President Donald Trump has nominated Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, as director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.

The nomination comes as Issa, the longtime representative of California’s 49th District, is preparing to leave behind congressional life after opting to not run for re-election earlier this year.

Issa represents much of northern San Diego County and a small part of Orange County and has been in Congress for 17 years.

If approved, Issa will take the reins of the agency tasked with promoting U.S. trade and exports with developing and middle income countries. In 2016, the agency had a $60 million budget. It’s now $79.5 million.


Trump has proposed drastic budget cuts to the agency that would have left it with a $12 million budget. At one point, he even suggested eliminating it entirely. Congress instead has beefed up its funding.