Biden to Tap Crebo-Rediker, Nelson as Treasury Undersecretaries

(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden is set to nominate economist Heidi Crebo-Rediker to serve as the Treasury Department’s top diplomat and attorney Brian Nelson as the agency’s top sanctions official, filling out Secretary Janet Yellen’s leadership team, according to people familiar with the matter.

Nelson, who previously worked for Vice President Kamala Harris when she was California’s attorney general, will be nominated for undersecretary of the Terrorism and Financial Intelligence office, or TFI, the people said. A graduate of Yale Law School, Nelson has recently been working as a senior official with Los Angeles’s 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games planning.

Crebo-Rediker, a former investment banker, was appointed chief economist at the State Department by then-Secretary Hillary Clinton and will be nominated for undersecretary of international affairs at the Treasury, the people said.

Josh Berman, a partner at law firm Clifford Chance, will be tapped as assistant secretary overseeing Treasury’s work on the Committee for Foreign Investment in the U.S., or CFIUS, the people said.

Elizabeth Rosenberg, currently serving as a counselor to Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo, will be nominated as assistant secretary of terrorist financing, the people said on the condition of anonymity.

Diversity Boost

All positions are subject to Senate confirmation. A Treasury spokeswoman declined to comment.

If confirmed, Yellen -- the first woman to fill the role in the agency’s 231-year history -- will have the most diverse set of top advisers the agency has ever seen. Adeyemo, Treasury’s No. 2 official, is the most senior-ranking Black person to serve in the department. Nelson would be the first Black person to serve as TFI undersecretary.

Biden has already announced plans to nominate Nellie Liang, a former Federal Reserve economist, as undersecretary of Treasury’s domestic finance office. Her nomination is expected to be sent to the Senate in May, according to people familiar with the matter.

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