Patrick Witt is an American entrepreneur and former government official who has served in the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. He is also a former collegiate football quarterback for Yale University who was a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship and briefly signed with the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). ^{[1] [2]}

Education

Witt attended Yale University, where he was a student-athlete and the starting quarterback for the football team for three years. During his collegiate athletic career, he broke multiple school records and received All-Ivy recognition for both his athletic and academic performance. He was awarded Yale's Francis Gordon Brown Prize, an honor previously given to former U.S. President George H.W. Bush. Witt was also a finalist for several prestigious postgraduate awards, including the Campbell Trophy, the Mitchell Scholarship, and the Rhodes Scholarship. Following his undergraduate studies, he attended Harvard Law School. While at Harvard, he was an active member of the Federalist Society and took part in the Alliance Defending Freedom's Blackstone Legal Fellowship program. ^{[2] [3]}

Career

After graduating from Yale, Witt pursued a professional football career. He was invited to the NFL Combine and later signed as a free agent with the New Orleans Saints. Following his time in the NFL, he worked as an engagement manager for the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where he advised clients in the aviation, aerospace, and defense sectors. Witt later entered public service, serving as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management during the first Trump administration, where he was involved in workforce management for federal employees and retirees.

After his initial government service, Witt pursued entrepreneurial ventures and worked as a managing director for a private equity firm. He later returned to government and served in the Department of Defense, where he performed the duties of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and Deputy Chief Technology Officer. In this capacity, he assisted in managing the research, development, and prototyping activities across the DoD, including oversight of agencies such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). His social media profile also lists roles as the Executive Director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets and the Acting Director of the DoD Office of Strategic Capital. He is also the CEO of a startup focused on independent contractors. In July 2024, Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Patrick Witt to lead the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) if he won the 2024 presidential election. ^{[1] [2] [4] [6] [7]}

Sexual Misconduct Allegation at Yale

While an undergraduate at Yale, Witt became the subject of a sexual misconduct allegation that significantly impacted his career prospects. According to an account written by Witt, an ex-girlfriend filed an "informal complaint" against him with Yale's University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct. This occurred on the same day it was publicly announced that he was a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship.

Witt stated that under the university's informal complaint process, he was not informed of the specific details of the accusation, no fact-finding investigation was conducted, and the truth of the claim was considered immaterial to the process. He was not permitted to have a lawyer present during a meeting with the committee, which was described as a form of mediation. When he requested that a formal complaint be filed so that an investigation could take place to clear his name, he was told this was not possible for him to initiate. The committee informed him that the informal complaint was not a disciplinary proceeding and would not be part of his official record.

Shortly after the complaint was filed, the Rhodes Trust received an anonymous tip about the allegation, which led Witt to withdraw his candidacy for the scholarship. A company that had offered him full-time employment upon graduation also received an anonymous tip and rescinded the offer. Months later, the New York Times published an article about the "confidential" complaint, which Witt said caused him public humiliation. He noted that the newspaper later printed a retraction, but the initial damage to his reputation was already done. Witt believes the public nature of the allegation negatively affected his NFL prospects, as he went undrafted despite being projected as a likely draft pick. He has stated that he was innocent of the accusation and that the incident has been a persistent issue he has had to address with subsequent employers, in personal relationships, and during his admissions interview for Harvard Law School. ^[5]

Interviews

Patrick Witt on Law, Politics, and Governance #01

On December 6, 2021, Patrick Witt was interviewed on the Moment of Truth podcast, hosted by Sarab Sharma and Nick Solheim on the YouTube channel American Moment. During the discussion, Witt outlined his academic, professional, and political background, including his time as a quarterback at Yale, his studies at Harvard Law School, work in the private sector, his role as deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under the Trump administration, and his subsequent congressional campaign in Georgia’s 10th district.

Witt described his experience with a Title IX investigation during his time at Yale, which he characterized as unfair and lacking due process. He connected this personal account to what he views as broader structural flaws within university disciplinary systems and the legal framework surrounding them. According to Witt, universities have increasingly functioned as ideological institutions, and he criticized the use of disciplinary processes for political purposes.

The conversation also covered Witt’s perspective on the federal administrative state. He argued that the bureaucracy operates with considerable independence from elected officials and presents challenges to the implementation of conservative policy objectives. Witt suggested that these institutional dynamics hinder efforts to reform government operations.

In addition, Witt addressed what he considers shortcomings within the conservative legal movement, including tendencies toward careerism and reluctance to pursue more confrontational strategies. He advocated for a legal and political approach guided by principles rather than institutional caution.

Witt further discussed his involvement in post-2020 election legal efforts in Georgia. He pointed to organizational and structural limitations during this period and described a lack of full support from segments of the Republican establishment.

The interview concluded with Witt’s reflections on the role of social conservatives in broader policy debates. He argued that their influence should not be restricted to cultural issues but extended to areas such as economics and public policy more generally. ^[8]