Kenneth l. Wainstein Returns to Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Steve Aaron
SRA Communications
(717) 554-8614
steve@SRACommunications.com

KENNETH L. WAINSTEIN RETURNS TO BIPARTISAN COMMISSION ON BIODEFENSE

Wainstein served as Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis at the
Department of Homeland Security from 2022-2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 6, 2025) – The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense is pleased to welcome back The Honorable Kenneth L. Wainstein as Commissioner. Wainstein is an original member of the Commission, having joined at the time of the organization’s formation in 2014. Wainstein left to serve as Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security from June 2022 through January 2025. Previously, Wainstein practiced law as a partner in the law firm of David Polk & Wardwell, where he focused on corporate internal investigations, and civil and criminal enforcement proceedings.

“The Commission is thrilled to welcome Ken back into the fold,” said Commission Co-Chair and first Secretary of Homeland Security, Governor Tom Ridge. “We have long benefitted from Ken’s deep experience in counterterrorism, homeland security, law enforcement, infrastructure protection, and disaster response and recovery efforts – all areas he addressed when he served as Homeland Security Advisor to President George W. Bush in 2008. Ken’s input and guidance have been invaluable to the Commission’s work, and we look forward to obtaining his keen insights again.”

Prior to private practice, Wainstein spent over 20 years in a variety of law enforcement and national security positions in the federal government. Posts include service as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in New York and Washington, DC; General Counsel and Chief of Staff of the FBI; United States Attorney in Washington, D.C.; Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Homeland Security Advisor to President George W. Bush.

“Few people in our Nation combine both the depth of knowledge of security threats and the ability to work across party lines to get things done,” said Commission Co-Chair and former Secretary of Health and Human Services and Congresswoman Donna Shalala. “We take very seriously the word ‘bipartisan’ in our name, and Ken embodies what that means in Washington. We are delighted to welcome him back to the Commission.”

“It was a great honor to serve as one of the founding Members of the Commission, and I am very grateful for the invitation to resume my service,” said Wainstein. “The Commission has a proven track record of developing real-world solutions to critical national security problems and getting those solutions implemented. It does that with deep subject-matter expertise, dogged persistence and determination, and a relentlessly bipartisan approach that has been effectively mobilizing support and action against the bio threat for more than a decade. I am proud to rejoin my friends on the Commission and to contribute to their ongoing effort to protect our national security.”

About the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense

The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense was established in 2014 to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the state of U.S. biodefense efforts, and to issue recommendations to foster change. The Commission’s 2024 National Blueprint for Biodefense, identified capability gaps and recommended changes to U.S. policy and law to strengthen national biodefense while optimizing resource investments. Other Commission publications have addressed critical needs for an Apollo Program for Biodefense, risk reduction, biodetection, agrodefense, budget reform, diagnostics, biodefense of critical infrastructure, smallpox and orthopoxvirus readiness, and state, local, tribal and territorial response capabilities. In 2018 and 2022, the White House released the National Biodefense Strategy, and in 2022 and 2023, OMB released the biodefense budget crosscut, top recommendations from the Blueprint. In 2021 the White House released the American Pandemic Preparedness Plan and subsequently produced executive orders and national security memoranda, taking up recommendations from the Commission’s Apollo Program and Athena Agenda reports. The Commission continues to address biodefense challenges and urge reform. Former Secretary of Homeland Security Governor Tom Ridge and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala co-chair the Commission.