Orrin Hatch

Orrin Hatch
Official portrait, 2005
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
In office
January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2019
Preceded byPatrick Leahy
Succeeded byChuck Grassley
United States Senator
from Utah
In office
January 3, 1977 – January 3, 2019
Preceded byFrank Moss
Succeeded byMitt Romney
Senate positions
Chair of the Senate Finance Committee
In office
January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2019
Preceded byRon Wyden
Succeeded byChuck Grassley
Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee
In office
January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2015
Preceded byChuck Grassley
Succeeded byRon Wyden
Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee
In office
January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2005
Preceded byPatrick Leahy
Succeeded byArlen Specter
In office
January 20, 2001 – June 3, 2001
Preceded byPatrick Leahy
Succeeded byPatrick Leahy
In office
January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2001
Preceded byJoe Biden
Succeeded byPatrick Leahy
Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee
In office
June 3, 2001 – January 3, 2003
Preceded byPatrick Leahy
Succeeded byPatrick Leahy
In office
January 3, 2001 – January 20, 2001
Preceded byPatrick Leahy
Succeeded byPatrick Leahy
In office
January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995
Preceded byStrom Thurmond
Succeeded byJoe Biden
Chair of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee
In office
January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1987
Preceded byPete Williams
Succeeded byTed Kennedy
Ranking Member of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee
In office
January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1993
Preceded byTed Kennedy
Succeeded byNancy Kassebaum
Personal details
BornOrrin Grant Hatch
(1934-03-22)March 22, 1934
DiedApril 23, 2022(2022-04-23) (aged 88)
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
PartyRepublican
Spouse
Elaine Hansen
​
(m. 1957)​
Children6
EducationBrigham Young University (BA)
University of Pittsburgh (JD)
Awards
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2018)
Canterbury Medal (2020)
Signature

Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senator in history, overtaking Ted Stevens, until Chuck Grassley surpassed him in 2023.

Hatch chaired the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions from 1981 to 1987. He served as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 2001 and from 2003 to 2005. On January 3, 2015, after the 114th United States Congress was sworn in, he became president pro tempore of the Senate. He was chair of the Senate Finance Committee from 2015 to 2019, and led efforts to pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.