Context: The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is headed up by six Commissioners, who are nominated by the President and later confirmed by the U.S. Senate. However, the ITC has operated with one or more vacancies since at least June 2022, when Meredith Broadbent stepped down. Since February 1, 2025, after the departure of both Randolph Stayin and Rhonda K. Schmidtlein (January 16, 2025 ITC press release), it has been operating with only 50% capacity, with the remaining Commissioners either approaching the end of their terms or their terms having already expired (including Amy A. Karpel and Jason E. Kearns). The Commission still functions notwithstanding vacancies, but as some Commissioners need to be able to recuse themselves from cases, more members can only benefit its decision-making. President Donald Trump nominated two Republicans in February, and a further three Commissioners (mix of Democrats/Republican) last month (June 2, 2026 ip fray article). A hearing was held before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on June 25, 2026 (June 25, 2026 U.S. Senate hearing).
What’s new: The U.S. Senate has confirmed all five of President Trump’s nominees to the ITC, restoring the Commission to its full six-member panel for the first time since 2022 (July 16, 2026 U.S. Senate nominee confirmations). The new Commissioners include: David Foley Jr., Brett W. Doyle, Samuel Negatu, Peter-Anthony Pappas, and Bart Thanhauser.
Direct impact: The five new Commissioners join David S. Johanson, who is staying on despite the expiration of his term, and will be led by Brett W. Doyle as Chairman.
Wider ramifications: Both Mr. Pappas and Mr. Foley have significant IP experience, including working on the IP Committees in the U.S. Congress. That experience could lead to a greater focus on IP cases at the ITC, as well as efforts to speed investigations up. Returning the ITC to six full seats will help a lot in cases such as where parties have used missing members to prevent decision-making, such as in Nokia v. Amazon (January 17, 2025 ip fray article). While that case has now long been settled, Amazon asserted at the time that the ITC was “inquorate” (lacking the quorum to make decisions), seeking to push a decision by four months. It also restores management flexibility that had significantly deteriorated under the three-member quorum. Those involved in pending or upcoming ITC Section 337 investigations may want to pay special attention to the incoming Commissioners’ priorities.
Generally, the staff on the ITC will come to about 365 individuals, including international trade analysts (investigators and experts in particular industries), international economists, attorneys, and technical support personnel.
Meet the new Commissioners
Below is a short breakdown of each of the five new Commissioners who have joined Commissioner Johanson in bringing the ITC back to full capacity. They each have different backgrounds and represent different political parties – as under the rules, no more than three Commissioners are allowed to be of the same political party.
| Name | Term expiration | Biography |
| Bartholomew Thanhauser | December 16, 2027 | A Democrat who served asDeputy Assistant Trade Representative for the Southeast Asia and Pacific Regions of New York for over a decade. |
| Samuel Negatu | June 16, 2029 | A Democrat who served as Director of Government Affairs for the Consumer Technology Association of the District of Columbia. He also served as Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Congressional Affairs and later as Assistant General Counsel for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. |
| Brett Doyle | December 16, 2030 | A Republican who served as Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Congressional Affairs at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. There, he directed Congressional engagement on trade negotiations, legislation, tariff policy, and enforcement matters. |
| David Foley, Jr. | June 16, 2032 | A Republican who worked in private IP law practice before joining the ITC as a clerk in the Office of the Administrative Law Judges. He later served as a litigator at the U.S. Department of Justice and in policy roles at the White House, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and the House Judiciary Committee. |
| Peter-Anthony Pappas | June 16, 2035 | A Republican who previously worked as a patent examiner at the USPTO before becoming a supervisory patent examiner. At the USPTO, he also served as Special Advisor to the Director, where he helped craft the 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance. Most recently, he served as Director of Intellectual Property Policy for the Senate Judiciary Committee of New Jersey. |