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:

• Brett H. McGurk – Ambassador to the Republic of Iraq, Department of State
• Michele J. Sison – Ambassador to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of Maldives, Department of State

President Obama said, “Our nation will be greatly served by the talent and expertise these individuals bring to their new roles.  I am grateful they have agreed to serve in 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:

Brett H. McGurk, Nominee for Ambassador to the Republic of Iraq, Department of State
Brett H. McGurk is currently senior advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq.  Previously, he served as a senior advisor to Ambassadors Ryan Crocker and Christopher Hill in Baghdad.  From 2005 to 2009, Mr. McGurk served on the National Security Council, initially as Director for Iraq and later as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Iraq and Afghanistan.  Prior to 2005, he was a legal advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.  He also worked as an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a Fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics.  From 2001 to 2002, he served as a law clerk for Chief Justice William Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the United States.  Previously, Mr. McGurk was a law clerk for Judge Dennis Jacobs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and for Judge Gerard Lynch of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.  He received a B.A. from the University of Connecticut and a J.D. from Columbia University.

Ambassador Michele J. Sison, Nominee for Ambassador to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of Maldives, Department of State
Ambassador Michele J. Sison, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, is currently the Assistant Chief of Mission for Law Enforcement and Rule of Law Assistance in Baghdad, Iraq.  From 2008 to 2010, she was Ambassador to the Republic of Lebanon.  She was Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates from 2004 to 2008 and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of South Asian Affairs from 2002 to 2004.  Ambassador Sison’s prior assignments include:  Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan; Consul General in Chennai, India; Consul General in Douala, Cameroon; and Director of Career Development and Assignments in the Department of State’s Bureau of Human Resources.  Additional overseas assignments include roles at the U.S. Embassies in Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Togo, and Haiti.  Ambassador Sison received a B.A. from Wellesley College.