Donald Trump appointed attorney Robert Lighthizer, a former trade official in the Ronald Reagan administration, as U.S. trade representative on Tuesday.
Lighthizer will be tasked with fulfilling Trump's vow to confront nations like China and Mexico that the president-elect has accused of taking advantage of international trade agreements, the Washington Post reported. Trump has criticized current trade policies for bruising American business.
Trump is also expected to tap Marc Short, a top adviser to Vice President-elect Mike Pence, to head the legislative affairs arm in the West Wing, Politico reported late Monday.
Short will likely work alongside Rick Dearborn, the executive director of the presidential transition who will likely be named a deputy chief of staff. Dearborn was a longtime chief of staff to Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), who Trump nominated as attorney general.
Dearborn and Short will collaborate to help direct Trump's agenda through Congress.
The president-elect still must fill at least four major positions before his inauguration later this month: the secretaries of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs, the director of National Intelligence, and the head of the Council of Economic Advisers.
