John Threlkeld is the Alliance’s Senior Congressional Affairs Manager. For almost a quarter-century, John was the assistant legislative director of a labor union which represents federal employees. Although he worked on a myriad of issues of interest to the working- and middle-class Americans who comprise the federal civil service—from child care to health care to depot maintenance of planes, tanks, and ships–John’s specialty was outsourcing/insourcing. Despite the opposition of a $250 billion industry and a blizzard of veto threats, John was ultimately successful in securing the enactment of a series of landmark reforms and safeguards to protect the interests of taxpayers, workers, and all Americans who depend on the federal government for efficient and effective performance of services–a few of which are actually followed by the executive branch. As his union represented federal employees in 70 different agencies, John can credibly claim to have to have worked on programmatic, personnel, procurement, and funding issues arising in all twelve of the appropriations bills. John has a B.A. in political science from Columbia University and a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law.