Nels Nordquist, a top economic aide to US President Donald Trump, is leaving the White House to take a senior role at the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, five sources familiar with the plans have told Reuters.
Nordquist had served as deputy director for international economics at the National Economic Council, giving him a key role in overseeing US sanctions policy and serving as the liaison or “sherpa” to the Group of Seven advanced economies and the Group of 20 major economies.
The sources said Nordquist, a former congressional staff aide, is slated to become the US deputy director-general at the ILO, a UN agency that works to establish and promote human and labour rights worldwide and addresses issues such as child labour, while promoting international standards.
One of the sources said the White House did not plan to replace Nordquist on the NEC. The White House declined to comment and did not make Nordquist available for comment. The change will leave the White House without a designated official to prepare for the US presidency of the G20 group next year, which will culminate in a summit of foreign leaders in the US.
The two key day-to-day people for organising a G20 summit are the sherpa and the finance deputy.
— Mark Sobel, Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum chair
A senior international economics role at the Treasury department that has helped structure US participation in the G20 has also been left unfilled since Trump took office.
“The two key day-to-day people for organising a G20 summit are the sherpa and the finance deputy,” said Mark Sobel, a former senior US Treasury official, who now serves as chair of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum think-tank.
“If neither is in place, it will pose a challenge to organise the agenda and themes for the US presidency in 2026.”
Trump has already said he will not attend this year's G20 summit in South Africa, and sources familiar with the plans said the US will significantly reduce the scope of the G20's work when it takes over next year.
Nordquist is expected to replace Celeste Drake, who was appointed to the ILO role by former president Joe Biden two years ago. A source familiar with the matter said Drake had been informed that she would be relieved of her duties this autumn. Drake declined to comment. The US has fallen behind in the payment of its dues to the ILO and recently blocked accreditation of the AFL-CIO labour organisation to the UN body.
The job move for Nordquist coincides with the appointment of his wife, Jennifer “DJ” Nordquist, to a top role at the World Trade Organisation, which is also based in Geneva. DJ Nordquist, who had served on the White House Council of Economic Advisers, was appointed last month to become the US deputy director-general of the WTO, which has also drawn sharp criticism from the Trump administration.
Reuters
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