How a Provo boy became one of the youngest chiefs of staff in U.S. Senate history
Meet the 28-year-old politico powering the office of Utah Sen. Mike Lee
The youngest chief of staff in the U.S. Senate says he rocketed from Utah to Washington, D.C., relying on the principle, “Say yes to everything.”
But when the office of Sen. Mike Lee first offered the then-22-year-old Mark Wait a fast-track to his dream Capitol career, he said “no.”
Wait had already committed to finish the year as an intern for the chief of staff to the president of Utah Valley University, and he wouldn’t waver, not even at the request of a sitting senator.
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The senator’s office, which had welcomed Wait as an intern the summer before, followed up with Wait’s boss, who proceeded to ask the young aspiring politico, “Are you nuts?”
Wait took the message — and started packing his bags.
Mark Wait, Chief of Staff to Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, poses for a portrait in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. | Austin Rich, Office of Sen. Mike Lee
Soon after he arrived in Washington, Lee led out in promoting his freshest staffer from office assistant to scheduler, then to deputy chief. And, in 2023, Lee asked Wait to be his chief of staff at age 26.
“He had political skills and instincts that reflect a maturity one doesn’t expect out of somebody still in his 20s,” Lee said. “He could see the forest for the trees.”
Despite his youth, Wait inherited a complex task: coordinating the senator’s public persona, policy shop and Capitol Hill connections, in a position previously held by some of the biggest names in Beehive State politics.
In biweekly meetings with Senate chiefs of staff, Wait often hears that he is the youngest to ever get the job. But he doesn’t “really get caught up in that,” he says. If anything, his perceived inexperience has pushed him to outwork everyone in the room.
Soon after he arrived in Washington, Lee led out in promoting his freshest staffer from office assistant to scheduler, then to deputy chief. And, in 2023, Lee asked Wait to be his chief of staff at age 26.
“He had political skills and instincts that reflect a maturity one doesn’t expect out of somebody still in his 20s,” Lee said. “He could see the forest for the trees.”
Despite his youth, Wait inherited a complex task: coordinating the senator’s public persona, policy shop and Capitol Hill connections, in a position previously held by some of the biggest names in Beehive State politics.
In biweekly meetings with Senate chiefs of staff, Wait often hears that he is the youngest to ever get the job. But he doesn’t “really get caught up in that,” he says. If anything, his perceived inexperience has pushed him to outwork everyone in the room.
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“It’s actually a blessing in disguise,” Wait said. “It’s more motivation to learn more about an issue than anybody else.”
A busy time at Lee’s office
Wait’s appointment to run the behind-the-scenes for one of the Senate’s most outspoken conservative crusaders could have hardly come at a more notable moment for Utah’s senior senator.
As chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Lee stands at the crossroads between one of Utah’s most pressing needs as a rapidly growing state and the Trump administration’s priority to supercharge U.S. energy production.
Mark Wait, second from left, chief of staff to Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, meets with Lee and other members of his staff in his office in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. | Jordan Roberts, Office of Sen. Mike Lee
Lee’s work on these issues drew a wave of attention when he stole headlines across the country last month for his proposal to sell a small percentage of public lands for development, which he ultimately pulled after he received pushback.
This comes at a time when Lee’s lawyerly temperament has been accompanied by an increasingly prolific, and occasionally insensitive, “BasedMikeLee” social media account on X where he posts dozens of times a day for his more than 600,000 followers.
