Margaret L. Taylor

Margaret L. Taylor has served in senior roles in the United States Senate and the Executive Branch. She is a member of the New York State Bar, the American Law Institute, and the United States National Group of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Ms. Taylor was confirmed as the 25th Legal Adviser for the United States Department of State in September 2024 and served in that role through January 19, 2025. She was the General Counsel for the U.S. Agency for International Development from January 2021-September 2024. Prior to that, Ms. Taylor was a Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and a Senior Editor at Lawfare. She served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff from 2013-2018, including as Democratic Chief Counsel and Deputy Staff Director, and as Senior Counsel from April-October of 2025. Earlier in her career, as a staff attorney at the Department of State, she advised on the legal aspects of foreign assistance programs, international economic sanctions, anti-trafficking in persons efforts, and other international law enforcement matters. She was a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow with the Center for Strategic & International Studies. Ms. Taylor received her AB from Princeton University and JD from Columbia Law School, where she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Law Review.