Mr. Billingslea is a former Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing at the United States Department of the Treasury. Currently, he is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute, focusing on illicit finance and arms control with the Kleptocracy Initiative.

Prior to joining Hudson Institute, Mr. Billingslea was the special presidential envoy for arms control at the US Department of State, holding the rank of ambassador. In this capacity, he led arms control negotiations and worked with partners and allies in Europe and Asia on the development and deployment of defensive capabilities.

Before joining the State Department, Mr. Billingslea served as the assistant secretary for terrorist financing at the US Department of the Treasury, where he built international coalitions and led US efforts to counter illicit financial activities around the globe. In 2018, he was selected as president of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)—the global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing body—and co-chaired the global Counter-ISIS Finance Group and multiple bilateral negotiating fora with friendly and allied nations. Earlier in his career, he served for more than six years as the senior professional staff member for national security affairs on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Before rejoining the US government in 2017, Mr. Billingslea spent more than eight years in the private sector. Between 2001 and 2009, he served in several senior roles within the Department of Defense and at NATO, including as deputy undersecretary of the Navy and assistant secretary general for defense investment at NATO.

Mr. Billingslea holds a BA from Dartmouth College and an MA in law and diplomacy from Tufts University. He has been awarded the Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service by the US Secretary of Defense and decorated by the US Secretary of the Navy with the Distinguished Public Service medal, and received the Treasury Medal in recognition of his work at the Department of the Treasury.