President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:

• Bob Work – Deputy Secretary of Defense, Department of Defense
• Cassandra Q. Butts – Ambassador to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Department of State
• Matthew T. McGuire – United States Executive Director, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

President Obama said, “I am pleased to announce that these experienced and committed individuals have agreed to join this Administration, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Bob Work, Nominee for Deputy Secretary of Defense, Department of Defense

Bob Work is Chief Executive Officer of the Center for a New American Security, a position he has held since 2013.  Mr. Work served as the Under Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2013.  In 2008, Mr. Work served on President Obama’s Department of Defense Transition Team.  At the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) from 2002 to 2009, Mr. Work was the Senior Fellow for Maritime Affairs and later the Vice President for Strategic Studies.  While serving at CSBA, Mr. Work was also an adjunct professor at George Washington University, where he taught Defense Analysis and Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces.  Prior to that, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 27 years in various assignments, including Military Assistant and Senior Aide to the 71st Secretary of the Navy, Richard J. Danzig.  Mr. Work received a B.S. from the University of Illinois, an M.S. from the University of Southern California, an M.S. from the Naval Postgraduate School, and an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. 

Cassandra Q. Butts, Nominee for Ambassador to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Department of State

Cassandra Q. Butts is currently a Senior Advisor to the CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, where she chairs the Investment Management Committee.  Prior to that, she served as Deputy White House Counsel to President Obama and General Counsel to the Obama-Biden Transition Project.  From 2004 to 2008, Ms. Butts served as Senior Vice President for Domestic Policy at the Center for American Progress.  From 2002 to 2004, she served as Counsel and Policy Director to House Democratic Leader Richard A. Gephardt and as Deputy Executive Director of the Democratic Policy Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1996 to 2002.  She has worked as an Associate Counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund, as a Legislative Assistant for U.S. Senator Harris Wofford, and as a Fellow for the National Health Law Program in Washington, D.C.  She is a member of the Board of Visitors of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a past recipient of the Georgetown Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellowship.  Ms. Butts received a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Matthew T. McGuire, Nominee for United States Executive Director,  International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Matthew T. McGuire is currently Director of the Office of Business Liaison at the Department of Commerce.  Prior to joining the Department of Commerce, Mr. McGuire was a Vice President at Citadel Asset Management from 2010 to 2011 and a Principal at Origami Capital Partners from 2009 to 2011.  Mr. McGuire was the Vice President of Institutional Marketing and Client Services at Ariel Investments from 2003 to 2009 after having worked as an Investment Officer at the New York State Common Retirement Fund from 2000 to 2001.  Mr. McGuire received a B.A. from Brown University and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.