Deputy Under Secretary for the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans
John H. Gountanis serves as the Deputy Under Secretary for the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans. In this capacity, Mr. Gountanis advances the DHS mission by managing, coordinating, and implementing the strategy and policy lines of effort across the DHS enterprise to include: counter-terrorism; cybersecurity, infrastructure security and resilience; border security and immigration; international affairs; and trade and economic security.
A career member of the Senior Executive Service, Mr. Gountanis has served in various senior leadership roles, including as DHS Acting Chief of Staff, Senior Counselor to the Secretary, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security. Previously, he served as the Principal Deputy Chief Counsel at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of the Chief Counsel in Chicago, where he helped manage four regional offices covering a six-state area of responsibility.
Mr. Gountanis began his federal service under the auspices of the U.S. Attorney General’s Honors Program as the Judicial Law Clerk for the Chicago Immigration Court. One week after the tragedy of the 9/11 attacks, he joined Chicago’s Office of the District Counsel within the former Immigration and Naturalization Service, handling cases involving terrorists and others who provided material support to terrorist organizations.
Mr. Gountanis was awarded the DHS Secretary’s Distinguished Service Medal and Outstanding Service Medal in recognition of exceptionally distinguished and transformational service to strengthen homeland security. The Distinguished Service Medal is the highest form of recognition bestowed by the Department of Homeland Security.
Mr. Gountanis holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola University of Chicago and a law degree from the Chicago-Kent College of Law. Mr. Gountanis also serves as an adjunct professor of law at the George Washington University Law School.