Joshua Bolten, top staffer to President George W. Bush, to lead influential group during incoming Trump administration

Bolten

Business Roundtable has tapped former White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten as its next president and CEO, effective Jan. 23.

Bolten, 62, will succeed John Engler, who announced late last year he was retiring from the $35 million-revenue business group. Engler, 68, has led BRT since 2011.

The incoming president is currently managing director of Rock Creek Global Advisors, an international economic policy advisory firm. He previously worked as a high-level White House staffer for President George W. Bush, starting out as deputy chief of staff for policy and later rising to chief of staff during the administration's final three years.

Bolten, a Washington, D.C., native, is a long-time player in federal politics. He is a former general counsel to the U.S. Trade Representative, chief trade counsel to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and attorney at the U.S. State Department.

He has a law degree from Stanford University.

"Josh is the right choice at the right time to lead Business Roundtable to drive economic growth and opportunity," Jamie Dimon, chairman of BRT's executive committee, said in a statement. "His impressive experience at the highest levels of government and the private sector gives him the stature and ability to navigate complex issues and to help to bridge differences to find collaborative and common sense solutions."

BRT members include the CEOs of some of the nation's largest corporations. The leadership transition at the influential business group will come only three days after President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office.

BRT has remained on relatively friendly terms with the Obama administration despite some deep disagreements about economic policy. The group is poised to be on even friendlier terms with Trump given that Dimon, CEO of JPMorganChase, is one of the president-elect's economic advisors. In addition, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who is Trump's nominee for secretary of state, was a member of BRT's executive committee until this year.

Still, the business group could clash with Trump on two central issues. The president-elect has pledged to punish domestic businesses that move jobs overseas and renegotiate trade deals to get "better" deals for the U.S. He has also vowed to crack down on illegal immigration, which would include mass deportation of illegal immigrants and new restrictions on guest worker programs.

BRT is a proponent of free trade, says large-scale deportations would "disrupt the workforce" and the group supports increasing the number of guest worker visas.

Bolten himself actively opposed Trump during the Republican primaries and manned a #NeverTrump table during the March 12 primary election in D.C., according to an email leaked to conservative news outlets. However, he has since advised incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus about the duties of the position.

Bolten didn't mention politics in a statement accompanying BRT's announcement about his selection as the group's next president. He instead said he looked forward "to working closely with our membership, policymakers and other stakeholders to promote consensus on pro-growth policies that will benefit America and all Americans."

U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue congratulated Bolten on the appointment.

"At this critical time for the business community and our country, they couldn't have picked a better leader," Donohue said. "All of us at the Chamber look forward to working with Josh on the challenges that face the business community."