House Speaker’s Chief of Staff Arrested
A spokesperson for House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested that chief of staff Hayden Haynes will not lose his job over the incident, given his “esteemed reputation” on Capitol Hill
Hayden Haynes, the chief of staff to House Speaker Mike Johnson, was arrested for alleged drunk driving on Tuesday, March 4, following President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress.
Johnson — who was elected speaker of the House in October 2023 — presided over Trump’s address on Tuesday, sitting just behind him alongside Vice President J.D. Vance.
Law enforcement sources told NBC News that Haynes was arrested on DUI suspicion after backing his car into a parked Capitol vehicle. He was eventually released with a citation to appear in court.
“A driver backed into a parked vehicle last night around 11:40 p.m.,” the U.S. Capitol Police confirmed to PEOPLE. “We responded and arrested them for DUI.”
“The Speaker is aware of the encounter that occurred last night involving his Chief of Staff and the Capitol Police,” Johnson spokesperson Taylor Haulsee said in a statement to NBC. “The Speaker has known and worked closely with Hayden for nearly a decade and trusted him to serve as his Chief of Staff for his entire tenure in Congress. Because of this and Hayden’s esteemed reputation among Members and staff alike, the Speaker has full faith and confidence in Hayden’s ability to lead the Speaker’s office.”
PEOPLE reached out to Johnson’s office for further comment.
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Haynes is a powerful D.C. aide who has served as Johnson’s chief of staff since 2017, long before he became the speaker. He previously worked for another Louisiana Republican, Sen. David Vitter, from 2009 to 2016.
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DUI offenses in Washington, D.C., are prosecuted by the D.C. Office of the Attorney General, Brian L. Schwalb, not the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, which presides over other crimes.
The interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, is a conservative activist and Jan. 6 conspiracy theorist whom Trump hopes to install in the office full time. Last week, Martin demoted several top prosecutors in Jan. 6 lawsuits, including the leads on the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers cases.