Mike Nartker
WC Monitor
1/23/2015
The White House is set to renominate Monica Regalbuto to head the Department of Energy’s cleanup program, though the timing of the move remains unclear, WC Monitor has learned. Along with Regalbuto, the White House is also set to renominate Jonathan Elkind to serve as Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs and Marc Kastner to serve as Director of DOE’s Office of Science, according to officials familiar with the issue. All three failed to be confirmed by the full Senate before the end of the last Congress. DOE did not respond to request for comment on the issue late this week.
Regalbuto was nominated by the Obama Administration 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.
