Bios

C. Stewart Verdery, Jr. | Partner and Founder
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With more than a decade of high-level public and private sector experience, C. Stewart Verdery, Jr., delivers public policy results in a wide range of fields including homeland security and law enforcement, international trade and commerce, technology and telecommunications, and intellectual property. He formerly served as a member of the board of directors at Isonics Corporation and as Senior Immigration Advisor and a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Board for the Giuliani for President campaign. In addition, he is a sought-after public speaker on a wide range of homeland security and international commerce topics and has appeared on CNN, Fox News, and numerous media outlets. Prior to founding Monument Policy Group in 2006, he served as a principal at the government relations firm of Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, Inc., leading their homeland security and international trade practice.

Verdery’s current private sector clients include leading trade associations, Fortune 100 corporations, small companies, and non-profits. He has played a key role in congressional legislation related to cargo security, immigration, international travel, technology, and copyright and telecommunication issues. In addition, he has worked closely with a variety of executive branch departments and offices who value his expertise. Verdery’s role in counseling clients ranges from managing all aspects of government relations to providing behind-the-scenes advice concerning market conditions and policy deliberations.

From 2003 to 2005, he served as the first assistant secretary for policy and planning at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), following his unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate. At DHS’s Border and Transportation Security Directorate he led efforts to develop and implement policies related to immigration, visas, and travel facilitation; cargo security and international trade; transportation security; and law enforcement. Verdery supervised policy development at agencies such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration. He also worked extensively with foreign governments and appeared frequently as a witness in hearings before numerous congressional committees and as a public speaker on topics related to homeland security, travel facilitation, and international trade. Verdery chaired official government advisory committees related to international trade and tourism and served on the President’s Advisory Committee to Protect Americans’ Civil Liberties.

Among the major DHS policy initiatives Verdery spearheaded were: deployment of the U.S.-VISIT entry-exit program for foreign visitors, negotiation of an international data-sharing agreement with the European Union for airline passengers, development of U.S. immigration enforcement and visa policy, and representation of DHS on the Trade Policy Review Group.

Prior to his service at DHS, Verdery served as general counsel to Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.), Assistant Senate Majority Leader, from 1998 until 2002, where he played a major role on a wide range of policy issues including crime and law enforcement, commerce, judicial nominations, constitutional law, campaign finance, and telecommunications. Verdery also oversaw the creation and management of the Senate Republican High Tech Task Force.

Verdery also served as counsel to Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on the Senate Judiciary Committee and directed the committee’s crime unit. In addition, while at the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration from 1996-1998, he worked for Chairman John Warner (R-Va.), investigating the contested Louisiana Senate election.

In addition to his government service, Verdery was senior legislative counsel for Vivendi Universal Entertainment, focusing on telecommunications and intellectual property issues; an associate at the Washington office of law firm Baker & Hostetler; and a media analyst at the Media Research Center.

Verdery also serves as an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a member of the advisory board of Packethop, Inc., a member of the board of advisors for the Third Way/Center for American Progress Homeland Security Presidential Transition Initiative, and a member of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future at the Migration Policy Institute. He received his B.A. from Williams College in 1989 and his J.D. from the University of Virginia in 1993, and is class officer for his law school class.

Verdery and his wife Jenny have three children.