In a week of personnel movement for the Department of Energy, a nuclear legal adviser is leaving the organization while a White House nominee to head international affairs appeared before a Senate panel.
In the exit lane Seth Cohen, DOE’s chief counsel for nuclear law and policy, announced over the weekend that he is leaving the government.
“So, the cat is out of the bag … this past week I decided to transition out of the federal government,” Cohen said Saturday on his LinkedIn page. Cohen said he was proud of the work the Donald Trump administration accomplished on nuclear power both at DOE and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Cohen, who has been with DOE roughly a year, cited progress on issues such as nuclear lifecycle campuses, a pilot program for advanced reactors, NRC reforms and other programs. “I came to believe we have cleared the biggest hurdles,” Cohen said.
Since joining the government in May 2025 from the Kirkland & Ellis law firm, Cohen has worked in a variety of positions for DOE, NASA and NRC.
Meanwhile Kaveh Farzad, Trump’s pick to be assistant secretary of energy for International Affairs, told the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Tuesday he would use the DOE’s national labs to help the U.S. win the artificial intelligence (AI) race.
Farzad said in his testimony, AI will help advance the administration’s “energy dominance” agenda. “This effort will include leveraging our 17 national labs to win the AI race and accelerate technology adoption across markets.”
Farzad is a managing director for FGS Global, who advises large organizations on political and policy risks. He has previously worked for the State Department. He was nominated by Trump in March.
In addition to Farzad, the committee also heard testimony from two nominees for high-ranking jobs in the Interior Department.
Committee Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) used the hearing to encourage Farzad to, if confirmed, enact tighter safeguards against Chinese nationals who are allowed access to DOE labs. Lee and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) wrote a letter to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright this week on the same issue.
Also during the hearing the ranking Democrat, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) criticized President Trump for being slow in submitting nominees for the Interior and DOE positions. Heinrich also said Farzad has less experience than many prior DOE international nominees.