Congress appoints NDIA fellow Zakheim to national defense commission

ARLINGTON, VA -- Roger Zakheim, a senior fellow with the National Defense Industrial Association and counsel at Covington and Burling of Washington, is among 12 congressional appointees to the Commission on the National Defense Strategy for the United States, the House Armed Services Committee announced Thursday.

Zakheim was appointed by Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, who also named Ambassador Eric Edelman and Dr. Andrew Krepinevich Jr. to the panel.

Established by the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2017, the commission is a bipartisan panel of national security experts. As a commission member, Zakheim will review and assess national defense strategy, threats, military readiness and capabilities, and resources. The commission then will make its recommendations to the president, defense secretary, and relevant congressional committees.

Zakheim was appointed in 2016 as a senior fellow at NDIA, for which he specializes in national security policy issues. At Covington and Burling, he practices in the public policy and government affairs, Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and government contracts groups.  Zakheim supports clients on policy and regulatory issues in the aerospace, defense, and national security sectors. 

Before joining Covington and Burling, Zakheim was general counsel and deputy staff director of the House Armed Services Committee, where he managed passage of the annual NDAA. He previously served as deputy assistant secretary of defense, managing policies and programs related to the Iraq and Afghanistan coalition affairs.