ohn Cooney focuses on economic regulatory, administrative, and constitutional litigation involving federal agencies at the trial and appellate levels. His areas of experience include financial services, white collar defense, environment, and separation of powers. Mr. Cooney has 35 years of experience in regulatory policy making and regulatory litigation. He served as Assistant to the Solicitor General, Department of Justice, and as Deputy General Counsel for Litigation and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Cooney served as counsel for OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which reviews agency regulations on behalf of the President, and was involved in policy disputes involving legal interpretation of most major federal regulatory statutes. Mr. Cooney is co-chair of Venable's Ethics Committee.

Significant Matters
Argued and obtained preliminary injunction against moratorium issued by the Secretary of the Interior prohibiting offshore deepwater drilling, Hornbeck Offshore Services v. Salazar, 696 F.Supp.2d 627 (E.D. La. 2010) and successfully defended the injunction in oral argument to the Fifth Circuit.

Represents entity that received FEMA Public Assistance grant funds to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina in defending audit by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security.