James Rockas is the Director of Strategy and Global Government Affairs at the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) in the Washington, D.C., headquarters.

Prior to joining the ACLJ, James served in the U.S. Department of Commerce as Secretary Wilbur Ross’s Deputy Chief of Staff as well as the Deputy Director of Policy & Strategic Planning and lead spokesman for the Department. James later served as Senior Advisor, Chief Policy Officer, and Deputy Chief Marketing Officer in the Office of the Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Energy, and the Environment. Before his work in the Executive Branch, James was a Legislative Assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives and worked on multiple political campaigns.

James is a long-time advocate against the persecution of Orthodox Christians in the Republic of Turkey and is currently an Archon-elect of the Order of Saint Andrew, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In 2015 he participated in the M.G. Robertson Global Centre for Law & Public Policy’s inaugural symposium on Persecution, Peace and Reconciliation focused on religious freedom in Turkey held at Harris Manchester College at the University of Oxford.

James holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Cornell University and clerked at the ACLJ for two summers while in school.