In August 2008, Lago was nominated by New York governor David Paterson to serve as president and CEO of the Empire State Development Corporation.[4] After confirmation by the New York State Senate, she served until June 2009 and then continued to work as an advisor to the corporation until joining the Obama administration in February 2010.[3]
Obama Administration
In September 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Lago to serve as assistant secretary for international markets and development. She appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in November 2009 and was confirmed by voice vote of the full Senate in February 2010.[5]
In November 2014, President Obama nominated Lago to be a deputy trade representative with the rank of ambassador and nominated Wally Adeyemo to replace her as assistant secretary of the treasury.[9][10] She appeared before the Senate Committee on Finance in July 2015 and the committee advanced her nomination to the full Senate in August.[11] Adeyemo's nomination was withdrawn in December 2015 and no further action was taken on Lago's nomination before the end of the Obama administration in January 2017.[11][12]
Lago was part of a Biden administration effort in April 2022 to help repair the United States' "strained relations" with Turkey, Axios reported.[15] Lago traveled to Turkey to promote clean energy efforts in the region.