A member of the Democratic Party, Echo Hawk served under U.S. President Barack Obama as the United States Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs from 2009 to 2012.

[5] After earning a degree in physical education and zoology, Echo Hawk served for two years in the United States Marine Corps.

Echo Hawk decisively defeated former state senator Ron Beitelspacher and an unknown candidate in the Democratic primary, fueling speculation that he could be the nation's first Native American governor.

Shortly after the 1994 election defeat, Echo Hawk accepted a faculty position at BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School and returned to Utah.

During his tenure, the government increased the amount of land held in trust for federally recognized Native American tribes by 158,000 acres, supporting their efforts to be self-supportive and to reconnect fragmented reservations.

[6] While leading Indian Affairs, he oversaw the formation of the Tribal Leadership Conference, which provides for an annual meeting between leaders or other representatives of the 566 federally recognized tribes, the U.S. president and all members of the Cabinet.

[11] In February 2019, Echo Hawk joined the administration of Utah governor Gary Herbert as special counsel on Native American affairs.

[12] In the LDS Church, Echo Hawk has served as president of a student stake on the BYU campus, a bishop, and high councilor.

At the time he was elected State Attorney General in Idaho, he was serving as a member of the board of trustees of LDS Social Services.

During his first year as a general authority he made multiple trips throughout the southwest US, often meeting with groups of Latter-day Saint Native Americans.