Former Trump White House and Youngkin Administration Official to Focus Medicaid, Health Delivery Innovation and Economic Policy
Washington, D.C. (September 4, 2025) – BGR Group, the premier bipartisan government affairs and strategic advisory firm, announced today that James Hunter Williams, a former senior Trump White House official and health and human services official under Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, has joined the firm as a Senior Vice President. James will work within both the State and Local Advocacy and Health and Life Sciences Practices. He brings over a decade of experience in public policy development, health care innovation, economic analysis, and government leadership across federal and state levels.
BGR Group Chairman and CEO said, “We are thrilled to welcome James to the BGR team. His time serving President Trump and Governor Youngkin give him a remarkable perspective on the rapid changes taking place in the health care sector. James also has extensive experience in education and economic policy. He will work across practice groups to help our clients navigate a broad range of policy changes being implemented by the Trump administration.”
Most recently, James served as Commissioner of Social Services, where he oversaw a $2.6 billion budget and managed over 14,000 employees to administer critical human services programs, including nutrition, early child education and health coverage, across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Prior to that, he served as Chief Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Resources and Chief Transformation Officer for Behavioral Health under Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, spearheading major reforms in Medicaid, behavioral health, and public health infrastructure.
From 2019 to 2021, James served in the first Trump administration as Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy at the White House. He led key initiatives on health care affordability, drug pricing, rural telehealth access, and pandemic response. Earlier in his career, he served as an economic adviser on health and international affairs at the White House Council of Economic Advisers and as a consultant at The Lewin Group, a division of UnitedHealth Group, advising clients on strategic and economic issues in the health care sector.
James holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a Master of Public Policy from the University of Virginia Batten School, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Gordon College.
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