Brownstein Adds to its Deep Bench of Talent Former Secretary David Bernhardt to Provide Strategic Counsel

Adding to its team of veterans of Trump 45, which includes: Brian McGuire (assistant secretary of Legislative Affairs, Department of the Treasury), Geoff Burr (chief of staff, Department of Transportation), Emily Felder (director, Office of Legislation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services), Lauren Flynn (deputy assistant secretary, Legislative Affairs, Department of the Treasury), Brady Howell (senior advisor, Legislative Affairs, Department of the Treasury) and Preston Rutledge (assistant secretary, Department of Labor), former Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt will provide strategic counsel in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office.

“We are thrilled to have Secretary Bernhardt teaming with Brownstein,” said Rich Benenson, Brownstein’s managing partner. “Secretary Bernhardt, literally, wrote a book on driving change within the first Trump administration. Our clients value his guidance. Very few people actually possess his combination of administrative legal expertise coupled with over a decade of practical experience accomplishing the president’s priorities within various federal agencies.” 

Secretary Bernhardt has spent his entire career working to address complex legal, policy and administrative issues associated with energy development, deregulation and the conservation and utilization of natural resources. Specifically, Secretary Bernhardt has spent a large portion of his career within the Department of the Interior, which culminated in serving as its 53rd secretary under President Trump from 2019 to 2021. He is the only individual ever confirmed by the U.S. Senate to hold the three key positions of secretary, deputy secretary and solicitor of the Department of the Interior.

Secretary Bernhardt has a lengthy association with Brownstein. He first joined in 1998 and left in 2001 to initially serve as a counselor and deputy chief of staff to the secretary of the Interior Department in the George W. Bush administration. He rejoined the firm in 2009 as a shareholder, became chair of the firm’s Natural Resources Department before serving in the 2016 Trump transition and then departing for the Trump administration. Likewise, following his service in Trump 45, he rejoined Brownstein as senior counsel in 2021, but he departed in the fall of 2024 to focus the majority of his time on nonprofit activities.

“I look forward to working with the rest of the team to provide strategic counsel during this important moment,” said Secretary Bernhardt. “I thoroughly enjoy collaborating with Norm and his team. It is amazing how the firm’s D.C. office has grown since I first joined as an associate in 1998.”