House Minority Leader Hugh McKean, R-Loveland, has hired former Trump administration official Jonathan Finer to serve as chief of staff for the Colorado House Republican caucus.

Finer, who started in the role in December, previously served as a regional representative for the federal Department of Labor under former Secretary Eugene Scalia. He was based in Denver and covered Colorado, North Dakota, Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Prior to that, he worked in the White House Office of Management and Budget – first as a confidential assistant and then in the Office of Legislative Affairs, per his LinkedIn profile.

Finer also served as an aide to former Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, and to  the U.S. Senate Budget Committee. He received bachelor’s degrees in business administration and political science from Colorado Christian University, followed by a master’s degree in economics from George Mason University.

He succeeds Jim Pfaff in the role, who stepped down last fall after Rep. Patrick Neville, R-Castle Rock, decided not to seek another term as the chamber’s GOP leader. Pfaff leveled criticism at McKean on his way out the door, saying the decision by the Loveland Republican and others within the GOP to distribute campaign cash on primary races instead of the general election amounted to a “losing strategy.”

“I decided I would not use my skills and expertise to support losing strategies,” Pfaff said in a November statement.