MATT KLAPPER AT THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

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Matt Klapper, Beta Pi ’02, has assumed a powerful position in Washington, D.C., as Chief of Staff to Merrick Garland, United States Attorney General.

Matt started his political career in high school where he first met and befriended Cory Booker, then a Newark, New Jersey, City Councilman. Starting as an aide to Booker, he worked on Booker’s mayoral staff after graduation from Penn. After graduating Yale Law School, he was chief policy advisor to Mayor Booker in 2011 and later became policy director for Booker’s successful campaign to become a U.S. Senator from New Jersey.

Matt served as a senior advisor to Senator Booker in Washington and was promoted to the position of Chief of Staff to Senator Booker in 2014. He later served as senior advisor to Senator Booker’s attempt to become the Democratic candidate for U.S. President in 2020.

After Joe Biden was elected President, Biden sought out brother Klapper to join his “transition team”. His assignment was to guide Federal Appeals Court Judge Merrick Garland through the attorney general nomination process seeking Senate confirmation. The U.S. Senate confirmed Garland as the U.S. Attorney General by a 70-29 vote on March 10, 2021. On March 11, 2021, Matt Klapper became Chief of Staff to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Senator Booker had only good things to say about Matt after his appointment by A.G. Garland. “For more than 20 years, Matt worked with me in the trenches fighting to advance social, racial, and economic justice for New Jerseyans and all Americans, most recently as my Senate Chief of Staff, where he moved mountains and bridged divides, bringing people together around ideas that made our country more just and fair” and “I’m lifted knowing that he is bringing to the Justice Department the knowledge, grit and empathy our nation needs right now to fight for the most vulnerable and ensure equal justice for all. He’s the best person for the job-and I could not be prouder”.

Matt is no stranger to politics. He was a four-year President of his class at Penn and was actively engaged with Pi Kappa Alpha at all times.