Press Release - President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate and Appoint Individuals to Key Administration Posts

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

Marshall Billingslea, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.

Mr. Billingslea is the Special Presidential Envoy for Arms Control at the State Department. He has also recently served as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing.

A former Managing Director at Deloitte, Mr. Billingslea has also served at the Department of Defense as Deputy Under Secretary of the Navy, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Negotiations Policy. He was Assistant Secretary General for Defense Investment at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, and a Senior Professional Staff Member for National Security Affairs for the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Mr. Billingslea received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service, the Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic, and the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana of Estonia, among other awards. Mr. Billingslea earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College, and an M.A. from The Fletcher School, Tufts University.

Jonathan Pratt, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Djibouti.

Mr. Pratt, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Counselor, currently serves as the Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs for the State Department. Mr. Pratt has also held assignments as the Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, and as the Office Director for Pakistan Affairs in the State Department. He served earlier as the Political Counselor at the United States Embassy in Islamabad, as the Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States Embassy in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, and as the Political and Economic Section Chief at the United States Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan.

Mr. Pratt's other assignments include service at the United States Embassies in Angola, Jordan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mr. Pratt earned a B.A. from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut and an M.A. from the University of California, San Diego. He is the recipient of the State Department's James Clement Dunn Award for Excellence and the Director General's Award for Reporting. He speaks Chinese, Arabic, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Melanie Harris Higgins, of Georgia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Burundi.

Ms. Higgins, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Counselor, currently serves as Director of the Office of Central African Affairs at the State Department. Previously, she was the Principal Officer of the United States Consulate General in Auckland, New Zealand and was the Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States Embassy in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Throughout her two decades of service, Ms. Higgins served as the Acting Director and Acting Public Affairs Advisor for the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. She also held a number of other positions at the State Department in Washington, D.C., Jakarta, Indonesia, Canberra, Australia, and Yaounde, Cameroon.

Ms. Higgins earned a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and an M.A. from the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. She is the recipient of the Sinclaire Language Award from the American Foreign Service Association. She speaks French, Indonesian, and some Bosnian.

Jeanne Marie Maloney, of Virginia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Eswatini.

Ms. Maloney, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, currently serves as the Foreign Policy Advisor to United States Army Africa in Vicenza, Italy. Previously, she was the Director of the Office of Security Affairs in the State Department's Bureau of African Affairs.

Ms. Maloney has served in various leadership positions at the State Department over the course of her career, including as Career Development Officer in the Bureau of Human Resources, Director of the Office of Terrorist Screening and Interdiction in the Bureau of Counterterrorism, and Deputy Political-Military Counselor at the United States Embassy Baghdad in Iraq. Ms. Maloney was also the Director of the Office of Fraud Prevention Programs in the Bureau of Consular Affairs.

Ms. Maloney earned a B.A. from the College of William and Mary and an M.B.A. from the University of Tulsa. She speaks Portuguese, Spanish, and basic Arabic.

Keith W. Dayton, of Washington, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Ukraine.

Keith W. Dayton currently serves as the Director of the George C. Marshall Center in Garmisch, Germany, a position he has held since 2010. He also serves concurrently as Senior United States Defense Advisor to Ukraine. His current service follows a four-decade career in the United States Army, retiring in 2010 with the rank of Lieutenant General.

Among his many assignments, Lt. General Dayton was the United Sates Security Coordinator Israel/Palestinian Authority, the Director of Strategy, Plans and Policy, Army Staff, the Pentagon, the Director of Operations for the Defense Intelligence Agency, and United States Defense Attache to Russia.

Lt. General Dayton earned a B.A. from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, a B.A./M.A. from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, and an M.A. from the University of Southern California in conjunction with the United States Army Russian Institute in Garmish, Germany. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his military service, including from the State Department and from the Canadian, German and Austrian Governments. He speaks Russian and German.

Lisa S. Kenna, of Vermont, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Peru.

Ms. Kenna, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Counselor, is the Executive Secretary of the Department of State and a Senior Advisor. She previously served as a Political Advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and before that she was chief of the political section of the United States Embassy in Amman, Jordan.

Ms. Kenna was previously Director of the Iraq office in the National Security Council at the White House following a tour as Deputy Director of the Iraq Political Office in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the State Department. She served as a political/military officer at the United States Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. Other assignments overseas included the United States Embassy in Mbabane, Swaziland, and the United StatesConsulate General in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Before joining the State Department, Ms. Kenna was an attorney in private practice. A graduate of Middlebury College and the University of Connecticut School of Law, she speaks Arabic, Persian and Urdu.

Michael J. Walsh, Jr., of Virginia, to be General Counsel of the Department of Commerce.

Mr. Walsh is currently the Chief of Staff of the United States Department of Commerce. Secretary Ross has also delegated the duties of the General Counsel to him.

Mr. Walsh joined the Department as the Deputy General Counsel from O'Melveny & Myers, LLP, where he was a Partner specializing in representing companies and their officers and directors in complex securities and ERISA class actions, shareholder derivative cases, internal and regulatory investigations, and SEC enforcement actions.

Mr. Walsh also served as the Pro Bono Partner for his firm's Washington, D.C. office. He received a J.D. from Columbia Law School and a B.A. from Boston College.

Jason C. Weida, of Massachusetts, to be Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services.

Mr. Weida has been serving as an Assistant United States Attorney in Boston since 2016. He previously served at the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. in the Office of Legal Policy.

Before entering public service, Mr. Weida was an attorney at two national firms, Jones Day and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. As a Litigation Associate, Mr. Weida maintained an active docket of pro bono cases, for which his office received the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Certificate of Recognition for Pro Bono Service. He has overseen numerous complex investigations in healthcare and other sectors.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Weida clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit for the Honorable Jeffrey R. Howard. Prior to that, he clerked on the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island for the Honorable William E. Smith, and on the Rhode Island Supreme Court for the Honorable Paul A. Suttell.

Mr. Weida earned a B.A. from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, magna cum laude, and a J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law, with honors. He is a recipient of the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service.

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

John C. Huffard, Jr., of Virginia, to be a Member of the President's National Security and Telecommunications Advisory Committee.

Leonard L. Haynes III, of Louisiana, to be a Member of the President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Douglas R. Lengenfelder, of Pennsylvania, to be a Member of the Board of Visitors to the United States Air Force Academy.