Meet Machalagh Carr – who has held some incredible jobs on Capitol Hill; General Counsel on the Ways and Means Committee, General Counsel for the Speaker of the House and Ultimately Chief of Staff for the Speaker.

The Political Life

Machalagh Carr is a trusted and discreet counselor with decades of private sector and government experience. She has nimbly navigated the intersection of congressional investigations and oversight, law, geopolitics, international anticorruption measures, and policy, and served as the top staffer in Article I as Chief of Staff to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy. She is the Founder & CEO of Quell strategies, a boutique consulting firm where she helps client navigate Washington and translates the intricacies of public policy to the business world. Prior to her role as Chief of Staff, she served as General Counsel for the Speaker and Office of the Republican Leader at the U.S. House of Representatives. Previously, she served as General Counsel & Parliamentarian for the Committee on Ways and Means, where she handled all legal and procedural issues for the Committee. Before that, she was the Oversight Staff Director at the Committee where she led the investigations and oversight of all issues within the Committee’s jurisdiction, served as the Director of Oversight and Investigations for the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and as Senior Oversight Counsel at the Committee on Natural Resources. Prior to her public service, Machalagh served in the Office of Global Compliance of an international energy company where she conducted internal anti-corruption investigations, audits, and compliance reviews for the company, including expertise in FCPA, and UK Bribery Act. She also practiced in the Litigation, White Collar, and Government Investigations Group at Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal LLP (now Dentons). She currently serves as the Head of Global Policy for Palantir Technologies. Directly after law school, Machalagh clerked for the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. She taught Trial Practice at Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, is a Politics and Public Service Fellow at Georgetown University McCourt School, and lives in Virginia with her husband and three sons.