John Feehery
John Feehery is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Feehery Group, a boutique strategic advocacy firm dedicated to helping its clients achieve their legislative and communications goals in Washington D.C.
Feehery is a well-known and well-respected legislative and communications strategist. He has spent 18 years in a variety of influential positions inside the beltway, both as a staffer for several high-profile members of Congress and as an advocate for a high profile trade association and prominent lobbying firm.
He has been called “indefatigable” by Norm Ornstein and “highly-regarded” by the Washington Post’s Al Kamen, and he was named to Roll Call’s Fab Fifty List for six years when he served in Congress.
Most recently, Feehery served as Executive Vice President for Global Government Relations and Global Public Relations for the Motion Picture Association of America. There, he helped chart a steady legislative and communications course for the MPAA. He managed the team that put together the inaugural “Business of Show Business” industry symposium, helped the MPAA make significant progress on legislative issues that faced the industry such as tax policy, internet piracy, net neutrality, and decency standards. He testified twice before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on behalf of the MPAA.
Previously, Feehery managed the communications operation for Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert. Feehery was the longest-serving top spokesman to a Speaker of the House in the history of the House of Representatives. In serving with Speaker Hastert, Feehery managed a successful communications team that dealt with crises big and small, developing a reputation for candor and good judgment. In addition to spokesman duties, Feehery also managed the Speaker’s speechwriting office, writing most of the speeches himself. He also handled some issues, most specifically the efforts to achieve peace in Northern Ireland, for the Speaker.
Feehery came directly to the Speaker’s office after a stint as government relations advocate for the well-known firm Barbour, Griffith and Rogers, while also serving concurrently as Vice President for Communications for Policy Impact Communications. There, Feehery worked with former RNC Chairman, and now Governor of Mississippi Haley Barbour and future RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie.
Before that stint, Feehery served from 1995 until 1998 as the Communications Director for Majority Whip Tom DeLay. As Communications Director, Feehery helped build up DeLay’s reputation as an effective vote counter, and dealt with several crises, including the coup against Newt Gingrich and the Capitol shooting. Before becoming DeLay’s communications director, he served as the Whip office’s Chief Floor Assistant, during the historically notable “Contract with America”. He advised Members of Congress on how to vote, and helped the Whip Office count votes for the first eight months of the historic 104th Congress.
Feehery started his career with House Minority Leader Robert Michel, where he served as a research analyst and speechwriter. His most notable achievement during his service in Michel’s office was his creation of the House Republican Theme Team. Under Feehery’s leadership, for the first time in history, House Republicans used one-minute speeches and Special orders in a coordinated fashion to promote their message, helping to poke holes in the Clinton Administration’s agenda and setting the state for the 1994 elections. The Theme Team still exists today.
A double graduate from Marquette University, with both a BA and MA in history, Feehery was named the Young Alumni of the Year for Marquette’s School of Arts and Sciences in 2003. Feehery serves as member of the Board of Cooperation Ireland, an organization dedicated to peace-building in the North of Ireland. He has published several articles, including “Cleaning Congress’s Clock” in the Washington Post, “Hammered”, in the Washington Post, and “Speaker from the Heartland” in Roll Call. He has been widely quoted in newspapers and magazines around the world, and has appeared on network television. He is a regular guest on Bloomberg Television’s “Inside Politics” show, and participates regularly in National Journals “Insider” poll. Feehery has run three marathons and has two holes-in-one. He married Kerry Fennelly in Killarney, Ireland in 2003, and they have one son, Jack Feehery.