Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

Brian Darling is Director of Senate Relations at The Heritage Foundation. He is responsible for educating Senators and their staffs about Heritage's latest research and policy recommendations. 

Darling monitors political developments in the Senate -- as well as its relations with the House of Representatives and the White House -- to assess the likely impact on policy decisions. He frequently comments about matters before Congress to the media and is quoted by major newspapers and news Web sites. Darling also has appeared on ABC News, CBN, CNBC, CNN, Fox and MSNBC.

In 2008, Darling became a columnist for Human Events, giving the newspaper's 154,000 weekly readers the inside scoop on Congress and the ups and downs of the conservative agenda.

Before joining Heritage in 2005, Darling served as counsel to Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL). Previously, he served as general counsel to former Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH), and, in that capacity, he staffed the Senate Judiciary Committee.

While with Smith, Darling was a chief strategist for legislation that allowed commercial airline pilots to carry firearms in flight.  In January 2000, Darling accompanied Smith on a visit to the home where Cuban refugee Elian Gonzales was staying – and later crafted legislation to grant him permanent residency.

Darling co-chaired the Conservative Working Group, a weekly legislative strategy meeting of conservative staffers from both the House and Senate offices.  He also served as a counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee and as an aide to former Sens. Paul Coverdell (R-GA) and Steve Symms (R-ID).

In the for-profit arena, Darling worked for two years as a partner in a Washington lobbying firm. He received his law degree in 1996 from New England School of Law in Boston.