Chairman Neal Announces Selection of Alexandra Whittaker to Serve as Ways and Means Chief Trade Counsel

Jan 14, 2021

Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC- Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) announced that Alexandra Whittaker will lead the Trade Subcommittee's Democratic staff as the new chief trade counsel. Ms. Whittaker, who currently serves as a trade counsel on the Committee, will assume the role following the departure of Katherine Tai, whom President-elect Biden nominated to serve as the next U.S. Trade Representative.

'Alexandra is a stellar member of the Ways and Means team who brings key experience and top-notch judgement to her new position at the head of the Trade Subcommittee staff,' said Chairman Neal. 'During her service on Ways and Means, she has led critical work to strengthen the USMCA's enforcement provisions as well as Committee efforts around sanctions, preferences, the World Trade Organization, and U.S.-UK and U.S.-Kenya Free Trade Agreement negotiations. I look forward to working closely with Alexandra as we seek to craft, implement, and enforce pro-worker, environmentally sound trade policies in the years to come.'

Prior to her time with the Ways and Means Committee, Ms. Whittaker served in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the U.S. Mission to the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). While at USTR, she served as assistant regional counsel in Washington, D.C. and assistant legal advisor in Geneva, Switzerland, and litigated numerous cases before the WTO. During her time with the U.S. Mission to the WTO, Ms. Whittaker represented the United States in all disputes and dispute-related matters before the body. As an assistant regional counsel with the EPA, she focused on the enforcement of federal environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Oil Pollution Act, the Superfund statute, and laws related to hazardous waste and toxic chemicals.

Ms. Whittaker is a graduate of Spelman College and Howard University School of Law.

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Subcommittees:

Trade (117th Congress)