Roger Jarrell, a senior adviser at the Department of Energy, was appointed Wednesday to serve as DOE’s principal deputy assistant secretary for Environmental Management.
Jarrell’s appointment to the position, sometimes referred to as EM-2, means he will lead the DOE Office of Environmental Management until whatever point an assistant secretary for Environmental Management (EM-1) is confirmed by the Senate.
Tim Walsh, a real estate developer from Colorado, was nominated last month by President Donald Trump. No hearing date has been set yet for a confirmation hearing.
News of Jarrell’s appointment was announced via a staff memo Wednesday by longtime Environmental Management (EM) executive Dae Chung, who has been serving as EM-2.
“Roger has always been a champion and true partner for the EM program and his leadership will build on the strong success EM has achieved for the past three decades,” Chung said in the memo viewed by Exchange Monitor.
“With Roger at the helm, I’m confident that EM will maintain our steady commitment to safe performance and driving down risks,” Chung said. “I look forward to continuing to support him as I return to my permanent position leading EM’s Corporate Services.”
Jarrell followed up with his own staff memo. “I’m honored to be named EM’s new Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary,” Jarrell said. “In this role, I will also serve as the acting head of EM until the Senate confirms President Trump’s nominee for EM Assistant Secretary, Tim Walsh.”
Jarrell praised Chung. “Dae has been integral in helping us identify ways we can work smarter and faster to deliver more across the EM mission at a better value for American taxpayers,” Jarrell said.
In addition, Jarrell voiced support for using nuclear cleanup sites from the Cold War and the Manhattan Project for new electric power generation. “We know this is possible because of the results at sites like Oak Ridge, where successful cleanup has made resources available to help advance a host of new nuclear projects.”
Jarrell, who worked with DOE during the first Trump administration, was previously general counsel at Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee.
Jarrell has a law degree from Washington & Lee and a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Military Institute.
Jarrell becomes the third individual to oversee operations at the Office of Environmental Management since President Trump was sworn in Jan. 20. The first was Candice Robertson, who succeeded William (Ike) White in mid-2024. Then there was Chung and now Jarrell. The last assistant secretary for environmental management confirmed by the Senate was Anne Marie White in the first Trump administration.
