Today, Cassidy & Associates, a leading bipartisan, bicameral government relations firm, announced the hiring of Paul Sass as a Senior Vice President. Paul comes to Cassidy after two decades on the Hill, where he most recently served as the Republican Staff Director of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) for Sam Graves (R-MO).

“For the last 3 ½ years, since I took over as this Committee’s Republican leader, Paul has skillfully led our staff in many successful efforts to improve the quality and safety of our Nation’s infrastructure.  No one has worked with more commitment and dedication to public service than Paul.  I want to thank him for his service, his guidance, his loyalty, and his friendship over these last two decades.  I wish him and his family the very best as he moves on to the next phase of his already accomplished career,” said Ranking Member Graves.

In addition to his time on T& I, Paul’s accomplished 20-year career on Capitol Hill included service as Legislative Director and Chief of Staff for Congressman Graves. These experiences served him well as he led strategic efforts and negotiations that contributed to the passage of substantial legislation. During his tenure as Republican Staff Director, the T&I Committee passed landmark bills including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Water Resources Development Act of 2020 and 2022, Aircraft Certification Reform Act, and Coast Guard Reauthorization, among others. Looking ahead, Paul brings deep policy and political understanding to the complex issues before the Committee, such as the upcoming FAA Reauthorization bill.

Paul is a blue-chip addition to our team. His expertise with the legislative process and issue knowledge will be of great value to our clients. By adding Paul, we further strengthen our infrastructure practice and our ability to address the exciting policy challenges ahead,” said Cassidy CEO Kai Anderson.

Cassidy’s emerging Infrastructure Practice includes former Hill senior staffers from the House T&I and Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committees.

Jen Adler

Jen served as one of T&I Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio’s top advisors for twelve years—including as Communications Director for the Democrats on the Committee from 2015 to 2019. Jen gained significant experience in all issue areas under the jurisdiction of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, including surface transportation, aviation, water infrastructure and maritime transportation, rail and pipelines, and public buildings. Prior to that, she served on the Committee on Natural Resources and worked extensively on issues related to conservation, public lands, and resource development.

Charles Brittingham

Charles served as Majority Senior Water Resources Policy Advisor for the EPW Committee—where he led negotiations over the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (WRRDA), the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN) in 2016, as well as the highway reauthorization bills FAST Act and Map-21. He leads Cassidy’s work for a number of the nation’s leading ports.

Zak Baig

Zak served as the Staff Director of Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee from 2013-2015, overseeing and leading Republicans on all issue areas under EPW’s jurisdiction, including highways, environmental policy, water infrastructure, and others.  During that time, Zak helped pass, with bipartisan support, the Water Resources Act of 2014 (WRRDA), highways reauthorization called the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) and the reauthorization of the Toxic Substances Control Act. From 2015-2016, he was Staff Director of the Senate Small Business Committee.

Andrew Forbes

Andrew served as Legislative Director for Sen. James M. Inhofe.  In that capacity, he was directly engaged in Sen. Inhofe’s work on the Environment and Public Works Committee, where he helped draft and secure numerous water resources and infrastructure priorities. Andrew also served as a senior legislative aide in the House where he managed multiple issue portfolios including appropriations, transportation, defense, energy and judiciary.  He began his Capitol Hill career working for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where had the opportunity to work on the 2005 highway bill (SAFETEA-LU) as well as on aviation policy directly under former Aviation Subcommittee Chairman, John Mica (R-FL).