Patrick EJ Briggs is the Chief of Staff for the Architect of the Capitol (AOC). As the Chief of Staff, he supports the staff in driving the agency's mission of preserving and maintaining the historic buildings and grounds across the Capitol campus. He works to forge strong relationships with other legislative branch agencies to help the AOC in providing quality customer service to all these stakeholders. Part of his role is working with the oversight community, both to ensure the agency is complying with the rules and regulations that help govern the AOC and to understand the intent of Congress as it relates to the AOC.

Professional Experience

Prior to joining the AOC, Briggs was with the Committee on House Administration in the oversight division. His primary focus was oversight of the AOC and the multiple projects across the campus. Briggs started at the beginning of the pandemic, where the concern was the safety of the campus and the continuation of construction projects.

In 2016, Briggs joined the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to work on the Public Assistance program after a disaster struck. In 2017, the largest disaster of the time was the hurricane damage in Puerto Rico, where Briggs was sent for almost three years. In Puerto Rico, Briggs served as the Infrastructure Director and was responsible for the island's hard infrastructure including the power grid, water supply and waste, road systems, all public buildings and the communication systems. He managed a staff of over 350 personnel and a budget of $44 billion.

Briggs is a licensed Class A contractor in the state of Virgina and has been building something for most of his life. He ran an award-winning design and renovation business for 20 years only to close it when he was deployed to Puerto Rico.

Prior to his years as an entrepreneur, Briggs served eight years at the White House where he was part of the traveling staff coordinating technical and logistical requirements to enable the Press Corp to travel with the President on all foreign and domestic trips. He executed over 30 international and 200 domestic trips.

Education

Briggs holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with concentrations in Business and Psychology from the University of Maryland.