Jason Abel

Practice Areas

Government Affairs & Public Policy | Campaign Finance & Political Law | Congressional Oversight & Investigations | Vetting & Government Ethics | Crisis Management | National Security & Cross-Border Transactions | Financial Services | Blockchain & Cryptocurrency

Career

Jason Abel leads Steptoe's Campaign Finance and Political Law practice and advises clients on a range of government affairs issues, including legislative strategy and process. Jason served as chief counsel for US Senate Committee on Rules and Administration Chairman Charles Schumer and prior to that, as counsel for Senator Schumer in his personal office. Clients benefit from Jason's valuable Capitol Hill experience, where he worked with Senate leaders on both sides of the aisle to craft and execute strategy for several successful pieces of bipartisan legislation.

Jason counsels candidates, corporations, trade associations, individuals and nonprofits on the complex intersection of law and political activity. His federal campaign finance practice includes PAC formation and compliance, and he counsels clients on Federal Election Commission rules and regulations. Jason has significant experience working on complicated questions arising under the House and Senate Ethics and Gift Rules, the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA), the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA), the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), and the various statutory provisions and rules surrounding conflict of interest and "revolving door" employment. He also advises financial services firms, government contractors and other businesses, as well as nonprofit entities on federal, state, and local pay-to-play and campaign finance matters, lobbying compliance, and gift and entertainment rules.

As counsel to Sen. Schumer, Jason was a part of the team that investigated the firing of US attorneys by the Department of Justice (DOJ), and led a successful effort to persuade the DOJ to reverse course and extend benefits to the family members of fallen firefighters and auxiliary police officers. As chief counsel of the Senate Committee on Rules & Administration, Jason led the strategic development and passage of the bipartisan Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE) Act of 2009, and the Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011. Notably, Jason 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.

Jason serves on the firm's pro bono committee and is Chair of the Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Committee of the American Bar Association's Civil Rights and Social Justice Section. He has extensive experience in voter protection and voting rights, and as a summer law clerk at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., he was part of the first "election protection" poll monitoring in 2001. Since that time, Jason has taken on numerous voter protection leadership roles, including serving as the Mississippi State Voter Protection Director for the Democratic Coordinated Committee in 2008. In addition to Mississippi, he has led boiler room legal operations in Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Jason is a lecturer in law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, where he teaches election law, and a professorial lecturer in law at George Washington University Law School, where he teaches campaign finance law and Congressional procedure.

Professional Memberships

Co-Chair, Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Committee of the Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice (2014-2019, 2021-Present)

Special Counsel, Section on Civil Rights and Social Justice, American Bar Association (2019-2021)

Member, Task Force on Elections and Voting Rights, Section on Civil Rights and Social Justice, American Bar Association

Chair, Subcommittee on Newsletter/Lobbying Law Compendium, Government Affairs Practice Committee of the Business Law Section, American Bar Association

Fellow, American Bar Foundation

Member, University of Illinois System Advocacy Committee