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May Mailman

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May Mailman
Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Policy Strategist
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 20, 2025
PresidentDonald Trump
Assistant to the PresidentStephen Miller
Preceded byPosition established
Personal details
Born
Sylvia May Davis

(1988-06-04) June 4, 1988 (age 36)
SpouseDavid Mailman
Children2
Education

Sylvia May Mailman (née Davis; born June 4, 1988) is an American political advisor and attorney who has served as deputy assistant to the president and senior policy strategist since 2025. Mailman served as the deputy solicitor general of Ohio from 2021 to 2023.

Mailman graduated from the University of Kansas and Harvard Law School. She clerked in the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit from 2016 to 2017. Mailman served several positions in the first Trump administration, including assistant staff secretary, associate staff secretary, and deputy policy coordinator. She began serving as the deputy solicitor general of Ohio by March 2021, but left the role two years later. Mailman was named as director of the Independent Women's Law Center in January 2021.

In January 2025, Mailman was named as deputy assistant to the president and senior policy strategist.

Early life and education

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A building behind trees
Harvard Law School, where Mailman studied (pictured in 2024)

Sylvia May Davis[1] was born on June 4,[2] 1988.[3] Davis graduated from Clay Center Community High School in 2006. She later graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor's degree and from Harvard Law School.[4]

Career

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Clerkship (2016–2017)

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Mailman clerked in the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit from 2016 to 2017.[5]

Political advisorship (2017–2021)

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By April 2017, Davis had been named as an assistant staff secretary in the White House. That month, she was honored by the National Association of Asian Pacifics in Politics and Public Affairs in its "40 Under 40" list.[6] By June 2018, Davis had been named special assistant to the president and associate staff secretary;[7] that month, she was named deputy assistant to the president and deputy policy coordinator.[8] In April 2019, The Washington Post reported that Davis had written an email to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Department of Homeland Security officials in November—amid an incoming caravan of migrants—discussing a proposal releasing migrants to sanctuary cities.[9] Davis began working in the Office of White House Counsel prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] Emails released by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in April 2022 showed that Davis sought to remove guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advising churches to hold religious services virtually in May 2020.[10]

Deputy solicitor general of Ohio (2021–2023)

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By March 2021, Davis had began serving as the deputy solicitor general of Ohio. That month, she got engaged to David Mailman, a former professional baseball player.[11] The two married in June[12] and had two children, born in 2022[13] and 2024.[14] May served as director of the Tenth Amendment Center for Ohio. She had left both roles by July 2023.[15]

Independent Women's Forum (2023–2025)

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In February 2021, Davis was named as a fellow of the Independent Women's Forum.[16] She had become the group's senior legal fellow by April 2023[17] and—after serving as vice president of Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections—was named as the director of the Independent Women's Law Center in January 2024.[18] Mailman opposed president Joe Biden's revised Title IX rules that redefined gender identity and stated that the organization would sue the administration.[19] She served as the head of RBG PAC, a super PAC that ran advertisements seeking to associate Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's stance on abortion with Donald Trump's stance.[20]

Deputy assistant to the president (2025–present)

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On January 18, 2025, Mailman was named as deputy assistant to the president and senior policy strategist.[4] According to The New York Times, she has assisted the Trump administration in forming its education policy[21] and has encouraged attorney general Pam Bondi to prosecute doctors who perform gender-affirming surgeries using a law against genital mutilation.[22]

References

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  1. ^ Shim 2019.
  2. ^ "Monday's Birthdays". Politico.
  3. ^ Sylvia May Davis in the U.S., Index to Public Records, 1994–2019.
  4. ^ a b "CCCHS Alum Named to Trump's White House Staff". KCLY.
  5. ^ a b "CCCHS Alum Recalls Time in White House, Women's Rights Career". KCLY.
  6. ^ Constante 2017.
  7. ^ Sherman, Palmeri & Lippman 2018.
  8. ^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Appointments for the Executive Office of the President". White House.
  9. ^ Bade & Miroff 2019.
  10. ^ Diamond 2022.
  11. ^ Palmeri et al. 2021.
  12. ^ Lizza et al. 2021b.
  13. ^ Daniels, Bade & Lizza 2022.
  14. ^ Daniels, Bade & Lizza 2024.
  15. ^ Tobias 2023.
  16. ^ Lizza et al. 2021a.
  17. ^ Quilantan 2023.
  18. ^ Bade, Daniels & Lizza 2024.
  19. ^ Montague & Green 2024.
  20. ^ Schleifer & Haberman 2024.
  21. ^ Bender, Blinder & Swan 2025.
  22. ^ Thrush 2025.

Works cited

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Articles

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Documents

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  • "Sylvia May Davis in the U.S., Index to Public Records, 1994–2019" (Document). Index to Public Records.
  • "President Donald J. Trump Announces Appointments for the Executive Office of the President" (Document). White House. June 6, 2018.
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