McConnell is the current Counselor to the Deputy Under Secretary for National Protection and Programs Directorate for the Department of Homeland Security. He has held this position since this past June and is the senior adviser to Philip Reitinger, who is the director of the National Cybersecurity Center at the Homeland Security Department. One of McConnell’s top priorities is to prepare for possible cyberthreats.
Prior to this role, McConnell was the chief of information policy and technology in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for several years. He also previously directed the International Y2K Cooperation Center for a couple of years during the Y2k bug scare. After that work, McConnell formed his own business: McConnell International and Government Futures. This was a consultancy business that worked with clients in technology, government, as well as business. He later sold the business to Clinton Rubin LLC.
After Obama’s election, McConnell joined the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team serving as an IT Consultant. McConnell is a graduate of Stanford University, where he earned a B.S degree in Engineering. He later earned a master’s in public administration for the University of Washington.