The U.S. Department of Education today announced additional appointees who will support the Trump Administration’s vision for returning education to the states and reforming higher education.
Paul Moore – Assistant General Counsel and Chief Investigative Counsel
Paul Moore served as Chief Investigative Counsel in the first Trump Administration where he led the Department’s investigations of massive foreign funding disclosure failures by many of America’s colleges and universities. Most recently, as a Senior Fellow in PSSI-Washington’s Economic and Financial Statecraft Program, he continued to expose the relationship between inadequate enforcement efforts and technology transfers between U.S. research universities and China, sometimes benefitting the People’s Liberation Army. Paul has also written extensively and provided Congressional testimony about protecting federal university research efforts from acquisition by adversarial entities.
Paul previously served for 12 years at the U.S. Department of Justice, including as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Senior Counsel in the Office of Legal Policy, and Counsel to the Assistant U.S. Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. He also served as Senior Counsel for the Defense of Freedom Institute where he assisted in opposing radical changes to Title IX and related programs.
Benjamin May – Deputy General Counsel
Benjamin joins the Department as a Deputy General Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel. Previously, Benjamin served as the General Counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General. His prior experience also includes positions at the U.S. Department of Justice, including in their Office of Legislative Affairs, the National Security Division, and the Federal Programs Branch of the Civil Division.
Benjamin retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Brandy Brown - Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs
Brandy Brown joins the Department as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for K-12 Education in the Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs. She served in the first Trump Administration as Director of Strategic Communications at the Department of Homeland Security. Most recently, Brandy was the Senior Director for Government Affairs at America First Policy Institute, focusing her efforts on advancing the America First Agenda in Congress.
Brandy has wide ranging experience in public service as a long-time legislative aide in various roles in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Executive Office of the Florida Governor, and the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Brandy received her bachelor’s degree in political science from the Pennsylvania State University at University Park.
Sarah Wilson – Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
Sarah Wilson will serve as the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. Sarah most recently served as the Deputy Chief of Special Projects at the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) in Columbus, Ohio. In previous roles at ODEW, she led Ohio’s learning acceleration and high dosage tutoring initiatives as well as statewide efforts focused on college and career readiness. Sarah began her career at Morehead State University where she served as the Director for Research, Service, and Policy for the School of Public Affairs. In that role, she managed several large-scale, education grant programs supporting K-12 students in the Appalachian region. Sarah holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) and Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies from Morehead State University.
Lauren McCarthy – Senior Counsel
Lauren McCarthy joins the Department as a Senior Counsel in the Office of General Counsel. Previously, Lauren served as an Associate Counsel at the Republican National Committee, as Legislative Counsel to Congresswoman Laurel Lee (FL-15), and as a Counsel at the Republican National Lawyers Association. Lauren’s career in Washington, D.C. began as a Legal Fellow in the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation.
During her final year of law school, Lauren taught “Law, Courts, and Politics” at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the Social Science and Policy Studies Department. Lauren received her B.A. From Assumption College in Worcester, MA, and earned her J.D. at the University of Massachusetts School of Law.
Michael Brickman – Senior Advisor
Michael Brickman is returning to the Department of Education, where he previously led policies related to accreditation, distance and competency-based education, and employer-education partnerships. He also spearheaded interagency efforts such as Executive Order 13932, which replaced college degree requirements in federal hiring with a focus on skills and competencies. Mostly recently, Michael worked at the Cicero Institute, where he led the organization’s state-focused education and workforce reforms, and concurrently at the American Enterprise Institute, with a focus on federal education and workforce policy. He also advised companies, nonprofits, and investors on these topics. Previously, he has worked in a variety of government and private sector roles, including leading education policy for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, where he focused on school choice and creation of the first public, competency-based college credentials.
Noah Pollak – Senior Advisor
Noah Pollak joins the Department after several years working as an advisor to conservative organizations and foundations in the education, foreign policy, and media spaces, including Parents Defending Education and the Washington Free Beacon. Noah has written for several conservative publications and appears occasionally on Fox News and other shows and podcasts. He was a founding member of President Trump campaign's Jewish Voices for Trump.