Senior Advisor Jamila Thompson Will Serve as Acting Chief of Staff
WASHINGTON – The Office of the United States Trade Representative today announced that Heather Hurlburt will step down as chief of staff on January 26, 2024. Hurlburt, a veteran foreign policy leader, helped guide USTR as the agency was launching new trade initiatives to deliver on President Biden’s worker-centered trade agenda while strengthening partnerships around the world.
“As my chief of staff, Heather has contributed her extensive expertise in foreign and national security policy to USTR’s efforts to build resilient and sustainable worker-centered trade policies,” Ambassador Katherine Tai said. “We have benefited greatly from her diplomatic skills and her humanity in managing relationships within USTR, throughout the Biden-Harris Administration, and with our stakeholders and trading partners.
“Heather has worked tirelessly to help navigate USTR through an intensive set of negotiations and engagements including the 12th World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference, the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade, the U.S.-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership, and the launch of the Americas Partnership for Prosperity. I am and will always be grateful to Heather for her decision to join me at this small and mighty agency in such an important role and at such an important time.
“I have worked with Jamila Thompson for ten years, dating back to our time as colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives. She has been a trusted advisor throughout my time as United States Trade Representative. I appreciate Jamila’s unwavering dedication to USTR’s mission, especially as she assumes the role of acting chief of staff.”
Jamila Thompson, a current senior advisor to the U.S. Trade Representative, will serve as acting chief of staff following Hurlburt’s departure. With nearly two decades of congressional service before joining USTR at the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, Thompson previously served as chief of staff to Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District, and deputy chief of staff for the late U.S. Representative John Lewis (GA-05).
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