Jeh C. Johnson

Private practice

After his service in the Clinton administration, Johnson returned to Paul, Weiss in 2001, where he tried large commercial cases.

Johnson was a member of the executive committee of the New York City Bar Association. From 2001 to 2004, he served as chairman of the City Bar's Judiciary Committee, which rates and approves all federal, state and local judges in New York City. In 2007, Johnson was shortlisted by the New York State Commission on Judicial Nomination to be Chief Judge of New York though the incumbent, Judith Kaye, was ultimately reappointed by former Governor Eliot Spitzer.

Involvement with the Democratic Party

Johnson was active in Democratic Party politics, as a fundraiser and adviser to presidential campaigns. Johnson served as special counsel to John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, and was an early supporter of Barack Obama's presidential campaign, active as a foreign policy adviser and as a member of his national finance committee.

Career after Obama administration

For the inauguration of Donald Trump, Johnson was chosen as the designated survivor and would have become the next president if a disaster or attack had occurred.

After leaving office in January 2017, Johnson rejoined the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York City. He is also a member of the boards of directors of MetLife, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, and co-chair of the board of trustees of Columbia University. He is also now a frequent commentator on NBC's Meet the Press, CBS, MS NOW, CNN, NewsNation and other networks, and the author of numerous op-eds in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere. Johnson also hosts a radio show on FM public radio station WBGO, based in Newark, New Jersey, All Things Soul, that features classic R&B music and commentary, along with interviews.

In June 2018, he was an outspoken critic of the Trump administration's family separation practice at the border. Several days later, he wrote to criticize calls to abolish ICE. Johnson has called for a more civil dialogue from political leaders on both sides of the aisle. In December 2021, he co-authored with Leon Panetta, Jane Herman and Bill Bratton, a statement arguing against parole for Sirhan Sirhan, the convicted killer of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

In December 2018, Secretary Johnson was the recipient of the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Award, presented at the Reagan Presidential Library, for “contributing greatly to the defense of our nation” and “guiding us through turbulent times with courage and wisdom.” He has received numerous other awards and acknowledgments, including three Department of Defense medals for distinguished public service. In December 2021, Johnson was a recipient of The American Lawyer's Lifetime Achievement Award. In May 2022, Johnson was the recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

Johnson also delivered the convocation address at Liberty University on September 11, 2020, in which he discussed the importance of morality in political leadership.

In April 2020, Governor Phil Murphy appointed Johnson to represent New Jersey in the seven-state regional working group to develop a plan for reopening the economy following the COVID-19 crisis.

In June 2020, Chief Judge of New York State Janet DiFiore, appointed Johnson as Special Advisor on Equal Justice in the courts. After a four-month review, Johnson issued a 100-page public report that contained a number of recommendations. In the report Johnson noted:

“[I]n one form or another, multiple interviewees from all perspectives still complain about an under-resourced, over-burdened New York State court system, the dehumanizing effect it has on litigants, and the disparate impact of all this on people of color. Housing, Family, Civil and Criminal courts of New York City, in particular, continue to be faced with extremely high volumes of cases, fewer resources to hear those cases and aging facilities. Over and over, we heard about the ‘dehumanizing’ and ‘demeaning cattle-call culture’ in these high-volume courts. At the same time, the overwhelming majority of civil and criminal litigants in the Housing, Family, Civil and Criminal courts in New York City are people of color. The sad picture that emerges is, in effect, a second-class system of justice for people of color in New York state.”

In August 2023, the president of the American Bar Association asked Johnson and former federal appellate judge J. Michael Luttig to lead a national task force to recommend ways to restore public trust in American democracy. In June 2023, the president of the New York State Bar Association asked Johnson to co-chair a task force to study the impact of the Supreme Court's decision in the Harvard and UNC cases on affirmative action. In 2020, Johnson was floated as a possible candidate for United States Secretary of Defense, United States Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence in the Biden administration. In February 2023, Johnson and his family history were profiled on PBS's Finding your Roots. In January 2024, Johnson was the recipient of the gold medal, the New York State Bar Association's “highest honor." In October 2024 he won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Law Journal.