Jay Payne

Chief Counsel, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

James “Jay” Payne is Chief Counsel for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) at the U.S. Department of Transportation. As Chief Counsel, he oversees all aspects of the FHWA’s legislative programs, provides strategic advice and direction to U.S. DOT leadership on all matters related to the FHWA, and leads a legal team of 60 attorneys in four offices across the country. Payne brings to this role a passion for public service with more than 16 years of experience in the fields of transportation, law, and government.

Payne previously worked as an attorney with the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration where he worked on litigation, regulation, legislation, and programmatic implementation. He was awarded the Secretary’s Meritorious Achievement Silver Medal in 2020 for his contributions for the promulgation of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.

Prior to joining the FHWA leadership team, Payne served as the Assistant Legal Counsel for Ohio Governor Mike DeWine where he oversaw a number of Ohio infrastructure-related chief counsels—including the Chief Counsel of Transportation—and provided the Governor and his leadership team with essential advice regarding federal and state legislative, judicial, and executive branch issues, including the Brent Spence Bridge multi-state project and the East Palestine train derailment response.

Before joining public service, Payne completed a corporate operations management leadership program and advanced through several positions within General Electric’s commercial and military aviation business, developing safety plans, audits, and compliance strategies as a regulatory compliance engineer for environmental health and safety and a shop floor manufacturing supervisor.

Payne graduated from Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law with his Juris Doctorate and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. As a student, Payne interned for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Judge Jeffrey Sutton on the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, U.S. Senator Rob Portman, Ohio Governor John Kasich, and Speaker John Boehner at the U.S. House of Representatives. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, is a proud third-generation Buckeye, an inducted member of the Ohio Commodores, and enjoys swimming, reading, tennis, travel, and taking in life as a new husband and recent father.