President Donald Trump will nominate John Sullivan, a partner at Washington, D.C.-based law firm Mayer Brown, as deputy secretary of the State Department, Politico reported Tuesday.
Cristiano Lima writes Sullivan will serve as second-in-command to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and bring his experience in the federal government to his post once confirmed.
Sullivan joined Mayer Brown in 1993 and currently serves as co-chair of the law firm’s national security practice, where he advises clients on U.S. economic sanctions and export controls, foreign investment and international trade regulations and disputes.
He is chairman of the U.S.-Iraq Business Dialogue, an advisory panel that seeks to advance economic relations between the two countries.
He previously served as deputy secretary at the Commerce Department under the administration of former President George W. Bush and held the roles of general counsel and chair of the U.S.-China Legal Exchange at the agency.
Sullivan also served as deputy general counsel at the Defense Department and during President George H.W. Bush’s re-election campaign in 1992.
