance and was not pursued sufficiently robustly.[56] He supports an expanded U.S. military presence in East Asia and an expansion of U.S. free trade agreements with Asian countries.[56] He was a top adviser to the Romney campaign on policy, includingU.S. policy toward China,[57] and has been called "hawkish".[57] Chen viewed China as a topic that distinguished Romney in the 2012 campaign.[52]
Chen accompanied Mitt Romney on his campaign swing through Britain, Israel, and Poland in August 2012[58] and was one of the advisers who approved Romney's criticism of President Obama in the wake of the attack on the embassy inLibya on September 11, 2012, and the resulting death ofJ. Christopher Stevens.[59]
Chen has been described by theNational Journal as a "prodigy."[19] He has spent time in government, academia, and the private sector. He is a Protestant Christian.[60] Chen is married to Cynthia Fung Chen, a graduate ofStanford University andHarvard Law School who is a judge of theSanta Clara County Superior Court. The couple has two children, and live in the San Francisco Bay Area.[61]
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