A veteran leadership staffer in the US House and Senate who has worked in communications, legislation and public policy, Andrew Kauders puts his extensive know-how to work for the Podesta Group’s international practice as well as the energy and environment sector. Andrew recently led a successful effort to eliminate the punitive effects of legislative language aimed at undermining bilateral relations between the US and an important strategic ally – just one of many wins Andrew has secured for Podesta Group clients.Before joining the Podesta Group, Andrew was senior adviser for Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Banking, Finance and Foreign Relations Committees and chairman of the Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation and Community Development. He earlier served as executive director of the House Democratic Caucus and, before that, as the communications director and senior adviser for the caucus. Andrew has been named five times to Roll Call newspaper’s “Fabulous Fifty” most influential staffers on Capitol Hill, profiled by National Journal and listed on The Hill newspaper’s list of “Top 35 Under 35” congressional staffers.During the Clinton administration, Andrew gained important experience on a wide range of policy issues. He served as spokesperson for the US Department of Agriculture, as deputy communications director for the White House Climate Change Task Force at the Council on Environmental Quality and as special assistant and deputy press secretary at the Environmental Protection Agency.Born in Switzerland and fluent in German, Andrew grew up in Europe, where he lived for 20 years. An “active” member of the Podesta Group family, Andrew once won the European-wide International School soccer championship and was a two-time European youth mixed doubles tennis champion. He has a bachelor's in international relations from Beloit College.
