General Counsel
Jonathan E. Meyer was confirmed by the Senate as the sixth General Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security on October 4, 2021. As General Counsel, Mr. Meyer is the chief legal officer of the Department, providing legal counsel to the Secretary and senior leaders while leading the approximately 3,500 attorneys who serve across the Department. He is also the Department’s Regulatory Policy Officer, responsible for all regulatory and rulemaking activity. Mr. Meyer previously served at DHS as Senior Counselor and Deputy General Counsel from 2011 to 2016, leading important initiatives and overseeing a number of legal divisions and chief counsels’ offices.
Prior to his return to DHS, Mr. Meyer was a partner at a law firm in Washington, DC, where he counseled clients on their interactions with federal and state government, as well as cybersecurity, high tech, homeland security and congressional oversight, among other issues
Previously, Mr. Meyer served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice, as Special Deputy General Counsel at Amtrak, and as Counsel to Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr., on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Originally from Cincinnati, Mr. Meyer spent part of his childhood in Jerusalem, Israel and speaks fluent Hebrew and French. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, a JD from Columbia University School of Law, and an MPA from Princeton University. He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland with his wife, Dr. Lauren Strauss. They have three children, Jordana, Ezra, and Naomi.