about Phrónēsis DC

Who We Are

Brendan Dunn, President

With over two decades of experience working with all three branches of government, Brendan Dunn helps diverse clients navigate complex problems and challenging situations. Having worked at the highest levels of government and industry, policymakers, their staff, and clients turn to Brendan for political and policy analysis and have come to rely on his prudential judgment. 

  • Former Tax, Financial Services, Retirement, and Trade Counsel to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

  • Shepherded tax reform through Congress – the historic 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) – and worked to secure the extension of the George W. Bush Tax Relief in the 2012 “Fiscal Cliff” 

  • Coordinated the passage of bipartisan reforms to the Dodd-Frank Act and the extension of Trade Promotion Authority

  • Worked to pass the SECURE Acts – substantial reforms to private sector retirement – both in Congress and later on behalf of clients

  • Former General/Special Counsel to the Senate Finance Committee

  • Former Professional Staff Member to the Senate Judiciary Committee

Prior to entering the private sector, Brendan Dunn had a long career in government service, culminating in his work for the United States Senate Majority Leader and driving through the first major reform of the U.S. tax code in 30 years.

 As a junior staff member to the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he began by writing speeches and working on judicial nominations, constitutional issues, and matters related to civil justice. He contributed to successful class action and bankruptcy reforms, numerous circuit court nominations, and the Supreme Court nominations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sam Alito. 

Later, in his capacity as Special Counsel and then General Counsel at the Senate Finance Committee, he worked with the Ranking Republican Member’s core leadership team on all matters related to the Committee’s jurisdiction – tax, trade, health care, and retirement. This work culminated in the Committee’s efforts to resolve the 2012 “Fiscal Cliff” – the bipartisan negotiation that led to the extension of President George W. Bush’s tax policy. 

For the last six years of Brendan’s Senate career, he worked with the Senate Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell. Initially, he served as the Leader’s principal liaison to the business community – where he worked daily with the nation’s largest companies and associations on all matters before Congress – and the Senate’s Legislative Directors, who he briefed weekly at the Senate Republican Policy Committee.

 He later became the Leader’s Tax, Financial Services, Trade, and Pensions Counsel, where he interfaced primarily with the House and Senate tax-writing and financial services committees, as well as House leadership. During his time in Senate Leadership, Brendan participated in numerous significant and successful legislative efforts, including – the hard-fought extension of Trade Promotion Authority, negotiated with President Obama; the 2018 reforms to the Dodd-Frank Act; and the landmark 2017 Tax Reform (TCJA). As part of the core group negotiating TCJA, Brendan worked with the Senate Republican Conference, the House Leadership and Ways & Means Committee, the Department of the Treasury, and the White House National Economic Council to shepherd the bill through the process from start to finish – from its genesis in small group negotiations with the House and the Administration, to the creation of the Senate Finance Committee product, and finally to the Senate floor and through a hard fought Conference Committee, securing the first substantial reform to the nation’s tax code in over 30 years.

Since leaving the Senate, Brendan has focused his practice primarily on financial services, tax, and retirement policy, but also on matters touching technology, health care, trade, and energy. He works with trade associations and corporations, providing traditional advocacy and strategic counsel on complex business and policy issues. In addition, he works with third party groups on non-traditional political engagement and provides legislative and political analysis to hedge funds and private equity firms.

Brendan has a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. He clerked in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and did his undergraduate work at the College of the Holy Cross.