The White House announced on the evening of April 11 that it is nominating Nazak Nikakhtar, the current assistant secretary of Commerce for industry and analysis, to be under secretary of Commerce for industry and security.

Kevin McAleenan assumed the role of acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on April 10, DHS said in an April 10 news release. On April 11, McAleenan said Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator David Pekoske was designated "senior official performing the duties of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Deputy Secretary." DHS has not said who will take over for McAleenan as CBP commissioner.

Jon Yormick, an international trade lawyer who previously operated his own firm, joined Phillips Lytle as special counsel and will lead the law firm's new office in Cleveland, Ohio, the firm said in a news release.

Michael Roberts, previously general counsel at Crowley Maritime Corp., was named the company's senior vice president for government relations, Crowley said in a news release. "The move will enhance the company’s presence in Washington to better address the important policy and regulatory issues affecting the maritime and logistics industry, and to increase support for the company’s fast-growing work on behalf of the federal government," the company said. Parker Harrison, previously senior vice president of procurement and risk management, will become general counsel, the company said.

Grant Robinson will become CEO at Farrow on April 1, the company said in a news release. Robinson previously worked as a partner at an executive search consulting firm.

Hogan Lovells hired Anne Salladin, previously special counsel at Stroock & Stroock, as a partner in the firm's international trade practice, it said in a news release. "Salladin will advise clients on issues relating to international business and national security, particularly as they relate to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)," Hogan Lovells said. Salladin was senior counsel in the Treasury Department's Office of Assistant General Counsel for International Affairs, "which provides legal advice to the Secretary of the Treasury as Chairperson of CFIUS," before joining the private sector, the law firm said.

The Permanent Technical Committee of the World Customs Organization unanimously re-elected Ian Saunders, assistant commissioner of International Affairs at CBP, as chairperson of the PTC, the WCO said in a news release. Gordana Vidanovic of Serbia was re-elected as vice-chairperson.

Crowell & Moring has hired partners Nicole Simonian and Evan Yee-Fan Chuck, and counsel Jackson Pai, in the firm's Los Angeles office, and senior counsel Robert Clifton Burns is joining the Washington, D.C., office. The firm is also launching an office in Shanghai with seven trade, transactions and tax professionals. The lawyers were formerly with Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner.