By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump has nominated Pierre M. Gentin, chief legal officer of consulting firm McKinsey & Co, to serve as general counsel at the U.S. Commerce Department, according to U.S. Senate records.
On Monday, Trump also nominated other officials to serve in the department, including Neil Jacobs to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He named Arielle Roth to lead the Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is overseeing a $42.5-billion fund to make access to high-speed broadband universal by 2030.
The Senate Commerce Committee is set to vote on Howard Lutnick’s nomination to head the department on Wednesday. Commerce will face a number of key issues during Trump’s term, including export controls on U.S. AI chips and other efforts to crack down on Chinese tech companies, and overseeing nearly $40 billion in subsidies for semiconductor manufacturing.
Jacobs, an atmospheric scientist, ran NOAA during Trump’s first term on an acting basis after then-AccuWeather CEO Barry Myers was nominated and later withdrew citing health reasons. Trump proposed cutting NOAA’s budget by 17% in his first term. The agency provides daily and long-term weather forecasts for agricultural planning and emergency response to severe weather such as hurricanes.
The White House also nominated Paul Roberti, a U.S. Transportation Department official during Trump’s first term who served as chief economic and policy adviser at the Rhode Island Division of Public Utilities and Carriers, to head the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Rod Nickel)
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