Emily W. Murphy

Emily Webster Murphy is an American attorney and government official who currently serves as the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA). In her role as GSA Administrator, Murphy manages a workforce that includes 11,600 full-time employees, 371 million square feet of property, and annual contracts totaling $54 billion.[1]

Emily Murphy
Administrator of General Services
Assumed office
December 12, 2017
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyAllison F. Brigati
Preceded byTimothy O. Horne (Acting)
Personal details
BornSt. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationSmith College (BA)
University of Virginia (JD)

Early life and education

Murphy born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. She has one brother and one sister. Her father was chairman of Murphy Company Mechanical Contractors and Engineers, and her mother was an attorney. Murphy attended Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School, where she graduated a year early in 1991. She completed her Bachelor of Arts at Smith College in 1995 and then went on to earn a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2001.[2][3][4][5]

Career

After graduating from Smith College, Murphy moved to Washington, D.C., where she began her career at the Republican National Committee. She worked for the RNC from October 1995 to January 1997, where she served as Assistant to the Director of Administration. She then worked as a staff member for Jim Talent while he served as Chair of the House Committee on Small Business from January 1997 to July 1998, before leaving to pursue a law degree.[6]

Prior to becoming Administrator of the General Services Administration, Murphy was a senior advisor to the GSA's Administrator.[7] Murphy previously served as counsel at the United States House Committee on Armed Services, where she specialized in acquisition policy and reform. She has also held roles at the Small Business Administration and at the GSA, where she served as the agency's first Chief Acquisition Officer. Murphy served under three chairmen of the United States House Committee on Small Business. Her private sector experience includes five years in executive positions at a technology startup company engaged in federal contracting and three years as a government contracts attorney with two D.C. law firms.[8][9]

Trump administration

After President Donald Trump took office in January 2017, Murphy was appointed to the position of White House Liaison at the General Services Administration under acting agency administrator Timothy Horne. On September 2, 2017, Murphy was nominated by the President to serve as Administrator of GSA. The Senate confirmed Murphy's appointment by unanimous consent on December 5, 2017.[10]

Murphy has been under fire from House Democrats since she told a congressional oversight hearing in April 2018 that the decision to stop the FBI from moving its headquarters came solely from the bureau with no presidential involvement.

According to an inspector general report on Murphy's comments released in August 2018, Murphy and other GSA officials had multiple meetings with Trump about the FBI headquarters. Internal GSA emails disclosed by House Democrats in October 2018 revealed agency officials discussing "the President's instructions", "direction from WH" and "what was decided in the meeting with POTUS" in January 2018.[11]

Before he became president in January 2017, Trump supported moving the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters to the suburbs of Washington, said Democrats looking into the matter. They claimed after Trump was elected and disqualified from bidding to acquire the site for commercial development, he switched his position. Trump's about-face would "block potential competitors from developing the existing property on Pennsylvania Avenue across the street from the Trump Hotel", said House Democrats.[12] However, the GSA concluded that he was not in violation of the agreement after the 2016 election.[11]

On August 23, 2019, Murphy was reported to have "told investigators in February 2018 that she 'often permits' her immediate staffers to drink booze in her office after business hours on Fridays but said she was 'very careful about such approvals'", according to a report by the Inspector General of the GSA, released under a Freedom of Information Request. The report examined a 2017 episode when a former GSA manager admitted to having sex with a White House staffer on the GSA headquarters rooftop after drinking alcohol in a suite area.[13][14]

References
  1. Nicholas, Scott (December 6, 2017). "Senate Clears Emily Murphy as Next GSA Administrator". ExecutiveGov. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  2. Raasch, Chuck (September 5, 2017). "Trump taps St. Louis native to head federal agency". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  3. Raasch, Chuck (December 6, 2017). "Senate okays St. Louis native Murphy to head government's General Services Administration". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  4. Raasch, Chuck (October 18, 2017). "St. Louis native faces tough task heading Trump's federal procurement, facilities office". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  5. "Jim Murphy, Jr. Receives MCAA Honor". ConstructForSTL. March 24, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  6. "Nomination of Emily W. Murphy to be Administrator, U.S. General Services Administration". Gsa.gov. 2017-10-18. Retrieved 2017-12-09. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the General Services Administration.
  7. Raasch, Chuck (September 5, 2017). "Trump taps St. Louis native to head federal agency". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  8. "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to Key Administration Posts". The White House. September 2, 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2017. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the White House.
  9. Adams, Ramona (September 5, 2017). "Emily Webster Murphy to Receive GSA Administrator Nomination". ExecutiveGov. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  10. Mazmanian, Adam (December 5, 2017). "Senate confirms new DHS, GSA chiefs". FCW. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  11. Blumenthal, Paul (July 3, 2019). "Democratic Probe Of Trump's Role In Keeping FBI HQ Across From His Hotel Deepens". Huffington Post.
  12. "US Democrats accuse Trump of slow-walking hotel documents request". CNA. March 7, 2019.
  13. Miller, Joshua Rhett (August 23, 2019). "Government worker had sex with White House staffer on rooftop, probe finds". New York Post.
  14. MacFarlane, Scott (August 21, 2019). "Ex-GSA Official Had Sex With White House Staffer on Govt. Agency Rooftop: Investigation". NBC4 TV. Washington, D.C.
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