President Obama appoints seven key administration posts

President Barack Obama has announced his intentions to appoint seven individuals to key administration posts across a number of sectors.

Notably, M. Tia Johnson will become the assistant secretary for legislative affairs for the Department of Homeland Security. Johnson is currently a senior advisor at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Department of Homeland Security.

Before that, Johnson had a long career in the Army’s Judge Advocate General Corps where she attained the rank of colonel -- the first black woman to achieve that rank in the JAG Corps.

Jay C. Shambaugh, currently a professor of economics and international affairs at the George Washington University, will return as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers. Shambaugh has held posts with the council twice previously.

The president appointed both Doreen E. Brown and Aaron Payment as members National Advisory Council on Indian Education. Payment is the current tribal chairperson of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, while Brown is the executive director of Title VII Indian Education in Anchorage, Alaska, where she has worked since 2004.

Joan McDonald served as commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation until this year and will now put that experience to use as a member of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council.

McColl Center for Art + Innovation Associate Director Lisa Funderburke Hoffman will take on the role of a member of the National Museum and Library Services Board.

Carmen Amalia Corrales is an attorney with the Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP law firm and will be joining the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.

“I am confident that these experienced and hardworking individuals will help us tackle the important challenges facing America, and I am grateful for their service,” Obama said. “I look forward to working with them.”