Tim Murtaugh joined The Heritage Foundation as a visiting fellow in March 2021. He was a contributor to The Daily Signal, Heritage’s multimedia news outlet, where he writes about current events, public policy issues, and the news media.

Murtaugh is a lifelong conservative who has spent his career advancing and promoting conservative causes, candidates, and principles. Most recently, he served as director of communications for President Donald J. Trump’s re-election campaign. He spent the prior two years in a similar post for U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. 

He is the founder and principal of the consulting firm Line Drive Public Affairs LLC. 

For more than two decades, Murtaugh worked in state and national politics, including in senior roles at the Republican National Committee, Republican Governors Association, and numerous political campaigns. 

He served as director of communications for Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., and as director of communications for the Republican Party of Virginia during former Gov. Bob McDonnell’s successful race for governor in 2009. 

Murtaugh was director of communications and public affairs for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. in President George W. Bush’s administration. He also managed the successful 2006 re-election campaign for Rep. Thelma Drake, R-Va. He filled senior roles in the office of Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore and on Kilgore’s 2005 campaign for governor. He began his career in politics as press secretary on the victorious 2000 campaign of former Virginia Sen. George Allen. 

Prior to entering politics, he worked in radio news and was the capitol bureau chief in Richmond, Virginia, for WVIR-TV (NBC) in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Murtaugh is a graduate of Temple University, lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife and two young sons, and is an avid fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Pirates, and the rock band Rush.