Appointee Watch: Nominees for Personnel Management, Overseas Posts and More

Although the Trump administration started slowly with its appointment of key agency positions and advisers, the nomination process has accelerated.

Trump this week announced his pick for director of the Office of Personnel Management: George Nesterczuk, a veteran of the civil service reform movement and a polarizing figure among the federal workforce.

And the Senate voted Wednesday to confirm John Sullivan to serve as deputy secretary of State. Sullivan will serve concurrently as deputy secretary for management and resources.

The administration did, however, see another setback as James Donovan, tapped to be deputy Treasury secretary, withdrew himself from consideration and reportedly told officials an unexpected family matter required his attention.

According to the Washington Post and the Partnership for Public Service, which has been tracking more than 500 key administration posts requiring Senate confirmation, 36 Trump appointees have been confirmed, 78 people have been announced or formally nominated for posts, while 445 positions remain empty.

Recent appointees announced by the White House include:

Commerce: David Redl, assistant secretary for communications and information. Redl is chief counsel at the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He has served as director of regulatory affairs at CTIA, a trade association representing wireless communications carriers.

Commerce: Elizabeth Walsh, assistant secretary and director general, United States and Foreign Commercial Service. Walsh is special assistant to the president and associate director for presidential personnel. Before this administration, she served stints in the State and Energy departments and at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

Commerce: Richard Ashooh, assistant secretary for export administration. Ashooh is director of economic partnerships at the University System of New Hampshire. Prior to working in higher education, Ashooh was an executive in the aerospace agency, particularly for U.S. defense contractors.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission: Brian Quintenz, commissioner. Quintez was the founder, managing principal and chief investment officer of Saeculum Capital Management LLC. He has worked at a number of other financial firms, and he has served as a staffer for Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio.

Defense: Robert Hood, assistant secretary for legislative affairs. Hood previously served in the White House as a special assistant to the president in the Office of Legislative Affairs, and he has worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as a principal deputy assistant secretary for legislative affairs and as deputy undersecretary for budget and appropriations affairs.

Energy: Davis Jonas, general counsel. Jonas has worked as general counsel for the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. He also served for 20 years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Environmental Protection Agency: Susan Parker Bodine, assistant administrator, enforcement and compliance assurance. Bodine currently serves as chief counsel for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. She previously was an assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Solid waste and Emergency Response under the George W. Bush administration, and she has also worked as staff director and counsel for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment.

General Services Administration: Michael Downing, White House liaison. Downing was on Trump’s transition team at GSA, and has served most recently as deputy executive director of the Pennsylvania Republican Party.

Homeland Security: Claire Grady, undersecretary for management. Grady has been the director of defense procurement and acquisition policy since 2015 and is the principal adviser to the undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. She previously held multiple positions at the U.S. Coast Guard, most recently deputy assistant commandant for acquisition and director of acquisition services.

Homeland Security: G. Keith Bryant, administrator of the U.S. Fire Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency. Bryant is the Oklahoma City fire chief, and he is the past president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, past president of the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association and past president of the Oklahoma Fire Chiefs Association.

Housing and Urban Development: J. Paul Compton, general counsel. Compton is a partner at Alabama law firm Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, where he has worked since graduating from law school in 1989. He is also outside general counsel for the Alabama Affordable Housing Association.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Annie Caputo, member. Caputo is senior adviser to Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., who is chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. She has also served as a staffer for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, working on nuclear energy issues, and she was congressional affairs manager at Exelon.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Kristine Svinicki, chairwoman. Svinicki is a member of the NRC, initially confirmed in 2008 and re-nominated in 2012. She has served in a number of staff positions in the Senate, and she previously worked as a nuclear engineer in the Energy Department.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission: David Wright, member. Wright is president of Wright Directions, a consulting firm in the energy industry. He previously served as chairman of the South Carolina Public Service Commission, and he was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives.

Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission: James Sullivan, member. Sullivan has more than three decades of experience representing employers in labor, employment and occupational safety and health cases. From 2014 until this year, he served as the management co-chairman of the Occupational Safety and Health Law Committee of the American Bar Association’s labor law section.

State: “Papa” Doug Manchester, ambassador to the Bahamas. Manchester is a business tycoon and since 1970 he has been chairman of Manchester Financial Group, which operates a number of real estate ventures.

State: K.T. McFarland, ambassador to the Republic of Singapore. McFarland is currently an assistant to the president and the deputy national security adviser. She has served on the National Security Council during the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations, as well as in the Defense Department. She is also a former Fox News contributor.

State: Callista Gingrich, ambassador to the Holy See. Gingrich has been president and CEO of Gingrich Productions, a multimedia and consulting firm, and she is the wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

State: Michael Raynor, ambassador to Ethiopia. Raynor is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, has been a diplomat since 1988, most recently serving as director of the Office of Career Development and Assignments in the State Department’s Bureau of Human Resources.

Veterans Affairs: Brooks Tucker, assistant secretary for congressional and legislative affairs. Tucker is currently a senior adviser to the secretary of Veterans Affairs. He served on Trump’s transition team and has worked as a senior policy adviser on national security and veterans’ issues for Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C. Tucker is a retired lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Marine Corps.

Veterans Affairs: Dr. Poonam Alaigh, acting undersecretary for health. Alaigh has served as senior adviser to the undersecretary for health and as the executive sponsor of the MyVA Access Initaitive. She previously worked as commissioner of the Department of Health and Senior Services of New Jersey, as well as in the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.