Kathryn L. Wheelbarger

Kathryn Lynn Wheelbarger[1] (born 1977) is an American attorney and government official, who served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from 2018 to 2020.[2]

Katie Wheelbarger
Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
In office
October 31, 2018 – July 4, 2020
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byRobert Karem
Succeeded byMichael C. Ryan (acting)
In office
June 7, 2017 – October 27, 2017
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byRobert Karem
Succeeded byRobert Karem
Personal details
Born1977 (age 45–46)
California, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationUniversity of California, Los Angeles (BA)
Harvard University (JD)

Early life and education

Wheelbarger is a native of California, and daughter of Edmund and Diane Dailey Wheelbarger.[3] She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, graduating summa cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1999.[4] After interning in 1997 with then-Rep. John Kasich (R-Ohio) and the Joint Economic Committee. She earned a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.[2][5]

Career

After completing law school, Wheelbarger served as a law clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Boise, Idaho, and later as a litigation associate with the law firm Cooper and Kirk.

Wheelbarger moved to Washington, D.C., to work on the George W. Bush 2004 presidential campaign.[5] After the election, she served as Counselor to Secretary Chertoff and Associate General Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security from 2005 to 2007.[6] Wheelbarger served as counsel to Vice President Richard Cheney and general counsel to the Vice President's 80-person staff from 2007 to 2009.

From 2011 to 2017, Wheelbarger served as policy director and counsel on the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services, where she managed the committee's intelligence portfolio for Chairman John McCain. She also served as deputy staff director and senior counsel on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where she was responsible for budget and policy reviews of intelligence community, led investigations, and developed policy positions for Chairman Mike Rogers.[2]

Wheelbarger served as vice president for litigation and chief compliance officer at CSRA Inc. In this position, she oversaw CSRA's litigation and investigations portfolio as well as oversaw the company's Ethics and Compliance Office.[2]

Wheelbarger served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in an acting capacity from June to October 2017. She was nominated again in October 2018.[7][8][9]

In early-2019 Wheelbarger voiced disapproval of Turkey's plan to move forward with purchases a Russian air defense system would compromise the security of F-35 aircraft, noting that U.S. cooperation with Turkey was at risk.[10]

Resignation

In February 2020, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Wheelbarger to serve as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security.[11] Her nomination was never submitted to the Senate. In June 2020, President Trump instead announced his intent to nominate Bradley Hansell, who earlier served as a special assistant to Trump, for this position.[12] On June 18, Wheelbarger submitted her resignation, effective July 4.[13] Reuters reported Wheelbarger's letter noted she was confident her colleagues would “continue to be guided by the U.S. Constitution and the principles of our founding, which ensure both our security and our freedom.”[14]

See also

References
  1. "Attorney Licensee Profile". The State Bar of California. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  2. "Katie Wheelbarger". United States Department of Defense. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  3. California Birth Index, 1905-1995, accessed Oct 27, 2019
  4. "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012"; School Name: University of California, Los Angeles; Year: 1999, accessed Oct 27, 2019
  5. RollCall, "Hill Climbers: Hold Onto Your Hat," Dec 8, 2009
  6. "Under Secretary of Defense for Policy > OUSDP Offices > ASD for International Security Affairs". policy.defense.gov. Retrieved Mar 3, 2019.
  7. "Kathryn Wheelbarger > U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE > Biography". www.defense.gov. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  8. Perlman, Derek Kravitz,Al Shaw,Claire (7 March 2018). "Kathryn L Wheelbarger | Trump Town". ProPublica. Retrieved 2020-04-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. Seligman, Lara (13 March 2020). "White House holding up DoD nomination amid Trump loyalty purge". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  10. Reuters, "Exclusive: U.S. may soon pause preparations for delivering F-35s to Turkey," March 20, 2019
  11. "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate and Appoint Individuals to Key Administration Posts". whitehouse.gov. February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020 – via National Archives.
  12. "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate and Appoint Individuals to Key Administration Posts". whitehouse.gov. June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020 – via National Archives.
  13. Seligman, Lara; Lippmann, Daniel (18 June 2020). "Senior Pentagon official resigns after White House nixes nomination for top job". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  14. CNBC, "Top Pentagon official Wheelbarger resigns, urges colleagues to be guided by U.S. Constitution", Jue 18, 2020
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