ABA Welcomes Chris Fisher, Justin Melvin to Congressional Relations Team

The American Bankers Association is welcoming two new members to its bipartisan congressional relations team as ABA continues to strengthen its advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill. The new hires, Chris Fisher and Justin Melvin, will work alongside several other recent additions to the team under the direction of ABA Executive Vice President of Congressional Relations and Legislative Affairs Kirsten Sutton.

“We’re thrilled to have Chris and Justin join our already strong congressional relations team, which represents America’s banks on a range of key issues at a critical time for our industry,” said Sutton. “Chris and Justin bring valuable experience and skills that will help us navigate an increasingly complex policy environment on behalf of ABA’s members.”

“ABA’s congressional relations team under Kirsten’s leadership continues to do outstanding work on Capitol Hill advocating for our members,” said ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols. “Their work will be essential in the months and years ahead as we fight for policies that will enable banks of all sizes to compete and succeed in serving their customers and communities.”

Chris Fisher joins ABA with more than 14 years of congressional and campaign experience, most recently serving as policy director for Gov. Charlie Crist’s gubernatorial campaign in Florida. Prior to that role, he spent more than a decade managing financial services policy issues as acting chief of staff, deputy chief of staff and legislative director for Rep. Crist (D-Fla.) and Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.), staffing their assignments on the House Financial Services and House Appropriations Committees. 

Justin Melvin comes to ABA from Rep. David Kustoff’s (R-Tenn.) office, where he had served as chief of staff since January 2020. He was responsible for managing the congressman’s congressional operations, in addition to overseeing district campaigns and National Republican Congressional Committee activities. He previously served as Rep. Kustoff's legislative director and deputy chief of staff from 2017 to 2020. Prior to working in Rep. Kustoff’s office, Melvin worked for Rep. Frank Guinta (R-N.H.), Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics over more than a decade on Capitol Hill.