Todd Jacobson
NS&D Monitor
3/07/2014
It took nearly two years, but Rose Gottemoeller was finally confirmed as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security by the Senate this week—but not without a fight. Gottemoeller was confirmed March 6 in a 58-42 vote despite concerns raised by a handful of GOP Senators over concerns with Russian noncompliance with arms control treaties like the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty. GOP Senators have suggested that the Obama Administration—and Gottemoeller, its chief New START Treaty negotiator—did not adequately notify the Senate about potential Russian violations of the INF Treaty during debate on the New START Treaty in 2010, but because of the change in the Senate’s filibuster rules, Republicans were unable to block Gottemoeller’s nomination.
Gottemoeller has been serving as the acting Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security since early 2012 when Ellen Tauscher left the State Department. She has been nominated for the position three times—once in 2012, and again in 2013 when the Senate failed to act on her nomination. She had to be nominated a third time in early January when the Senate failed to act on dozens of nominations last year. Frank Rose, who was nominated to succeed Gottemoeller as the Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and Compliance, still has not been confirmed by the Senate.
Republicans Raise Concerns
Republicans hammered her on concerns about Russian noncompliance with the INF Treaty, delaying a vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but they could do nothing to formally block the nomination. “We are extremely disappointed in Senator Reid’s decision to once again subvert the rules of the Senate and schedule a vote on this controversial nominee,” Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Jim Risch (Idaho) and John Cornyn (Texas) said in a statement late last week when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced a plan to vote on Gottemoeller’s nomination. “We have repeatedly made clear to the Obama administration our concerns about Ms. Gottemoeller’s role in failing to quickly pursue evidence of Russia’s [non]compliance with multiple arms control agreements and her delay in making the Senate aware of these violations.”
As the vote loomed, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also voiced his displeasure. “Now President Obama proposes to recycle the failed negotiator from New START and put her in a position of considerable authority to manage our highly sensitive and adversarial relationships with both Russia and Iran,” Cruz said. “Given Ms. Gottemoeller’s track record of prioritizing getting a deal over defending our national security interests, this nomination poses an unacceptable risk in a dangerous time. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to unite in voting no on Rose Gottemoeller.”
DOE Nominees Remain in Limbo
Meanwhile, 10 Department of Energy nominees remain unconfirmed, including President Obama’s pick to be National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator, Frank Klotz, and Elizabeth Robinson, the Administration’s pick to be Under Secretary of Energy for Performance and Management. “It’s obviously very, very frustrating,” Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said this week. “We all know the confirmation process has kind of slowed to a crawl at the moment. All I can do is hope that we’ll have our full complement, our full team together, soon.”