- Pritzker Fellows
- Former Fellows
- Shahira Knight
Shahira Knight
Former White House Director of Legislative Affairs & Deputy Director of Economic Policy
Shahira Knight is the Deputy Managing Principal in the Policy & Government Relations (PGR) group of Deloitte LLP. She joined Deloitte in June 2019.
Shahira has more than 20 years of experience in government, public policy and public affairs. Most recently, she was Assistant to the President and Director of White House Legislative Affairs where she served as the top liaison between the White House and Capitol Hill and was responsible for overseeing all aspects of the White House’s legislative strategy. She also helped coordinate legislative operations with executive agencies and departments.
Prior to assuming this role in July 2018, Shahira was Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and the Deputy Director of the White House National Economic Council (NEC). In this role, she managed the NEC’s domestic policy team, which is responsible for coordinating and implementing the administration’s policy agenda on healthcare, tax, retirement policy, financial services, technology, cybersecurity, agriculture, infrastructure, energy, environment, and trade. She was previously the NEC’s Special Assistant to the President for Tax and Retirement Policy where she led the White House policy effort on tax reform, resulting in the first comprehensive tax reform law in more than 30 years.
Shahira spent 10 years in the private sector before joining the White House. She was Vice President of the Public Affairs and Policy Group at Fidelity Investments, where she represented the company before Congress and the administration during a time of significant legislative and regulatory change in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Fidelity, she was Managing Director at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), a trade association representing more than 600 securities firms, banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies, and asset managers.
Shahira served on the Ways and Means Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives for eight years before joining the private sector. During her last three years on the committee, she was the Senior Advisor to the Chairman where she served as the chairman’s top policy advisor and directed all of the committee’s legislative operations. In this role, she was responsible for developing policy proposals, negotiating legislation, managing bills through all stages of the legislative process, and advising the chairman on legislative and political strategy. Prior to assuming this position, Shahira worked on the committee’s tax staff where she developed and drafted legislation dealing with retirement, insurance, health care, and a variety of business tax issues.
Shahira also worked at the Joint Economic Committee where she wrote policy papers on tax, retirement, economic, and budget issues. Her research was cited in a wide range of publications, including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and National Public Radio.
Shahira was born in Egypt but has lived in the Washington, DC most of her life. She received her undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Virginia and her Master of Arts degree in economics from George Mason University.
Seminars
“Policymaking in Washington: From Congress to the White House”
Congress and the administration are responsible for writing laws and regulations that profoundly impact our economy, society, and the lives of millions of people. Yet the policymaking process is not well understood. Policy is often written by small groups of staffers and often influenced or shaped by a web of stakeholders, including lobbyists, special interests, constituents, think tanks, and activists. This seminar series will take you behind the scenes of the policymaking process in Washington to give you a better understanding of how policy is made and how different stakeholders influence the process. It will examine several policies and case studies – including President Obama’s reform of the health care system, President Trump’s reform of the tax code, and the policy battles that led to the 2018-19 government shutdown. By the end of the seminar, it is hoped that you will have a better understanding of the policymaking process, the different views that shape some of the country’s most impactful laws, and the diverse opinions surrounding some of the biggest policy issues we face today.
There are numerous players at the center of the policymaking process, including Members of Congress, the White House, executive agencies, and their staffs. There are also numerous players who shape the process from outside, including lobbyists, special interests, think tanks, thought leaders, activists, and political constituencies. In my 20+ year career, I have been a senior staffer on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, a lobbyist, and a senior staffer in the White House. This seminar will begin to explore the roles of different influencers, how my career path developed, and the best ways to prepare for a career in Washington.
Making policy is often compared to making sausage because it’s not pretty and you may not like what you see. Is this a fair description? This seminar will drill down into the nuts and bolts of the process. We will discuss how policies are developed, written, and advanced through Congress with a focus on the different roles played by congressional committees, party leadership, and rank-and-file Members. We will also examine what some might perceive as the “ugly” side of the policymaking process: politics, outside influences, and deal-making. Finally, we will go behind the scenes at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to discuss the policymaking process in the White House and how decisions are made.
Special Guest: Jason Fichtner, Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, former Senior Economist with the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress & former Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) - sometimes referred to as “Obamacare” - was enacted on March 23, 2010. It was the most significant reform of the nation’s healthcare system. Ten years later, politicians on both sides of the political aisle are still debating the impact of the ACA on the economy and on individuals with Democratic presidential candidates proposing further changes. This seminar will discuss how the healthcare law was passed in 2010, the economics surrounding the healthcare debate today, and arguments made by the law’s opponents and defenders.
Special Guest: Monica Popp, Founding Partner of Marshall & Popp, Strategist with 15+ Years of Policy Experience in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, Department of Health and Human Services & Federal Offices of former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL)
When President Trump took office in January 2017, he set out to repeal “Obamacare” - a promise Republicans had been making on the campaign trail for seven years. They ultimately failed but succeeded in passing the nation’s most sweeping tax reform law just 6 months later. How did it happen? Is the new tax law good or bad? Does it contribute to income inequality or alleviate it? Who benefits most – big business or the middle class? We will discuss tax reform and take a look at some of the major tax policies proposed by the Democratic presidential candidates.
Special Guest: Brendan Dunn, Partner, Akin Gump; served as chief advisor to the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republican leadership on tax, trade, financial services and retirement matters; key staff architect of the Majority Leader’s endeavors in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in December 2017
Immigration reform has been a complicated and divisive issue for decades. Policymakers on both sides of the aisle have an interest in reforming our immigration laws, but their goals and solutions often differ. Today, immigration is one of the most controversial issues our country faces, and it invokes deep passion among Republicans and Democrats. This seminar will provide an overview of the many facets of immigration policy, including legal and illegal immigration, DACA, asylum policy, border security, and interior enforcement. We will discuss the competing views on these issues and why solutions have been elusive for decades.
During my seminars and office hours, I've noticed common themes in many of the questions that are asked of me. Many of them involve the development of my ideological and political philosophy. I've also talked to many students who are passionate about their beliefs and anxious to make a difference as they enter internships and new careers. They wonder how they can best make an impact without compromising their values. In this seminar, I'll answer some of the most common questions I get (and some of the questions you may be wondering, but not asking!). I’ll talk about my political beliefs, my career path and what it was like to work in the White House. Bring your questions with you!
Most people may not know that the country’s budget is not a law. It is not even signed by the president. It is simply a blueprint to help guide Congress’s revenue and spending decisions for the year. So why is it so hard to pass a budget? We will discuss the budget process in Congress and the White House. How is a budget developed, written, and passed? We will also discuss the political and policy battles that led to the longest government shutdown in the nation’s history. Finally, we will look at the current debt/deficit situation and the impact it could have on future generations if the trajectory is not changed.
Special Guest: Paul Winfree, Director of the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation; and former Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council & Director of Budget Policy at the White House