Nomination of Christopher Landau to be Deputy Secretary, Michael Rigas to be Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources, and Matthew Whitaker to be U.S. Permanent Representative on the NATO Council, all of the Department of State

Senate Foreign Relations Committee
419 Dirksen

03/04/2025 at 10:00AM

Full committee hearing.

Nominees:

  • Christopher Landau, of Maryland, to be Deputy Secretary of State
  • Michael John Rigas, of Virginia, to be Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources
  • Matthew George Whitaker, of Iowa, to be United States Permanent Representative on the Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary

Landau clerked for Clarence Thomas, was Trump’s ambassador to Mexico starting in 2019, and has ambitions to join the U.S. Supreme Court.

Rigas is a Republican operative who served as an associate administrator of the General Services Administration under W and acting director of the Office of Personnel Management under Trump. He then led the America First Transition Project.

Whitaker is a Trump loyalist who served as acting United States attorney general when Jeff Sessions quit under pressure from Donald Trump.