Daniel Cohen

Assistant General Counsel for Regulation

Daniel Cohen is the Assistant General Counsel for Regulation at the Department of Transportation.  He is a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) overseeing an office responsible for reviewing and coordinating the clearance of the Department’s rulemaking documents to ensure they are consistent with all legal requirements and Administration policy governing the rulemaking process, including the Administrative Procedure Act, Regulatory Flexibility Act, Federal Advisory Committee Act, Paperwork Reduction Act, Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, and Executive Orders 12866.  The office also formulates Department-wide regulatory policies and procedures; acts as liaison with the Office of Management and Budget and other federal agencies concerning Departmental regulatory matters; and develops and implements regulatory initiatives and innovative rulemaking techniques.

Previously, Mr. Cohen was Assistant General Counsel for Legislation, Regulation and Energy Efficiency at the Department of Energy (DOE), where he was also a member of the SES, managing an office of 18 attorneys. His former office is counsel to the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Additionally, the office provides legal counsel and rulemaking support to programs throughout DOE on administrative requirements for developing DOE rules, directives, and other generally applicable policies, and on legislative matters throughout the Department.

Prior to joining the Energy Department, Mr. Cohen was appointed the first-ever Chief Counsel for Regulation in the General Counsel’s Office at the Department of Commerce.  In this capacity, he oversaw the Office’s Regulatory Division, which is responsible for legal review of all regulatory actions of the Department. The division is also responsible for developing and implementing the Department’s regulatory policy.

Mr. Cohen has authored several law review articles on Federal agency rulemaking, including Congressional Review of Agency Regulations. Additionally, he has been invited to speak on rulemaking procedure to a variety of groups in the United Sates, as well as to lawyers and government officials in countries such as Moldova, Morocco, and China. He has served as Chair of the Rulemaking Committee, Budget Officer and as a Council Member of the American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice (Section). He is currently the Section’s Secretary.  The Section has honored Mr. Cohen with the Mary C. Lawton Award for Outstanding Government Service. Mr. Cohen is a member of the Administrative Conference of the United States. Finally, Mr. Cohen has been an adjunct professor at the American University, Washington College of Law, in Washington, D.C, where he taught a course in Federal Regulatory Process.