Lauren Fine

Press secretary for Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.)

The first day Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) returned to the House floor after the June 2017 congressional baseball practice shooting, it was a complete shock to members — and the Capitol Hill press corps.

The Louisiana congressman’s entire office had managed to keep the secret, something that his press secretary, Lauren Fine, recalls as one of the most meaningful moments on the job.

“Not a single reporter knew about it in advance. Not a single member,” said Fine, who was just a step behind Scalise on the floor that day, as he was met with tears and fist-bumps from colleagues. “I think it was a testament to our staff that it never got out.”

Fine was hired in Scalise’s tight-knit press shop just four months before the shooting took place, throwing her into the center of a national media frenzy at age 24.

As her boss fought for his life during multiple procedures, Fine fielded hundreds of inquiries from reporters — and the rest of Capitol Hill — about his condition. Her sole aim was to keep Scalise’s mind focused on recovery, instead of national news reports, she said.

“I wanted to do right by him, and by our team and by his family, and make sure that was something they don’t need to worry about, because they had bigger things they needed to worry about,” Fine said, recalling the protective instincts that she still feels for Scalise today.

More than 18 months later, Fine said Scalise has been adamant that the shooting should not change his duties in Congress. Indeed, Scalise and his vote-counting powers were a crucial piece of the GOP’s tax bill in December 2017, even as he was still physically recovering from his wounds.

During that high-stakes policy battle, Fine quickly got up to speed on taxes, just as she had done on health care during the Obamacare repeal attempt, which was already underway when she started in February 2017.

Fine is now a regular part of political reporters’ daily routines, relaying the House floor schedule on a daily basis, sometimes sprinkled with “The Bachelor” commentary.

As a former journ­alist herself, building relationships with the Capitol Hill press corps feels natural, she said.

Fine worked for Fox News for more than a year — as well as multiple summers while attending Washington University in St. Louis — before she began itching to get into politics.

When she decided to seek out a campaign job, the White House press secretary-turned-Fox host Dana Perino helped her hand out resumes. That turned into a job for Scott Walker’s presidential race, where she made connections that brought her to Capitol Hill.

“I didn’t take necessarily the traditional path, where you start as an intern, then as a staff assistant, then as a press assistant,” Fine said. “Working at Fox, I can see both sides.” — Sarah Ferris

Photos by M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO.

Advertisement