Thomas Edward Perez (born October 7, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who served as the senior advisor to the president of the United States and the director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs from 2023 to 2025.

Thomas Edward Perez was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, to parents Grace (née Altagracia Brache Bernard) and Dr. Rafael Antonio de Jesús Pérez Lara, who had immigrated from the Dominican Republic.

[23] From 1995 to 1998, Perez worked as Democratic Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy's principal adviser on civil rights, criminal justice, and constitutional issues.

[24] During the final two years of the second Clinton administration, he worked as the director of the Office for Civil Rights at the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

[44] Perez's main challengers were Montgomery County State's Attorney Doug Gansler and Stuart O. Simms, a Baltimore lawyer who had served as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

[52] In January 2007, newly elected Governor Martin O'Malley selected Perez to run the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

[53] In that role, Perez led efforts to target Maryland companies who were engaging in workplace fraud, imposing new restrictions on the employee misclassification as independent contractors.

[66] During his first term as governor, O'Malley pushed proposals to expand gambling in Maryland, with Perez spearheading the legalization of slot machines in the state.

[68] Perez commissioned a report led by the DLLR[69] arguing that the legalization of slots would be necessary to preserve Maryland's horse racing and breeding industries, with new revenue helping to address the issues of public education and school construction.

[71] On March 31, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Perez to be Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice.

[73] Perez's nomination then did not move forward for several months, amid questions by Republican senators about his record on immigration matters and a controversy over the Obama Justice Department's dismissal of a voter intimidation case against the militant New Black Panther Party.

Hate Crimes Prevention Act;[79] including overseeing the first hate-crime conviction under the law, in the racially motivated murder of James Craig Anderson.

[80] Perez endorsed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in 2009, citing it one of his "top priorities",[81] and at his first testimony after being confirmed as Assistant Attorney General, he said, "That LGBT individuals not being currently protected against discrimination in the workplace is perhaps one of the most gaping holes in our nation's civil rights laws.

[83] The plaintiff, a 14-year-old high school student from Mohawk, New York, who "dyes his hair, and wears make-up and nail polish",[84] was reportedly subjected to verbal sex-based harassment and was "threatened, intimidated, and physically assaulted based on his non-masculine expression".

[88] Perez praised the school board's decision, saying that the settlement is a "comprehensive blueprint for sustainable reform that will enhance the district's policies, training and other efforts to ensure that every student is free from sex-based harassment".

[92] The Justice Department determined that a pattern existed of Mississippi authorities' failing to assess probable cause that unlawful offenses against the students had been committed, and that students were held in jail without the benefit of a hearing, a lawyer or Miranda rights;[90] with Perez claiming that "the systematic disregard for children's basic constitutional rights by agencies with a duty to protect and serve these children betrays the public trust".

[96] After homeless Native American woodcarver John T. Williams was fatally shot by the Seattle Police Department in 2010, Perez led an eight-month investigation into the use of excessive force by the SPD.

[97] After the end of the Division's investigation, along with Jenny Durkan, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Western Washington, Perez released a report citing "constitutional violations regarding the use of force that result from structural problems, as well as serious concerns about biased policing" by the SPD.

[100] An expanded investigation leading into Perez's tenure over "discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures",[101] led to a lawsuit by the Justice Department after Arpaio rejected the department's request for documents regarding the investigation; this was the first time that the federal government sued a local law enforcement agency concerning Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 since the 1970s.

[104] The report found that the MCSO mistreated and used racial slurs against Spanish-speaking inmates; Latino drivers were four to nine times more likely than non-Latino drivers to be stopped in identical non-criminal instances; 20% of stops and seizures, almost all of them involving Latinos, were legally unjustified, violating the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution; and the MCSO and sheriff's deputies engaged in retaliation against individuals who participated in demonstrations against the office's policies regarding immigration.

However, on March 12, 2013, the Department of Justice Inspector General released a report stating that Perez's testimony did not reflect the entire story, as AAG Perelli and DAAG Sam Hirsch were involved in consultations on the case.

[132] At his confirmation hearing on April 18, 2013,[133] Perez was questioned about his role in Magner v. Gallagher and the NBPP case as well as the Obama administration's plan to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour.

[142] Secretary Perez met with stakeholders during new rulemaking and then held a conference at the Center for American Progress, where he announced he was implementing the Fiduciary Rule on April 6, 2016.

[148] Perez regularly made 'house calls' or onsite trips[149] to obtain personal feedback and listen to workers who shared stories of their experiences.

On June 26, U.S. District Judge Samuel Ray Cummings issued a nationwide injunction blocking the Persuader Rule, finding it was not authorized by the Act, and that it violated the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

[155] On November 22, U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III, issued a nationwide injunction blocking the regulation, finding that the overtime pay rule was beyond the Secretary's authority under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

[165] After winning the election, Perez's immediate response was to make a motion to suspend the rules and recreate the (largely ceremonial) role of deputy chair, and to install Ellison into the office.

[168][169] Following the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses, Perez received pressure from outside groups, including presidential candidate, Tulsi Gabbard, to resign as the DNC chair.

[189] Perez participated in White House press conferences in the aftermath of the March 2024 Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Maryland.

[190] Perez owns a home in Takoma Park, Maryland, with his wife, Ann Marie Staudenmaier, an attorney with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, and their three children.