Mr. Rutledge currently serves as senior tax and benefits counsel on the Majority Tax Staff of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee where his responsibilities include employee benefits, retirement issues, tax-exempt organizations, health tax issues, and the tax provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Prior to joining the Finance Committee, Mr. Rutledge served as a senior tax law specialist on the Headquarters Staff of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division of the Internal Revenue Service, and as a senior technical reviewer in the Qualified Pension Plans Branch of the IRS Office of Chief Counsel. During his tenure there, he was the recipient of an Office of Chief Counsel National Award. Mr. Rutledge also served as a law clerk on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and worked in private law practice as an employee benefits counselor and ERISA litigator. Mr. Rutledge earned a B.S. in business, cum laude, from the University of Idaho; J.D., with high honors, from the George Washington University School of Law, and an L.L.M. – taxation, with distinction, including a certificate in employee benefits law, from the Georgetown University Law Center.