Rachel F. Cotton: Coronavirus Subcommittee Counsel

In the archive

Interactive: Where Pandemic-Oversight Lawyers Went Next

Identity & role

Partner, White Collar Defense & Investigations, and member of the Congressional Oversight & Investigations team, Arnold & Porter (Washington, D.C.), since 2025. (Partner, White Collar Defense & Investigations , and member of the Congressional Oversight & Investigations te... (original: arnoldporter.com); Welcome Rachel Cotton, Former Deputy Counsel to the President in the Office of the White House Counsel — Arnold & Porter, April 16, 2025 (original: mondaq.com)) Earlier, she was Counsel to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis (from June 2020).

Career arc

Partner at the litigation boutique Zuckerman Spaeder LLP (litigation and investigations). (Partner, White Collar Defense & Investigations , and member of the Congressional Oversight & Investigations te... (original: arnoldporter.com))
Counsel, Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis (from 2020). (committee staff release (original: coronavirus.house.gov · stored capture))
September 2021 – April 2022: General Counsel, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. (Rachel Cotton, General Counsel, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (Sept. 2021–April 2022) — LegiStorm Biography (original: legistorm.com))
Then Deputy Counsel to the President, Office of the White House Counsel. (Welcome Rachel Cotton, Former Deputy Counsel to the President in the Office of the White House Counsel — Arnold & Porter, April 16, 2025 (original: mondaq.com))
April 2025: joined Arnold & Porter as a partner in White Collar Defense & Investigations / Congressional Oversight & Investigations. (Partner, White Collar Defense & Investigations , and member of the Congressional Oversight & Investigations te... (original: arnoldporter.com))

Pandemic relief oversight role

As a Subcommittee counsel from 2020, Cotton worked on the body during its first year. Her LegiStorm record places her at the White House OSTP by September 2021, indicating she left the Subcommittee for the executive branch well before its December 1, 2022 fintech-fraud staff report, "We Are Not the Fraud Police." The report was issued by the Subcommittee's majority staff. (Report: House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, majority staff, Dec. 1, 2022.)

Lobbying & industry ties

No federal lobbying registration is associated with Cotton; her post-government work is law-firm practice. Arnold & Porter describes its Congressional Oversight & Investigations team as defending companies facing congressional and executive-branch inquiries. (No federal lobbying registration is associated with Cotton; her post-government work is law-firm practice. Arnold & P... (original: arnoldporter.com))

Where they are now (2025–2026)

(Rachel Cotton, General Counsel, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (Sept. 2021–April 2022) — LegiStorm Biography (original: legistorm.com); Partner, White Collar Defense & Investigations , and member of the Congressional Oversight & Investigations te... (original: arnoldporter.com))

Documents on this site

Original source documents and archived copies

James E. Clyburn — chaired the Select Subcommittee she served as counsel.
Allison Friedrich Murphy — the Subcommittee's chief oversight counsel.

Sources

Arnold & Porter, Rachel F. Cotton attorney profile (White Collar Defense & Investigations; Congressional Oversight & Investigations; former Deputy Counsel to the President; Zuckerman Spaeder; House special investigative committee) — Partner, White Collar Defense & Investigations , and member of the Congressional Oversight & Investigations te... (original: arnoldporter.com)
Arnold & Porter welcome release (via Mondaq), "Welcome Rachel Cotton, Former Deputy Counsel To The President In The Office Of The White House Counsel" — Welcome Rachel Cotton, Former Deputy Counsel to the President in the Office of the White House Counsel — Arnold & Porter, April 16, 2025 (original: mondaq.com)
LegiStorm, Rachel F. Cotton biography (White House OSTP General Counsel, Sept. 2021–April 2022) — Rachel Cotton, General Counsel, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (Sept. 2021–April 2022) — LegiStorm Biography (original: legistorm.com)
Arnold & Porter, Congressional Oversight & Investigations capability page — No federal lobbying registration is associated with Cotton; her post-government work is law-firm practice. Arnold & P... (original: arnoldporter.com)
Chairman Clyburn announces Select Subcommittee staff (committee release) — committee staff release (original: coronavirus.house.gov · stored capture)
Report: "We Are Not the Fraud Police", House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, majority staff, Dec. 1, 2022.

Rachel F. Cotton