Thomas Rivera Schatz

Thomas Rivera Schatz (born June 10, 1966), also known by his initials TRS, is a Puerto Rican politician, legal advisor, attorney, and former prosecutor, who was the fourteenth, sixteenth and is currently the eighteenth President of the Senate of Puerto Rico. He is affiliated with New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico (abbr. PNP in Spanish) and the USA's Republican Party, in particular with the Log Cabin Republicans.

His tenure as president of the senate has been marred with multiple scandals regarding ghost employees on the payroll of his office, and the conviction of several of his closest colleagues and subordinates on corruption charges, including Héctor Martínez Maldonado, José Gómez Zaldo, Juan Carlos Acosta Ramírez, Alex Emille Martínez Morales, among others.

Early life and studies Rivera Schatz was born on June 10, 1966, in the Bronx Borough of New York City. He is the son of José A. "Nía" Rivera, a past mayor of Trujillo Alto, and Christina Schatz, a German woman. While in college, he worked full-time at the City of San Juan Public Works Department. He attended the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico School of Law, where he graduated in 1992. A year later, he passed the bar exam required to practice law in Puerto Rico.

Rivera Schatz started his legal career as a legal advisor in the Senate and House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. In 1996, Governor Pedro Rosselló appointed him as a prosecutor at the Puerto Rico Department of Justice. After finishing his service as a prosecutor, he returned to private practice, handling both criminal and civil cases.

Political career Electoral Commissioner and Secretary General: 2000–2007 In 2000, Rivera Schatz was named Electoral Commissioner for the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (PNP).

Two years later, party president Pedro Rosselló named Rivera Schatz as secretary general of the PNP in addition to his current position as electoral commissioner. He served both positions simultaneously until August 1, 2007, when he decided to run for senator.

During his tenure as PNP Secretary General, Rivera Schatz orchestrated the expulsion or suspension of five sitting PNP senators who had refused to support Pedro Rosselló's bid to unseat McClintock as Senate President, calling the dissenting senators "traitors". Rivera Schatz filed the party grievances, imposed sanctions without hearings or prior notice, and barred several of them from running under the PNP banner. The senators challenged the actions in court, and in 2007 the Puerto Rico Supreme Court ruled 5-1 against Rivera Schatz and the PNP, finding that the party had violated both its own internal regulations and the Electoral Law's due process guarantees. This episode was not an isolated incident but an early and documented demonstration of the authoritarian political style that would define Rivera Schatz's career: using institutional mechanisms to silence dissent, punish disloyalty, and consolidate power — a pattern that would repeat itself, with greater reach and consequence, during his years as Senate President.

.Senator: 2008–present Rivera Schatz ran for senator at the PNP primaries where he won a slot in the ballot, receiving the second-most votes. In the 2008 general elections, Rivera Schatz was elected senator. His fellow senators then elected him to be the 14th president of Puerto Rico's Senate. As such, he selected the following persons for his team: Senator Margarita Nolasco as Senate President Pro tempore Senator Larry Seilhamer as majority leader Senator Melinda Romero as Majority Whip Roberto "Junior" Maldonado as chief administrative officer of the Senate. Senate Secretary Manuel A. Torres was nominated by Rivera Schatz and reelected to a second term, becoming the first Senate secretary to serve under two different Senate Presidents Incumbent Superintendent of the Capitol, Eliezer Velázquez, was nominated by Rivera Schatz and ratified by House Speaker Jenniffer González for a second term, a first for a superintendent.

Rivera Schatz was sworn into his post on January 12, 2009.

Thomas Rivera Schatz was reelected in 2012 and elected for the third time as a member of the Senate majority in the 2016 election with 10.33% of the "at large" votes, placing him in second place after independent senatorial candidate Dr. José Vargas Vidot and followed by Juan Dalmau of the Puerto Rico Independence Party (PIP). Rivera Schatz was elected to a second term as President of the Senate of Puerto Rico starting January 2017. He holds two records, first as the only reelected Senate President during the past 28 years and the only Senate President ever elected as such to non-consecutive terms. On November 5, 2024, he was elected President of the Senate for a third non-consecutive term.

PNP President On July 22, 2019, Rivera Schatz announced he would succeed Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló as head of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico (PNP). Rosselló announced his intention to resign due to the ongoing controversy surrounding Telegramgate.

Personal life Rivera Schatz and his father collect antique cars, and are fans of the New York Yankees. He is the father of 3 children, all born out of wedlock, one of which he has never publicly recognized and has physical disabilities. Some have questioned his moral and family values based on this conduct, as well as his alleged use of cocaine and other substance abuse.