WASHINGTON – Today Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent announced key appointments for senior positions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Biographies of the appointees are listed below in alphabetical order:
Rebecca Oakes Burch will serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs at the Department of the Treasury. She began her career as a tax attorney in the Internal Revenue Service Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Corporate) where she served for 10 years focusing on all aspects of corporate and partnership tax matters. She brought that expertise to private practice in the EY Transaction Tax Services practice, specializing in corporate reorganizations. She was most recently a managing director with Washington Council E&Y, where for the last ten years she assisted clients on tax policy matters in Congress, the regulatory agencies and at the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation. She has a Masters in Tax from Georgetown Law School, a law degree from Loyola University in New Orleans, and an undergraduate degree in philosophy from Loyola University in Chicago.
Kevin Salinger will serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy at the Department of the Treasury. Mr. Salinger joins the Treasury Department after over ten years at Jefferies, where he was a Managing Director and Head of Tax Counsel & Advisory. He advised Jefferies’ global investment banking and capital markets businesses on a wide range of domestic and international tax matters, with a focus on financial services and long-term tax planning. Mr. Salinger also served as Vice President of the Wall Street Tax Association and began his legal career as a tax associate at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, where he advised clients on financial products, mergers and acquisitions, and cross-border tax planning. He has been active in industry policy discussions on tax regulation and has worked closely with trade associations, law firms, and government stakeholders throughout his career. Mr. Salinger holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Derek Theurer is President Trump’s nominee to serve as Deputy Under Secretary of the Treasury for Legislative Affairs and upon confirmation will be designated as Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs. He currently serves as Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury, advising on domestic and international tax policy. Mr. Theurer is a veteran of Capitol Hill, joining the Treasury Department after four years in the House of Representatives. He served as Chief Tax Counsel at the House Committee on Ways and Means and most recently as Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of the Speaker, where he handled tax, trade, and financial services matters. Mr. Theurer previously served as Senior Tax Counsel in the Senate, contributing to the design and passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. His private sector tax experience includes senior roles at Exxon Mobil Corporation and the Business Roundtable. Mr. Theurer graduated summa cum laude from Utah State University with a bachelor’s in accounting, and he holds a J.D. from UCLA School of Law as well as an L.L.M. in Taxation from NYU School of Law.
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