After graduating from law school, Matheson first worked as his father's campaign manager for the
1980 Utah gubernatorial election. In 1981, he entered private practice as an
associate at the
Washington, D.C. litigation firm
Williams & Connolly. However, sources such as the
Fox News Channel and
conservative magazine
The Weekly Standard alleged that Obama hoped to influence Matheson's brother, Rep.
Jim Matheson, to vote for the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. According to
The Salt Lake Tribune, "Rep. Jim Matheson called the claim simply absurd, as did the
White House,
Senator Orrin Hatch and pretty much everyone who knows the Mathesons." Hatch, an establishment conservative Republican from Utah, supported Matheson and helped shepherd the nomination through the Senate. On December 22, 2010, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination. Matheson received his judicial commission on December 27, 2010. ==References==