White House Again Nominates Monica Regalbuto to Serve as EM-1

The Obama Administration yesterday nominated for a second time Monica Regalbuto to serve as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management. Regalbuto was first nominated last spring to fill the vacancy left when Ines Triay stepped down as Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management in July 2011. Since then, the position has been filled in an acting capacity, first by David Huizenga and then beginning in July 2014 by Mark Whitney, who also serves as EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary. At the time of her nomination, Regalbuto had been serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for Fuel Cycle Technologies in DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy. However, she has since moved to take a senior management role in EM, and now serves as Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary.

Regalbuto had largely been seen as an uncontroversial choice to head up DOE’s cleanup program, and sailed through a hearing the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held to consider her nomination last June. However, her nomination subsequently hit a roadblock when she was subjected to a hold by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) over concerns with the Department’s transfers of uranium to help fund cleanup and other activities. The hold prevented the Senate from easily approving Regalbuto’s nomination by unanimous consent. In December, Barrasso lifted his hold on Regalbuto after receiving sought-after information from DOE on its uranium transfer policy, but the Senate ultimately chose not to vote on her nomination before the end of the last Congress.