President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to Key Administration Posts

President Donald J. Trump today announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key positions in his Administration:

If confirmed, David G. Ehrhart of Texas will serve as Air Force General Counsel. Mr. Ehrhart most recently served as Associate General Counsel at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, where he was the lead attorney responsible for the F-35 Program advising the company on critical legal issues affecting the program for the United States Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and nine international partners. Mr. Ehrhart previously served as the Chief Counsel of Global Sustainment at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.

Mr. Ehrhart previously served 33 years in the Air Force, retiring as a Brigadier General, including tours as Staff Judge Advocate for the Air Force Materiel Command’s headquarters and Assistant Judge Advocate General for Military Law & Operations for the United States Air Force’s headquarters. Mr. Ehrhart also served as commander of the Air Force Legal Services Agency, Staff Judge Advocate at the United States Air Force European headquarters, and Commandant of the Air Force Judge Advocate General School.

Mr. Ehrhart is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, University of Utah, and the Creighton University School of Law. He is a recipient of the Creighton University School of Law Alumni Merit Award and the Air Force Association Outstanding Senior Judge Advocate of the Year Award.

If confirmed, Jeffrey Gerrish of Maryland will serve as Deputy United States Trade Representative for Asia, Europe, the Middle East & Industrial Competitiveness with the Rank of Ambassador. Mr. Gerrish is currently a partner in the International Trade Group at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. He has wide-ranging experience on a variety of international trade issues. In particular, he has extensive experience litigating trade disputes before the Department of Commerce, International Trade Commission, Federal courts, North American Free Trade Agreement binational panels and the World Trade Organization. Mr. Gerrish has been appointed by the chief judge of the United States Court of International Trade to serve as a member of the Court’s Rules Advisory Committee. He received his J.D. from Duke University School of Law and his B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany.

If confirmed, Lucian Niemeyer of Pennsylvania will serve as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment. Mr. Niemeyer most recently served as president of The Niemeyer Group, LLC, where his responsibilities included advising public and private entities on national defense issues.

Mr. Niemeyer was previously a professional staff member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, where he managed the military installations portfolio, provided oversight of Federal energy and environmental programs, and recommended authorization of military facility construction, repairs, and modernization.

Mr. Niemeyer is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Georgia Washington University, and the Naval War College, and a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the Virginia Air National Guard.

If confirmed, Nathan Alexander Sales of the District of Columbia will serve as Coordinator for Counterterrorism, with the rank and status of Ambassador at Large, Department of State. Mr. Sales is an Associate Professor at Syracuse University College of Law, where he teaches and writes in the fields of national security and counterterrorism. He is also of counsel at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. A native of Canton, Ohio, Professor Sales received his B.A. from Miami University and his J.D. from Duke Law School. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable David B. Sentelle of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Homeland Security and as Senior Counsel in the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice.

If confirmed, Dawn DeBerry Stump of Texas will serve as Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Mrs. Stump is currently president of Stump Strategic, a consulting firm she founded in 2016. Prior to assuming this role, Mrs. Stump served as executive director of the Americas Advisory Board for the Futures Industry Association and as a vice president at NYSE Euronext. During much of her career, she served the public sector in staff positions at both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. While working in the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, she focused on various farm policy matters and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. She represented the Committee during the negotiation of complex financial derivatives policies, in the aftermath of the recent financial crisis. Mrs. Stump is from Olton, Texas and grew up working in the agricultural sector. She holds a degree in Agricultural Economics from Texas Tech University.

If confirmed, Eric Ueland of Oregon will serve as Under Secretary of State for Management. Mr. Ueland has been the Republican Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee since 2013. Previously, he was vice president of The Duberstein Group, Inc., from 2007 to 2013. He has served in senior positions in the U.S. Senate since 1996, including chief of staff posts for the Republican Senate Majority Leader and the Assistant Majority Leader. Mr. Ueland has conducted strategic planning and execution on behalf of Senators, budget formulation and execution, administration of human resources, and execution of policy and politics in both the public and private sector. He earned a B.A. in history from the University of San Francisco.

President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Appoint Personnel to Key Administration Posts

President Donald J. Trump today announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key positions in his Administration:

Daniel Elwell of Virginia will serve as Deputy Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration at the Department of Transportation. Mr. Elwell is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and a former pilot with over 6,000 hours of combined military and civilian flight time. Shortly after transitioning from active service to reserve duty in the Air Force, Elwell’s unit was called into action during Operation Desert Storm. Elwell was a commercial airline pilot for sixteen years before accepting an appointment as the Federal Aviation Administration’s Assistant Administrator for Policy under President George W. Bush. During his 30-year career in aviation, Mr. Elwell has been a senior executive for several aviation trade associations and served as a Legislative Fellow for the late Senator Ted Stevens. He has served on several boards and has been a member of several aviation-related committees through the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Mr. Elwell lives in Virginia with his wife and three children.

Norman Sharpless of North Carolina will serve as the Director of the National Cancer Institute, Department of Health and Human Services. Norman E. “Ned” Sharpless, MD, is director of the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and a Wellcome Distinguished Professor in Cancer Research at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Dr. Sharpless earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed his internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and his hematology/oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber/Partners Cancer Care. A practicing oncologist caring for patients with leukemia, Dr. Sharpless also leads a research group studying the cell cycle and its role in cancer and aging. He has authored more than 150 original scientific papers, reviews and book chapters. He holds 10 patents that form the core intellectual property of two NC-based biotechnology startup companies. Dr. Sharpless is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. He serves on the Association of American Cancer Institutes’ board of directors, and on the National Institute of Aging’s National Advisory Council on Aging.

Amy Cantu Thompson of Texas will serve as Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Amy C. Thompson of Texas will serve as Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Ms. Thompson currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at HUD, and previously served the Department during the George W. Bush Administration as Deputy Press Secretary. In addition to her public service, Ms. Thompson possesses more than a decade of private-sector experience in strategic communications planning and crisis management for leaders in manufacturing, retail, and finance. As Director of Communications for the Community Financial Services Association, she led a variety of communications initiatives affecting State and Federal policies for consumer lending. Prior to that position, she managed public relations campaigns and executive speechwriting for Target Corporation in Minneapolis. Ms. Thompson also served as a counselor and advisor to Fortune 500 Companies at Levick Strategic Communications, where she specialized in issues regarding government regulation and corporate reputation. She received a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of North Texas.