Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) announced today that his Staff Director for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Joyce A. Rechtschaffen, will be departing at the end of April after seventeen years on Senator Lieberman’s staff and seven years as Staff Director. Lieberman named Michael L. Alexander, currently a Professional Staff member on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, to be the next Minority Staff Director for the Committee.
“Joyce has been a dedicated and exceptional member of my staff since my earliest days in the Senate,” Senator Lieberman said. “With her formidable skills and tireless work, she has been crucial in helping achieve many of my most valued legislative accomplishments. Her expertise and deep sense of service to our country will be greatly missed.”
Rechtschaffen was one of the first people Senator Lieberman named to his staff when he took office in 1989. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Rechtschaffen joined Senator Lieberman’s office after working for the U. S. Department of Justice. As an environmental Legislative Assistant and as Counsel, Rechtschaffen worked on major pieces of environmental legislation, including the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and the Energy Policy Act of 1992. She joined the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in 1999 as Minority Staff Director. She played key roles in the Committee’s efforts on the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and on the Intelligence Reform and Terrorist Prevention Act of 2004. She will begin her tenure as Princeton’s Director of Government Affairs in mid-May. Alexander, who has served on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs for five years, has played a key role in working on intelligence reform, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and on issues relating to disaster relief, including: emergency preparedness, first responders, and communications interoperability. Alexander brings a wealth of experience in government and management skills to the position of Staff Director. Prior to joining the Committee, he worked as Legislative Director for Congressman Mike Espy and as Acting Deputy Director of the USDA Office of Civil Rights, where he led teams that implemented key recommendations in the Secretary of Agriculture’s report on civil rights. A native of Griffin, Georgia, Alexander worked as a reporter and columnist for the Jackson Advocate in Mississippi before coming to Washington to join Congressman Espy’s staff.
“I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Mike Alexander as my second Staff Director on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee,” said Senator Lieberman. “In his five years on my staff, Mike has demonstrated the high quality of his work and his dedication to public service. Always an effective team member, I am confident that Mike’s impressive management skills will make him a strong team leader.”