Steel attorney Stephen Vaughn has been named the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s general counsel and acting U.S. Trade Representative, according to the agency.
[Jenny Leonard| March 3, 2017 |Inside US Trade]
Vaughn, who was a member of President Trump’s USTR transition team, was expected to be chosen for the general counsel’s job once Robert Lighthizer is confirmed as USTR. Sources last month told Inside U.S. Trade that Vaughn – in an unofficial capacity – was already working out of the chief of staff’s office at USTR and was familiarizing himself with issues and staff.
Vaughn’s appointment to the general counsel’s office and designation as acting trade representative were not announced by the agency, but his new roles are listed on the USTR website and were confirmed by an agency official.
According to sources, Vaughn has tasked USTR staff to prepare material that would lay out ways to move away from using the WTO dispute settlement system.
