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Jason Abel

Jason Abel L’03

Lecturer in Law

Jason Abel L’03 is a partner in the Washington D.C. office of Steptoe & Johnson and chairs the firm’s Campaign Finance and Political Law Practice. He has been recognized by Washingtonian as one of “Best Lawyers” for Campaign and Election Law lawyer and by Chambers USA in the campaign finance and political law arena.

He advises clients on the restrictions and responsibilities under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, Foreign Agents Registration Act, Federal Election Campaign Act, Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, Office of Government Ethics regulations, and House and Senate Ethics rules. Abel also leads policy efforts pertaining to election security and election administration.

He is the former Chief Counsel of the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, where he served under then-Chairman U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY). Prior to becoming Chief Counsel, Abel was counsel to Schumer.

As counsel to Schumer, Abel was a part of the team that investigated the firing of U.S. attorneys by the Department of Justice (DOJ), and, as Chief Counsel of the Rules Committee, was the lead Senate aide for campaign finance issues including the DISCLOSE Act, the Democratic response to the Supreme Court’s opinion in Citizens United v. FEC. Abel also led the bipartisan Senate leadership group in 2011 to streamline and reform the Senate confirmation process and led the development and passage of the bipartisan Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act.

Abel has extensive experience in voter protection and voting rights. For almost two decades, he has taken on a variety of election protection leadership roles, including managing state-wide boiler rooms. In 2008, he was the Director of State Voter Protection in Mississippi for the Democratic Coordinated Campaign.