New Under Sec. For Mgmt. Among Those Approved
Mike Nartker
NS&D Monitor
1/17/2014
Elizabeth Robinson’s nomination to fill the Department of Energy’s new position of Under Secretary for Management and Performance took another step forward this week, though it still remains to be seen when she will be approved by the full Senate and ultimately assume the job. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved by a voice vote Robinson and five other pending DOE nominees—Franklin Orr to serve as Under Secretary for Science; Steven Croley to serve as General Counsel; Christopher Smith to serve as Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy; Marc Kastner to serve as Director of the Office of Science and Ellen Williams to serve as Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).
The committee also approved by a vote of 16-6 the nomination of Jonathan Elkind to serve as Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, with Republican Senators Mike Lee (Utah), Dean Heller (Nev.), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), John Barrasso (Wyo.), Jim Risch (Idaho) and Tim Scott (S.C.) having voted no. The set of DOE nominees were renominated by the Obama Administration earlier this month after the Senate formally returned the nominations to the President because they were caught up in a dispute between Democrats and Republicans over new filibuster rules in the Senate and were not confirmed before the end of 2013.
The new Under Secretary for Management and Performance position—established as part of a DOE reorganization conducted last year—will oversee the Department’s offices of Environmental Management and Legacy Management, as well as several support offices. Robinson was nominated to in July for the position, and was initially approved by the Senate energy committee last fall. She has served as NASA’s CFO since 2009, and from 2005-2009 she served as Assistant Director for Budget at the White House Office of Management and Budget. She has also held various other positions at OMB and the Congressional Budget Office, and served as a Congressional staffer, among other positions.
