George Bogden, formerly executive director of CBP’s Office of Trade Relations, is joining government relations firm Continental Strategy as senior counsel for trade and tariff matters, the firm said in a press release.

Rick Switzer was approved as the deputy U.S. trade representative for Asia, textiles, investment, services and intellectual property as part of a bloc of nominees approved en masse by the Senate Sept. 18. Switzer spent most of his career in the Foreign Service at the State Department.

At his nomination hearing, he said: "The status quo trading system of the past two decades ignored the unfair trading practices of many of our largest trading partners and, as a result, many Americans, particularly the middle class, are hurting. We need trade policies and practices that place the American economy and the American worker first, requiring that all of our trading partners play by rules based on reciprocity. President [Donald] Trump's America First Trade Policy aims to make trade work for the benefit of all Americans, by creating jobs, promoting innovation, strengthening our national defense, raising wages for our workers, and restoring our manufacturing capabilities."

Michael Granston, former deputy assistant attorney general for the Commercial Litigation Branch in DOJ's Civil Division, has rejoined Covington as a partner in the False Claims Act investigations and litigation practice group, the firm announced. Granston worked at DOJ for nearly 30 years, serving as deputy assistant attorney general since 2019, where he managed litigation and enforcement of FCA, international trade and intellectual property matters. Before going to DOJ, he was an associate in Covington’s litigation and white collar practice groups.