Stephen Rademaker

Stephen Rademaker is Senior of Counsel at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Covington & Burling, and an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, where he teaches at the graduate level on U.S. sanctions policy. He joined Covington & Burling following a long career in public service in all three branches of government. Among his accomplishments in public service, he had lead responsibility, as a House staffer, for drafting the legislation that created the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Serving as an Assistant Secretary of State from 2002 through 2006, Mr. Rademaker headed at various times three bureaus of the State Department, including the Bureau of Arms Control and the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation. He directed the Proliferation Security Initiative, as well as nonproliferation policy toward Iran and North Korea, and led strategic dialogues with Russia, China, India and Pakistan. He also headed U.S. delegations to the 2005 Review Conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the 2003 Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the 2002 Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention, and many other international conferences.

Mr. Rademaker concluded his government career on Capitol Hill in 2007, serving as Senior Counsel and Policy Director for National Security Affairs for then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN). In this role, Stephen helped manage all aspects of the legislative process relating to foreign policy, defense, intelligence and national security. He earlier served as Chief Counsel for the Select Committee on Homeland Security of the U.S. House of Representatives, and for nearly ten years prior to that on the staff of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, including as Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel.

During President George H. W. Bush’s administration, Mr. Rademaker served as General Counsel of the Peace Corps, Associate Counsel to the President in the Office of White House Counsel, and as Deputy Legal Adviser to the National Security Council. After leaving government in 2007, Mr. Rademaker continued to serve as the U.S. representative on the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, and was appointed by House Republican Leader John Boehner to the U.S. Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.

At Covington & Burling, Mr. Rademaker’s practice centers on advising clients about compliance with various U.S. sanctions measures and other international trade controls, including those directed at Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Syria and Venezuela. He also maintains an active pro bono practice, which has included representation of Philippines journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, and Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist for Radio Free Europe who was imprisoned in Russia and released in August 2024 as part of the largest prisoner exchange with Russia since the end of the Cold War. For his work on behalf of Ms. Kurmasheva, Mr. Rademaker was named by The American Lawyer magazine as one of four finalists for its “Attorney of the Year” award for 2024.

Mr. Rademaker has a B.A., a J.D., and an M.A. in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and is the father of four children.

Rademaker was appointed to serve as a Member of the RFE/RL Board of Directors on July 20, 2025.