Ryan Dean Newman

Ryan Newman is currently General Counsel to the Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis.  Previously, he served as Counselor to the United States Attorney General for national security and international affairs and as the Deputy General Counsel (Legal Counsel) for the Department of Defense, where he was the senior lawyer in charge of litigation for the Department. Prior to serving at the Pentagon, he was the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice, where he was responsible for coordinating Department-wide policy initiatives, including the Attorney General’s Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety, the Attorney General’s memorandum on “Federal Law Protections for Religious Liberty,” and the Attorney General’s policy restricting settlement payments to third parties.  He was also responsible for coordinating judicial nominations with the White House and Senate, including the nomination of Neil Gorsuch as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Prior to serving in the Executive Branch, Ryan was Chief Counsel to United States Senator Ted Cruz during the 114th Congress.  In that role, he oversaw all hearings and legislative efforts for Senator Cruz in his capacity as Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts. 

Before working on Capitol Hill, Ryan was an attorney at an international law firm, where he worked on a wide array of matters, including religious liberty challenges to the Affordable Care Act, the Detroit bankruptcy litigation, and the high-profile public corruption trial of former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell. 

Ryan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Samuel A. Alito, Jr. on the United States Supreme Court, the Honorable Richard J. Leon on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and the Honorable J.L. Edmondson on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Prior to law school, Ryan was an armor officer in the United States Army.  He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 10th U.S. Cavalry Regiment (Buffalo Soldiers) in the Fourth Infantry Division, where he served as a tank platoon leader, scout platoon leader, troop executive officer, and squadron adjutant.  He deployed to Iraq in 2003 for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Ryan graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1998.  He earned his law degree with high honors from The University of Texas School of Law in 2007, where he was admitted to the Order of the Coif and served on the editorial boards of the Texas Law Review and the Texas Review of Law & Politics.