Bio
Jeffrey Haffley, (1955-) played by Steven Culp, is a fictional Republican member of the United States House of Representatives representing the state of Washington. He has been Speaker of the House since 2003. He is a recurring character on the American television show The West Wing. Haffley appears to have been modeled on former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich, and his adversarial relationship with Democratic President Josiah Bartlet mirrors the dynamic between Gingrich and President Bill Clinton.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Haffley, together with Representatives Connelly and Mitchell, were dubbed the "Unholy Trinity" by Bartlet aide Joshua Lyman, and Lyman predicted (or perhaps hoped) that Mitchell, rather then Haffley, would be appointed to replace Glen Allen Walken as Speaker. Also according to Lyman, even Republicans considered Haffley to be a fascist, and Haffley harbours a deep dislike of Josh Lyman.
The Republican leadership did in fact choose Haffley to be the next Speaker. Haffley wasted no time in confronting the Bartlet Administration, with the first major battleground being the President's nominee to succeed John Hoynes as Vice President of the United States. Bartlet's personal choice was his Secretary of State, Lewis Berryhill. Berryhill, a tremendously popular personality, would have been all but guaranteed the 2006 Democratic nomination for President, and thus Haffley and the Republicans conspired to thwart his candidacy. Haffley presented Bartlet with several candidates who could be confirmed easily, but who were considered unlikely choices to succeed Bartlet. Wanting to avoid a major floor fight (and in light of the fact that even the Democratic leadership considered Berryhill to be nearly dictatorial), Bartlet eventually selected Representative Robert Russell (D-CO).
Victorious, Haffley next confronted the President over the 2004 federal budget. Bartlet drew a line in the sand on the minimum wage increase, leading to a near-total shutdown of the United States government. At first, Haffley and the Republicans were winning the war for public opinion, with Time magazine giving him the cover with the caption "The New Boss?" However, Haffley made a key public relations error by refusing to meet with Bartlet on Capitol Hill. Bartlet walked the distance to the Capitol building, then patiently waited outside Haffley's office for an appointment. After waiting several minutes for Haffley's bewildered staff to decide what to do, Bartlet picked up his entourage and left, portraying Haffley in the press as recalcitrant and unwilling to reach a compromise, shifting the court of public opinion to Bartlet's favor. The inaction was a major bungle on Haffley's part, and he was forced to negotiate a budget on Bartlet's terms instead of his last minute demands.
Following the budget confrontation, Haffley's power diminished somewhat, but he vocally opposed President Bartlet's eventually successful Israeli-Palestinian peace summit as a betrayal of Israel.
Although he did not personally seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2006, he did his best to embarrass the Democrats during the primary season, several times calling a vote on stem cell research while many Democratic congressmen were out of town and then calling the vote off when they returned. However, this backfired on the Republicans, when Representative Matthew Santos (D-TX) staged a successful maneuver to defeat the bill, giving additional publicity to the eventual Democratic nominee.
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| PREDECESSOR Glen Allen Walken |
Speaker of the House Jeff Haffley |
SUCCESSOR Mark B. Sellner |