Posted: 2:12 am ET
On November 28, the White House announced President Trump’s intent to nominate former NHTSA Administrator Nicole R. Nason to be the next Assistant Secretary of State for Administration. The WH released the following brief bio:
Nicole R. Nason of New York will serve as an Assistant Secretary of State for Administration. Ms. Nason, an attorney and senior government official, has served as a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State in Washington, D.C. since June 2017. She previously served in Washington, D.C. as Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation (2006-2008), Assistant Secretary for Government Affairs, U.S. Department of Transportation (2003-2006), Assistant Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (2002-2003) and Attorney for the Subcommittee on Crime, U.S. House of Representatives (1995- 1999). From 2014-2017, she founded and ran Project Koe in Connecticut, empowering women and improving health and fitness using traditional Japanese martial arts techniques. Ms. Nason earned a B.A. in Political Science and Government at American University and a J.D. at Case Western Reserve University.
According to AllGov, she previously worked as counsel and communications director for Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss of Florida, as counsel for the House Judiciary Committee under Chairman Henry Hyde of Illinois, and as assistant commissioner of the Office of Congressional Affairs at the U.S. Customs Service.
According to Consumer Report, Nason left NHTSA after serving a little more than two years as head of the government’s primary auto safety agency.
A quick summary about the A bureau via state.gov:
The Bureau of Administration provides support programs to the Department of State and U.S. embassies and consulates. These programs include: procurement; supply and transportation; diplomatic pouch and mail services; official records, publishing, and library services; language services; setting allowance rates for U.S. Government personnel assigned abroad and providing support for Department assisted overseas schools; domestic real property and facilities management; domestic emergency management; support for White House travel abroad; and logistical support for special conferences.
Direct services to the public and other government agencies include: responding to requests under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts and providing the Virtual Reading Room for public reference to State Department records and information access programs; printing official publications; simultaneous interpretation for Senior USG Officials; and determining use of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the Harry S Truman headquarters building in Washington, DC.
State/A oversees the offices of Allowances, Directives, Emergency Management, Global Publishing, Languages Services, Logistics Management, Overseas Schools, and the Office of the Procurement Executive. The incumbent reports to the Under Secretary for Management.
History.state.gov notes that the Department of State created the position of Assistant Secretary of State for Administration during a general reorganization in December 1944, after Congress authorized an increase in the number of Assistant Secretaries in the Department from four to six (Dec 8, 1944; P.L. 78-472; 58 Stat. 798). The reorganization was the first to designate substantive designations for specific Assistant Secretary positions. The title for this position has varied over the years. Assistant Secretaries for Administration have supervised a variety of functions ranging from budget and personnel matters to foreign buildings and record keeping. Several of these functions, such as accounting and diplomatic security have become the responsibility of newly created bureaus.
Of the last ten appointees to this position, two have been non-career appointments, Arthur Fort and Rajkumar Chellaraj.
Related items:
Nicole Nason: AllGov
Diplomacy, humor take new NHTSA chief far (by Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today)
Hey Auto Journalists, NHTSA Administrator Nicole Nason Is Waiting To Take YOUR Call! (Jalopnik)
Bush Names Choice To Head Traffic Safety (by Sholnn Freeman, Washington Post)
What’s Off the Record at N.H.T.S.A.? Almost Everything (NYT, August 22, 2007 via Wayback Machine)
David Kelly replaces Nicole Nason as top NHTSA administrator (Consumer Reports News, Sept 8, 2008)
For NHTSA Chief Nason, Family Influences Policy (Edmunds.com, Wayback Machine)
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