Sean Hayes focuses his practice on complex, high-profile investigations, especially those conducted by the US Congress. His decade of federal government experience has included responding to and conducting congressional inquiries across industries and issues. 

As director of oversight for the US Department of Health and Human Services, Mr. Hayes handled all investigations and information requests by Congress, the US Government Accountability Office and the inspectors general, and coordinated investigation responses for the department’s agencies, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration. 

Mr. Hayes previously served as staff director of the Subcommittee on Healthcare, Benefits and Administrative Rules for the US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where he led all healthcare-related investigations, including oversight of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the Internal Revenue Service’s implementation of the PPACA and the committee’s bipartisan review of pharmaceutical drug pricing. He also conducted joint investigations into the Federal Deposition Insurance Corporation and the Export-Import Bank of the United States. 

As deputy chief of oversight for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and lead counsel for all oversight of the PPACA, Mr. Hayes discovered problems with Healthcare.gov before the launch of the site. He ran committee hearings and handled a wide range of issues spanning the committee’s jurisdiction, including the GM ignition switch recall, the government’s response to prescription drug and heroin abuse, federal standards on cybersecurity, and the committee’s 21st Century Cures initiative.

Prior to his government service, Mr. Hayes worked in-house at a Washington DC–based law firm, where he assisted the election law, investigations and telecommunications practice groups. He also served as associate counsel for the Republican National Committee for the 2008 election.