Bio
Mr. Gessel founded Rulemaking Services, LLC, after a full Government career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and 2 years with ICF Consulting (ICF). He is one of the Nation’s top experts concerning rulemaking matters.
Mr. Gessel was heavily involved in rulemaking activities during his Government career. In fact, for more than half of that time he headed a rulemaking staff, first as an Assistant to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Administrator at USDA and then as the Director of the Office of Regulatory Law in VA’s Office of General Counsel. The VA position, which he held at the time of his Government retirement, provided him the unique opportunity to master all aspects of rulemaking since the Office was responsible for providing support for all of VA’s rulemaking activities, including drafting and reviewing rulemaking documents, preparing VA responses to legislative proposals, preparing legal opinions, and drafting litigation documents. To strengthen the ability to produce high-quality rulemaking documents, he developed a rulemaking course, which he taught to his own staff, other VA officials, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) desk officers. The Office became known for its expertise, and OMB officials stated on a number of occasions that VA rulemaking documents prepared by the Office were among the best in Government.
Since leaving Government service, Mr. Gessel has worked full time in the rulemaking arena, mostly drafting rulemaking documents for Government agencies and teaching his rulemaking course to Government employees. Also, as an employee of ICF, he drafted the current edition of the Reg Map, which is set forth on the home page of the GSA regulatory Web site at www.reginfo.gov for anyone to learn about rulemaking requirements. Further, he has prepared a prototype Handbook that can be tailored for specific agency groups to provide instructions in “cookbook style” for developing rulemaking documents.
