WASHINGTON, DC — President Joe Biden has announced his nomination of Christopher J. Williamson for Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health at the U.S. Department of Labor.
Williamson is a 2010 graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law.
From the White House news release:
A proud Appalachian and native of the coalfields of southern West Virginia, Williamson currently serves as Senior Counsel to Chairman Lauren McFerran of the National Labor Relations Board. Prior to joining the NLRB, he served in the Obama-Biden Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor as a member of the senior leadership team at the Mine Safety and Health Administration. In that role, he advised the Assistant Secretary for MSHA on all aspects of agency policy, operations, and communications.
Before his service at MSHA, Williamson worked in the United States Senate as Labor Counsel to Chairman Tom Harkin on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and as a Legislative Assistant to Senator Joe Manchin III. As Labor Counsel, he advised Chairman Harkin and Committee Members on labor, occupational and mine safety and health, and black lung benefits and other workers’ compensation issues. Serving on Senator Manchin’s Legislative Team, Williamson was the Senator’s primary policy advisor on labor, mine safety and health, pensions, and agriculture issues and also advised him on energy and environmental policy, including Senator Manchin’s work on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Williamson began his career in public service as an attorney-advisor to Administrative Law Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck at the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission. He earned a Juris Doctor from the West Virginia University College of Law, a Master of Public Policy from American University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics from West Virginia University. Williamson is originally from Dingess in Mingo County, West Virginia, and currently resides with his wife and children in Crofton, Maryland.
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Source: President Biden Announces Additional Nominees, Nov. 12, 2021
Photo of Christopher Williamson in 2015 provided by Prof. Patrick McGinley.
