About the Feehery Group

The Feehery Group is a boutique advocacy firm that focuses on communications and government affairs strategy.  Founded by John Feehery in February of 2007, The Feehery Group already has an impressive list of Fortune 500 companies and trade associations, including Newscorp, Ford Motor Company, PHARMA, and the United States Chamber of Commerce, among its clients.

John Feehery has spent close to 20 years in a variety of influential positions inside the beltway, both as a key advisor to leading members of the Congress, as an executive for the Motion Picture Association of America, and as lobbyist and public affairs strategist for Barbour Griffith and Rogers, a leading government relations firm in Washington DC.

Feehery is a regular guest on CNN’s Situation Room, MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, and Bloomberg Television’s Money and Politics program.

He has been called "indefatigable" by Norm Ornstein and "highly-regarded" by the Washington Post's Al Kamen, and he was named to Roll Call's Fab Fifty List for six years when he served in Congress.

Feehery served 6 years as the lead spokesman to Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert, where he managed the communications departments for the Speaker.  According to the Congressional Research Service, Feehery’s tenure as top spokesman to a Speaker was the longest in House history. Feehery managed a successful communications team that dealt with crises big and small, developing a reputation for candor and good judgment. In addition to spokesman duties, Feehery also managed the Speaker's speechwriting office, writing most of the speeches himself. He also handled some issues, most specifically the efforts to achieve peace in Northern Ireland, for the Speaker.

Most recently, Feehery served as Executive Vice President for Global Government Relations and Global Public Relations for the Motion Picture Association of America. There, he focused on issues such as intellectual property protection, anti-piracy and artistic freedom. 

Feehery came directly to the Speaker's office after a stint as government relations advocate for the well-known firm Barbour, Griffith and Rogers, while also serving concurrently as Vice President for Communications for Policy Impact Communications. There, Feehery worked with former RNC Chairman, and now Governor of Mississippi Haley Barbour and future RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie.

Before that stint, Feehery served from 1995 until 1998 as the Communications Director for Majority Whip Tom DeLay. As Communications Director, Feehery helped build up DeLay's reputation as an effective vote counter, and dealt with several crises, including the coup against Newt Gingrich and the Capitol shooting.

Before becoming DeLay's communications director, he served as the Whip office's Chief Floor Assistant, during the historically notable "Contract with America". He advised Members of Congress on how to vote, and helped the Whip Office count votes for the first eight months of the historic 104th Congress.

Feehery started his career with House Minority Leader Robert Michel, where he served as a research analyst and speechwriter. His most notable achievement during his service in Michel's office was his creation of the House Republican Theme Team. Under Feehery's leadership, for the first time in history, House Republicans used one-minute speeches and Special orders in a coordinated fashion to promote their message, helping to poke holes in the Clinton Administration's agenda and setting the state for the 1994 elections. The Theme Team still exists today.

A double graduate from Marquette University, with both a BA and MA in history, Feehery was named the Young Alumni of the Year for Marquette's School of Arts and Sciences in 2003. Feehery serves as member of the Board of Cooperation Ireland, an organization dedicated to peace-building in the North of Ireland. He has published several articles, including "Cleaning Congress's Clock" in the Washington Post, "Hammered", in the Washington Post, and "Speaker from the Heartland" in Roll Call. He has been widely quoted in newspapers and magazines around the world, and has appeared on network television. He participates regularly in National Journals "Insider" poll. Feehery has run three marathons and has two holes-in-one. He married Kerry Fennelly Feehery in Killarney, Ireland in 2003, and they have one son, Jack Feehery.