Sean McLean is the founder of Origin Advocacy and a government affairs strategist with nearly two decades of experience shaping federal legislation, regulatory policy, and congressional strategy.

​

Before founding Origin, he served in senior policy roles across both the executive and legislative branches, including the White House, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Office of Senator Ted Cruz, and the Office of then-Representative Marsha Blackburn. He served as Legislative Director in both the Senate and the House, leading policy across the Senate Commerce, Judiciary, and Foreign Relations Committees and the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

​

As Legislative Director, Sean drafted and secured enactment of federal laws, including the Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017, and the National Timing Resilience and Security Act, which established a national backup to GPS. He led the Senate campaign to preserve U.S. stewardship of the core functions of the internet, managed the Senate's space, science, and competitiveness subcommittee agenda through more than a dozen hearings on commercial space, NASA, artificial intelligence, and emerging technology.

​

In the executive branch, Sean served in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, directing senior appointments across some thirty federal departments and agencies— including Commerce, Transportation, Treasury, NASA, USTR, the FCC, FTC, and the SEC — and at the U.S. Department of Commerce as White House Liaison, advising the Secretary on appointments and their policy impact.

​

His work has spanned telecommunications, artificial intelligence, aerospace, commercial space, national security, defense, energy, transportation, and privacy.

​

Clients retain Origin when the issue is complex, the stakes are high, and the answer is not obvious. ​Sean's work has contributed to legislation that became law, nationally significant policy initiatives, and matters that reached the national stage—often without public attribution.