The White House’s nominee for Energy Department inspector general has replied to a long list of concerns raised by senators at her confirmation hearing last month, but with a busy legislative session ahead and a backlog of would-be government executives awaiting confirmation, it was not immediately clear how, or if, the development would hasten the official appointment of a permanent DOE watchdog.
The White House in April nominated attorney Susan Beard, a 27-year DOE veteran, to be the DOE IG. Beard had her confirmation hearing with the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on May 12, where lawmakers from Oregon and Washington raised concerns about DOE Hanford Site.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) was particularly concerned about recent chemical-vapor exposures at Hanford, and demanded to know what Beard would do as inspector general to combat what he perceives to be a hostile culture for whistleblowers and workers.
Beard has apparently replied to Wyden’s requests, which were appended to the committee’s long list of questions about many things besides DOE’s roughly $6-billion-a-year legacy nuclear waste cleanup efforts, an aide said Wednesday.
The aide did not share Beard’s answers.
Although that is a sign the nomination process has not ground to a halt it does not necessarily portend immediate action on the nomination. The Senate is set Tuesday to begin debate on its annual National Defense Authorization Act. Senators also have 10 of the 12 annual appropriations bills left to pass.
Meanwhile, other nominees for top DOE posts are still waiting for the full-Senate confirmation vote.
For example, John Kotek, acting assistant secretary for DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, was nominated in October, passed the Energy and Natural Resources Committee in November, and still has not gotten a vote by the full Senate.
Beard, as an IG nominee who would essentially serve as long as she chooses, has one more hurdle to clear than Kotek: the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. That panel must approve all IG nominees once the committee of jurisdiction — Energy and Natural Resources, in Beard’s case — clears them.
