Hill Heat

Full committee hearing to consider nominations.

Nominees:

• Bryan “Rick” Switzer, of Virginia, to be a Deputy United States Trade Representative (Asia, Textiles, Investment, Services, and Intellectual Property), with the rank of Ambassador, vice Sarah Bianchi
• Gustav Chiarello III, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Financial Resources, vice Robert Michael Gordon
• Michael B. “Mike” Stuart, of West Virginia, to be General Counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services, vice Samuel R. Bagenstos, resigned
• Derek Theurer, of Virginia, to be Deputy Under Secretary of the Treasury for Legislative Affairs, vice Jonathan Davidson

Switzer served as the Director of Policy and Strategy for the Special Envoy Office for Critical and Emerging Technology (S/TECH) at the U.S. Department of State. Prior to joining S/TECH, Rick was a Senior Fellow at the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), a nonprofit founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Rick was also the State Department Chair visiting professor at the National Intelligence University teaching graduate courses on China’s economy and innovation system. He served as a member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Council and from 2018 to 2019, and he was a Senior State Department Advisor to the Department of Defense working with the Air Force and the Army. Preceding that he was the Environment, Science, Technology and Health Counselor at Embassy Beijing.

Chiarello most recently was Senior Special Counsel to the House Committee on the Judiciary, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan. He serves on the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust, chaired by Rep. Scott Fitzgerald. Previously, Chiarello served as an attorney at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). He also served as an Attorney Advisor to Acting FTC Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen during the first Trump Administration. Chiarello received his undergraduate degree in Economics and Human Resource Management from the Catholic University of America. He also holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown University and a law degree from George Mason University.

Stuart currently serves as a West Virginia State Senator. Elected in 2022, he represents the people of Logan, Lincoln, Boone, and Kanawha counties. Previously, Senator Stuart served as a United States District Attorney, as the Chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party, and as a corporate attorney for Dinsmore & Shohl LLP and Steptoe & Johnson PLLC (corporate services and tax practice group).

Theurer was Republican Chief Tax Counsel for the House Committee on Ways and Means. Previously he served as Senior Tax Counsel for Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, contributing to construction and passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. He also was Vice President of Tax and Fiscal Policy at the Business Roundtable. He spent the first decade of his career with Exxon Mobil Corporation, working in tax advisory and senior government affairs roles. He holds a B.S. in Accounting from Utah State University, a J.D. in Tax Law & Policy Specialization from UCLA School of Law, and an LL.M. in Tax from NYU School of Law.