His first job out of law school was a judicial clerkship for the late Mary Johnson Lowe, a federal judge for the southern district of New York. Maher was looking for a slot as a public defender or prosecutor when an opportunity arose to become legislative director for Rep. Joseph Kennedy (D-Mass.), which he took in 1993. From there, he became chief counsel and staff director for the House Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs subcommittee on Consumer Credit and Insurance.

In 1995, following the GOP takeover of the House, Maher hopped to the Democratic National Committee, where he served as policy counsel from 1995 to 1997, helping to re-elect President Bill Clinton. Maher returned to the Capitol to serve as legislative director for Dodd from 1997 to 2006, moving up to committee staff director in 2007 after Democrats regained the Senate majority.

Maher was one of those senior Hill aides that any lobbying shop would be thrilled to have on staff. In fact, Maher reportedly nixed plans to join Bank of America in 2006 as their associate general counsel and chief counsel for public policy when Dodd became Banking Committee chairman.

He was selected to join President Barack Obama's legislative team in January 2009. In his new position as Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs for the U.S. Senate, he will be responsible for pushing the President's legislative priorities through Congress.

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