From April 2005 he was the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Outreach at the United States Department of Education.

Before his role in the White House, Sullivan was assistant secretary for communications at the Department of Education.

He had previously worked as a chief spokesperson and media relations executive at NBC Universal.

He has a background in sports public relations for NBC and prior to that for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association.

[2] He was a frequent guest co-host of "Polioptics," during the political communications show's run on SiriusXM's POTUS channel.