President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 1/5/11

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

• Brigadier General Allison A. Hickey, USAF (Ret.), Under Secretary for Benefits, Department of Veterans Affairs
• Jenni R. LeCompte, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of the Treasury
• Steve Muro, Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs
• Virginia A. Seitz, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice
• Lafe E. Solomon, General Counsel, National Labor Relations Board

President Obama said, “The extraordinary dedication these men and women bring to their new roles will greatly serve the American people.  I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this Administration and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”
 
President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:
 
Brigadier General Allison A. Hickey, USAF (Ret.), Under Secretary for Benefits, Department of Veterans Affairs
Brigadier General Allison A. Hickey, USAF (Ret.) currently serves as an executive in Accenture’s Human Capital Management practice leading Defense and Intelligence Agencies programs. In 2007, General Hickey retired from the Air Force after 27 years of service.  Prior to her retirement, General Hickey served as the Air Force Director for Future Total Force (Total Force Integration), Assistant Director of Air Force Strategic Planning and Chief of Air Force Future Concepts and Transformation. Prior to these positions, General Hickey also served as the Chief of the National Guard Bureau Strategic Initiatives Group and the Chief of Operations for the Air National Guard Productivity and Quality Center.  She currently serves on the National Academies’ Standing Committee on Technology Insight-Gauge, Evaluate and Review; as a Trustee for the U.S. Air Force Academy Falcon Foundation, an organization committed to providing scholarships to those seeking admission to the Academy through preparatory schools; and on the Board of Advisors for AcademyWomen, an organization that provides mentorship to military women. General Hickey holds a M.S. in National Security Strategy from the National War College and a B.S. in Behavioral Science from the United States Air Force Academy.
 
Jenni R. LeCompte, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of the Treasury
Jenni R. LeCompte is currently the Deputy Assistant Secretary, Public Affairs Operations at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where she has worked since January 2009. In 2007 and 2008, Ms. LeCompte served as Deputy CEO for Public Affairs for the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC). Prior to her work for the DNCC, Ms. LeCompte was the Director of Communications for the Recording Industry Association of America. Previously, she served as Regional Communications Director for the Kerry-Edwards for President campaign, and during the 2004 presidential cycle, served as Deputy Communications Director for the Democratic National Convention in Boston and as Press Secretary for the Edwards for President campaign during the primaries.  Before that, she worked on Capitol Hill in the communications offices of Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and in the White House press office during the Clinton Administration.  Ms. LeCompte holds a B.S. from Northwestern University, where she attended the Medill School of Journalism.
 
Steve Muro, Nominee for Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs
Steve Muro currently serves as Acting Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prior to this role, he served as Deputy Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs from 2008 to 2009, and Director of the National Cemetery Administration Office of Field Programs from 2003-2008. Mr. Muro also served as the Director of the Memorial Service Network V from 2001 to 2002. Mr. Muro served in the U.S. Navy from 1968 to 1972, including two tours of duty in Vietnam. In 2008 he received the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award. Mr. Muro received an Associate’s Degree from Mt. San Antonio Junior College.
 
Virginia A. Seitz, Nominee for Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice
Virginia Seitz is a partner in Sidley Austin LLP’s Washington, D.C. office where she focuses on appellate litigation before the federal courts of appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.  Ms. Seitz has over 20 years of litigation experience and has worked on more than 100 Supreme Court briefs and petitions for certiorari and hundreds of filings in lower courts.  She was counsel of record on the amicus brief filed on behalf of retired military officers in Grutter v. Bollinger, which was cited by the Supreme Court in the oral argument and opinion in that case.  Before joining private practice, Ms. Seitz clerked for Judge Harry T. Edwards of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Associate Justice William J. Brennan of the U.S. Supreme Court.  From 1995 until 2000, she served on the Board of Directors of the Congressional Office of Compliance, which promulgates regulations and adjudicates disputes concerning legislative branch employees under the Congressional Accountability Act.  She received a B.A., summa cum laude, from Duke University, was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, and holds a J.D. from Buffalo Law School, where she graduated first in her class.  
 
Lafe E. Solomon, Nominee for General Counsel, National Labor Relations Board
Lafe Solomon, a career attorney at the National Labor Relations Board, was named Acting General Counsel of the NLRB by President Obama as of June 21, 2010.  As the NLRB’s top investigative and prosecutorial officer, the General Counsel has supervisory authority over all Regional Offices and guides policy on issuing complaints, seeking injunctions, and enforcing the Board's decisions.  Mr. Solomon began his NLRB career as a field examiner in Seattle in 1972.  After taking a break to pursue a law degree, he returned to the NLRB as an attorney in the Office of Appeals.  He transferred to the Appellate Court Branch in 1979. In 1981, Mr. Solomon joined the staff of former NLRB Board Member Don Zimmerman, and in the coming years he went on to work for another nine Board Members, including Donald Dotson, Robert Hunter, John Higgins, James Stephens, Mary Cracraft, John Raudabaugh, William Gould, Sarah Fox and Wilma Liebman. Mr. Solomon received a B.A. degree in Economics from Brown University in 1970 and a J.D. from Tulane University in 1976.