McHale Leaving State Department

Judith McHale, the political appointee who along with ECA chief Ann Stock oversees the process for imposing import restrictions on cultural goods, has announced that she is leaving her post. See
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mchale-leaving-state-department/2011/05/23/AFF8D39G_story.html

No reason has been given for her departure. During her tenure, the State Department and U.S. Customs imposed new import restrictions on "coins of Italian type" over the objections of a bipartisan group of U.S. Congressmen, the State Department's own Cultural Property Advisory Committee, and thousands of coin collectors. The new regulations have also been criticised as inconsistent with President Obama's promises to limit over burdensome regulations on U.S. small businesses.

McHale is said to be returning to work in the private sector in New York.