Dan Hanlon

Dan Hanlon is a former congressional staffer who served as chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC-1) from early in her first term until he was fired in December 2023.

What happened

Hanlon joined Mace's congressional office in 2021 as deputy chief of staff following several years in the Trump administration, according to reporting by The Daily Beast. He rose to chief of staff, the top position in her Washington operation.

On approximately December 1, 2023 — roughly two months after Mace voted to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy from the House speakership — Mace fired Hanlon, The Daily Beast reported. No official reason for his termination was made public. The same week, two other members of Mace's staff also departed.

The departures triggered extensive coverage of workplace conditions in Mace's office. By February 5, 2024, The Daily Beast reported that Mace's entire Washington D.C. staff had turned over since November 1, 2023 — nine staffers in total, eight of whom had voluntarily resigned. Those who left included the deputy chief of staff, legislative director, communications director, financial adviser, staff assistant, two legislative assistants, and military legislative assistant. Professor Casey Burgat of George Washington University, who studies congressional staffing, described the turnover rate to The Daily Beast as "ridiculously high" and "out of the ordinary," adding that he "would be shocked if you found any other Representative or senator with even close to that high of a turnover in such a short amount of time."

Multiple former staffers, speaking anonymously to The Daily Beast and The New Republic, described the office environment as "toxic" and said the congresswoman was "abusive." Among the reported conditions: an eight-minute rule requiring staffers to respond to Mace whenever she needed them, monitoring through software described as unauthorized, and calls to staff late at night. Mace's new chief of staff, Lori Khatod, responded to press inquiries with a text message characterizing the situation as a "new coach, new team," according to The Daily Beast.

An incident involving an office popcorn machine drew additional coverage: The Daily Beast reported that when Hanlon left, he took a popcorn maker with him. A former senior staffer told the outlet: "He did love that popcorn machine. To be clear, the popcorn machine did belong to him."

Mace did not respond to multiple press requests for comment about Hanlon's firing or the broader staff departures, according to the outlets that reported the story.

Primary challenge: On January 26, 2024, Hanlon filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run against Mace in the June 2024 Republican primary for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District, CBS News and The Hill reported. The Washington Post reported that former Speaker McCarthy privately encouraged Hanlon to enter the race, and Fox News reported that several former Mace staffers were informally supporting his potential candidacy. A Republican source quoted by the Washington Examiner said Hanlon "has been pleased with how well the idea has been received and how many people are looking for a Mace alternative." However, Hanlon did not file to appear on the state ballot and was not listed as a candidate in the June 11, 2024 Republican primary, which Mace won with approximately 56.8 percent of the vote against two other challengers.

Neither Hanlon nor Mace made direct public statements about the reasons for his firing, according to the reporting reviewed.

MACEOPEDIA

What happened

Sources

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