President Donald Trump on Thursday formally nominated Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes to the No. 2 position at the Department of Energy.
If confirmed by the Senate, Menezes would assume the DOE deputy secretary position left vacant in December when Dan Brouillette was sworn in as secretary of energy.
“Congratulations to my friend and colleague Mark W. Menezes on his nomination being sent to the Senate. Mark’s outstanding leadership has greatly benefited @ENERGY.,” Brouillette tweeted shortly after the announcement.
The White House on Feb. 13 announced its intention to elevate Menezes to deputy energy secretary. By that point, he had already been taken on greater influence within the agency: In January, Brouillette gave him authority to make decisions on all areas of DOE operations except for the semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). That covered human capital, cybersecurity, security, and property, among others activities.
Among its responsibilities, the Energy Department is mandated by Congress to establish permanent disposal for the nation’s stockpile of high-level radioactive waste and used fuel from commercial nuclear power plants.
Menezes created a minor stir earlier in February when he told a House subcommittee that the Trump administration’s budget for fiscal 2021 was intended to put the federal government “on a path” toward building a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain, Nev.
That was less than a week after Trump had tweeted that his administration was looking for alternatives to Yucca Mountain, and two days after the White House issued a budget plan that notably did not include any money to resume the long-frozen federal licensing for the disposal site.
Within days of his comments, both Menezes and the Energy Department had issued statements setting the record straight on the administration’s intentions regarding Yucca Mountain.
“I have spoken to the White House and the Administration will not be pursuing Yucca Mountain as a solution for nuclear waste, and there are no funds in the budget to do so,” Menezes said in his statement. “I am fully supportive of the President’s decision and applaud him for taking action when so many others have failed to do so.”
The Trump administration did try in three consecutive budgets, up to the current 2020, to persuade Congress to provide funding to resume licensing for Yucca Mountain. Congress rejected each request.
For the budget year beginning Oct. 1, the Energy Department is instead seeking $27.5 million to initiate a program focused on developing centralized, interim storage of radioactive waste now spread across the nation.
The nomination was directed to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. A hearing had not been scheduled as of Friday.
Menezes has served as undersecretary of energy since November 2017. His portfolio involves “driving transformative energy policy, and technology solutions through coordinated planning, management and performance of the Department’s energy programs,” according to the official DOE biography.
Prior to joining the Energy Department, Menezes worked in the private sector as an executive with Berkshire Hathaway Energy and as a partner with the law firm Hunton & Williams. Before that he was chief counsel for energy and environment at the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
There was no immediate word from the White House regarding a nominee to replace Menezes as undersecretary for energy.
The Energy Department has two other undersecretaries: Undersecretary for Science Paul Dabbar and Undersecretary for Nuclear Security Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, who also heads the NNSA.
