House Armed Services Committee GC Heads to Covington

By Alex Zank The former general counsel and deputy staff director of the House Armed Services Committee is joining Covington & Burling's public policy and government affairs practice. Roger Zakheim starts November 4. On Capitol Hill, Zakheim worked on the passage of legislation authorizing the Defense Department's $600 billion budget, and he participated in committee investigations and oversight hearings that focused on issues such as the prevention of sexual assaults in the military, defense budget cuts and the September 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi. Zakheim, who joins Covington as of counsel, said he wants to help make the firm "a leader in the areas of national security and defense." Covington partner David Fagan said Zakheim brings to the firm expertise in the defense industry and the Pentagon. "Few people in town know defense industry and important policy issues impacting the industry better than Roger," Fagan said in an interview with The National Law Journal. Fagan says he sees Zakheim "playing a key role in both adding to our existing practice expertise on matter of national security … but also growing it." Zakheim joined the Armed Forces committee in 2005. In 2008, he left the committee to serve as deputy assistant secretary of defense. Zakheim rejoined the committee a year later. In October 2011, he was chosen to serve as co-chairman of the defense working group on then-presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's national security and foreign policy advisory team. "Roger's a star," Dan Bryant, chairman of Covington's global policy and government affairs practice, said in an interview with The National Law Journal. "His knowledge of how the military is equipped and funded year after year is extraordinary. His understanding of the roles of contractors (and) understanding of the Pentagon is superb." The Armed Services Committee was created by the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 and is responsible for funding and oversight of the DOD and the U.S. armed forces as well as parts of the Department of Energy. Contact Alex Zank at azank@alm.com.

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