Cape Girardeau native Brock Murphy reflects on White House tenure

On Thursday, Brock Murphy sat on a balcony of the White House 30 minutes before he started his last shift as a confidential assistant at the Office of Management and Budget. He said as he was sitting there, he felt appreciation for how far he had come.

“Being at the White House has been a dream come true. It’s hard to believe four years ago I just turned 18, and I hadn’t been able to do all the internships and jobs I have done,” Murphy said. “It was a day full of appreciation, like thankfulness for the opportunities that I’ve had, for all of the people and all of the projects that we have been able to accomplish over my time there.”

Murphy’s political career started in Southeast Missouri, when in 2016, he began to work as an intern for the Donald Trump campaign with youth engagement.

“Either way, whatever party you’re a part of, it’s exciting when you get youth engagement, and that kind of shapes the future of policy in the political realm,” Murphy said.

He said he was influenced to start in politics through his experience at Saxony Lutheran High School in Jackson. During his time there, he became president of the American Quarter Horse Youth Association, and he discovered a love of politics when he lobbied with the legislative branch to speak about the organization’s priorities. He said his current events class at Saxony was “another thing that sparked [his] love of politics” as well.

Brock Murphy and President Donald Trump in an undated photo.Submitted

Murphy then went on to be an intern for U.S. Rep Jason Smith and then for the White House. He said having the two experiences helped him better understand how the legislative and executive branches work together.

After graduating from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural economics with an emphasis on policy and economics as part of the class of 2020, Murphy started his full-time job in the Office of Management and Budget at the White House.

Some of his duties have included working with others to efficiently spend tax dollar money on needed resources and to disperse those resources, some of which he said were related to the pandemic, such as for personal protective equipment. He also looked over American taxpayer spending as a whole, which included making sure the money was used the best way possible.

“I think the greatest thing that I have learned is the power of a specific policy, which is what I think is one of the greatest accomplishments of the Trump administration, is creating opportunity zones and trying to push economic development in areas that are needing it,” Murphy said.

He said the office he worked in also wanted to prioritize transparency of taxpayer spending through a website, usaspending.gov, so taxpayers can see how their money is spent. Murphy said the office “made that transparency a lot bigger” and “fine tuned” it.

“Brock Murphy always displays the finest in American and Christian values. He delivers on his promises, is great with people, and makes his colleagues better when he joins the team,” Dr. Michael Wooten, administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, said in an email. “I hope we work together again. Brock is brilliant.”

Murphy acknowledged he has seen a lot of people talk about how divided the country is right now.

“A great thing about this country is that we have a democracy, and so obviously, everyone in the Trump White House wants to see the next administration come in and be successful. And I say all of us are trying to work for the good of the country, but we just have a different way of getting to that,” he said.

“I can only speak for myself, but I thought it was disgusting and sad that people would break into the Capitol and do everything that they did,” Murphy said. “I feel like it takes away some of the glamour of all the good that we’ve done, but I’m hoping that as more things come to light, that it will reflect better on the administration, like all the great stuff that we’ve done.”

Although it’s a little early to say where he is going next, he knows it won’t be politics. Murphy said he wants to work on his entrepreneurial and business background, and he already has a few leads.

The chief of staff told the White House intern class of 2019 that Murphy was a part of to “go back outside of D.C. and learn skills that [they] can later bring back,” according to Murphy, which is the advice he is following for his future.