back to 2009 Senior Fellows

Gordon Lederman
Counsel
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
E-mail: gordonlederman1@aol.com
Phone: (202) 494-8728

Areas of Interest
1) intelligence reform
2) counterterrorism
3) interagency integration across all instruments of national power

Biography
Gordon is currently Majority Staff Counsel on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. He is Former Director of Legal Affairs for the Project on National Security Reform in Washington, DC. The Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit initiative funded by Congress and the Executive Branch to recommend reorganization of the U.S. Government to enable it to meet 21st Century national security threats. Gordon supervised a team of four full-time attorneys.

He graduated magna cum laude from both Harvard College (1993) and Harvard Law School (1997) and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He then clerked for Judge Robert Cowen of the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

In 1999, Gordon published a book on the Defense Department’s organizational politics entitled Reorganizing the Joint Chiefs of Staff: The Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 (Greenwood, foreword by former Senator Sam Nunn). In May 2001, he co-authored a report published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on counterterrorism strategy. He has authored and co-authored several articles, including on intelligence reform, bioterrorism, and information warfare. He is working on a new book concerning intelligence reform, to be published in 2010.

From 1998-2003, Gordon was a member of the National Security Law and Policy Practice Group of Arnold & Porter in Washington, DC. He advised clients on the nexus of national security, law enforcement, technology, civil liberties, and privacy.

Gordon subsequently spent five years involved first-hand in the formulation, legislative enactment, and implementation of the 9/11 Commission’s intelligence reform recommendations.
In 2003, Gordon joined the 9/11 Commission staff and was responsible for assessing the Intelligence Community’s senior-level management structure. His work included developing potential recommendations for intelligence reform modeled on the Goldwater-Nichols Act as well as examining Congressional oversight.

After the 9/11 Commission released its report in July 2004, Gordon moved to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee as a Special Bipartisan Staffer. He served as a leading Senate staff drafter and negotiator of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which enacted the Commission’s recommendations to create the Director of National Intelligence and National Counterterrorism Center. He also worked on the Senate’s investigation of governmental preparedness for and response to Hurricane Katrina.

In February 2006, Gordon joined the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center to assist the Executive Branch in implementing the legislation. His work included the Center’s organizational strategy and internal allocation of roles and responsibilities. He left the Center in August 2007 and joined the International Arbitration Practice Group of White & Case. He joined the Project on National Security Reform full-time in November 2008.

Gordon is married to Lisa Fried of Montreal, Canada, and has a toddler, Mitchell. Lisa is a geriatric case manager, and they live in Silver Spring, Maryland. Gordon can be reached at glederman@pnsr.com and (202) 494-8728.