Michael Wessel

Michael Wessel is President of The Wessel Group Inc., a public affairs consulting firm offering expertise in government, politics, and international affairs. He began the firm in May 2006 after leaving the Downey McGrath Group as Executive Vice President after 7 years of service. Michael served on the staff of House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt for more than twenty years, leaving his position as General Counsel in March 1998. In addition to his duties as General Counsel, he was Mr. Gephardt's chief policy advisor, strategist, and negotiator. He was responsible for the development, coordination, management, and implementation of the Leader's overall policy and political objectives, with specific responsibility for international trade, finance, economics, labor, and taxation. During his Capitol Hill tenure Michael served in a number of positions: He was Mr. Gephardt's principal Ways and Means aide, where he developed and advocated for numerous tax and trade policy initiatives. He participated in the enactment of every major trade policy initiative from 1978 to his departure in 1998. In the late 1980s, he was the Executive Director of the House Trade and Competitiveness Task Force, where he was responsible for the Democrats’ trade and competitiveness agenda as well as overall coordination of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. In 1999 Michael was appointed by Congress to serve as a Commissioner on the U.S. Trade Deficit Review Commission which issued its report in 2000. Immediately thereafter he was once again asked to share his knowledge and expertise on trade and international affairs through his appointment by Congress to serve as a Commissioner on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a position he was reappointed to by Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a term expiring on December 31, 2008. The Commission was created to monitor, investigate, and submit to Congress annual classified and unclassified reports on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People ’s Republic of China. He has coauthored a number of articles with Democratic Leader Gephardt and a book, An Even Better Place: America in the 21st Century (Public Affairs, 1999). Michael was elected to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in December 2005. Commissioner Wessel holds a B.A. and a J.D. from the George Washington University. He is a cleared staff advisor to the USTR’s and Department of Labor’s Labor Advisory Committee and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. President of The Wessel Group Incorporated, Mr. Wessel has served as President of The Wessel Group Incorporated, a government and political affairs consulting firm, since May 2006. Prior to founding the Wessel Group, Mr. Wessel served as Senior Vice President of the Downey McGrath Group, a government affairs consulting firm, from March 1999 to December 2005 and as Executive Vice President from January 2006 to April 2006. Mr. Wessel is an attorney with almost 30 years experience as a policy and international trade advisor in Washington, D.C. In 1977 as a staff assistant to Richard Gephardt, he advised government officials on a wide range of domestic and international issues, and in 1984 he was named legislative director. In 1989, he became the policy director and in 1991 he was named general counsel for the Congressman. Mr. Wessel also served as a key economic and trade policy advisor for Mr. Gephardt's presidential campaigns in 1987-88 and 2003-04, as well as John Kerry's campaign in 2004. He was a senior policy advisor for the Clinton/Gore Transition Office in 1992 and 1993.