Robert Lighthizer

Robert Emmet Lighthizer (born October 11, 1947) is an American attorney and government official who was the United States Trade Representative in the Donald Trump administration from 2017 to 2021.

Lighthizer was born in 1947 to Orville James and Michaelene Lighthizer in Ashtabula, Ohio, where his father practiced medicine.

He attended Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills, Ohio, and later graduated from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1969 and a Juris Doctor in 1973.

After graduating from law school, Lighthizer joined Covington & Burling in Washington D.C. as an associate attorney.

After he graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1973, Lighthizer joined the firm of Covington and Burling in Washington, D.C. He left the firm in 1978 to work as chief minority counsel and later staff director and chief of staff of the Senate Committee on Finance under Chairman Bob Dole.

On January 23, press reports speculated that Lighthizer's nomination might require a waiver of section 141(b)(4) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, due to his brief representation of a foreign government in litigation 25 years prior.

In March, White House Counsel Donald McGahn sent a letter to Senate leadership citing a Clinton-era opinion by the White House Counsel arguing that the statute was an unconstitutional limit on the president's ability to appoint his cabinet.

At his confirmation hearing, Lighthizer was introduced by former Senator Bob Dole and U.S. senators from Ohio Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman.

In introducing Lighthizer, Brown said, "Mr. Lighthizer is eminently qualified, as Senator Dole said, for this job. He has a long history of fighting on behalf of American manufacturers, and I would add, American workers."

On April 25, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved Lighthizer's nomination to serve as the U.S. Trade Representative as well as a waiver of section 141(b)(4) of the Trade Act of 1974.

In 1978, Lighthizer left Covington & Burling to work for Senator Bob Dole (R-Kan.), who at the time was the Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee.

In the 1980s, Lighthizer hired fellow Georgetown Hoya Patrick Ewing as an intern.

When Dole became Chairman of the Finance Committee in 1981, Lighthizer became the committee's staff director and chief of staff.

While working for the committee, he helped shepherd through President Ronald Reagan's tax cuts and Social Security reform.

In 1983, Robert Lighthizer was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be Deputy U.S. Trade Representative for President Ronald Reagan.

In 1983, during the administration of President Ronald Reagan, Lighthizer was nominated and confirmed to serve as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative under William Brock.

During his tenure, Lighthizer negotiated over two dozen bilateral international agreements, including agreements on steel, automobiles, and agricultural products.

As Deputy USTR, Lighthizer also served as Vice Chairman of the Board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

In 1985, Lighthizer joined the Washington office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP as a partner and led the firm's international trade group.

In 1985, Lighthizer joined the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (Skadden) as a partner.

He practiced international trade law at Skadden for over 30 years, representing American workers and businesses ranging from manufacturing to financial services, agriculture, and technology.

While at Skadden, Lighthizer worked to expand markets to U.S. exports and defended U.S. industries from unfair trading practices.

He defended the steel industry in particular.

Lighthizer served in a senior position in the 1988 presidential campaign of U.S. Senator Bob Dole.

In 1996, he served as the treasurer of the Dole campaign.

On January 3, 2017, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he intended to nominate Lighthizer as his U.S. Trade Representative.

Lighthizer was confirmed by the Senate on May 11, 2017, by a vote of 82–14.

Lighthizer was an architect of American trade policy during Trump's presidency.

A protectionist, trade skeptic and China hawk, he embroiled the United States in trade wars with China and the European Union, as well as weakened the World Trade Organization Appellate Body.

Along with other Cabinet-level officials in the Trump Administration, he left office on January 20, 2021, following the inauguration of President Joe Biden.

On January 3, 2017, Donald Trump announced that he planned to nominate Lighthizer as U.S. Trade Representative, a cabinet-level position.

Lighthizer was confirmed as the 18th U.S. Trade Representative on May 11, 2017, by a margin of 82–14.

He was sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence on May 15, 2017.

Three days later, on May 18, Lighthizer notified Congress that President Trump intended to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which would make him the first USTR to renegotiate a major U.S. free trade agreement.

According to multiple reports, Lightizer became one of the most influential Trump Administration officials and the lead figure in formulating the administration's trade policy.

The reports noted his agreement with Trump on trade issues.

In April 2018, it was reported that Lightizer had spent $917,000 on new furnishings for two offices.

Lighthizer said the upgrades had been initiated under former President Barack Obama to replace decades-old furniture, an assertion supported by vendors who supplied the new items.

Lighthizer has stated that using tariffs to promote American industry was a Republican tenet dating back to the pro-business politicians who established the party.

In his book, No Trade is Free, he wrote that he believes that U.S. trade policy "should revolve around helping working-class American families," and, to that end, he has called for a "new American System" of trade policy that uses tariffs to offset the U.S. trade deficit and restore the U.S. manufacturing sector.