Over 400 days into the Donald Trump administration, two of the four National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) leadership slots requiring Senate confirmation remain empty, and there is no nominee for one of them.
Lisa Gordon-Hagerty was confirmed as NNSA administrator in February, and Brent Park followed her into NNSA headquarters in March as deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation.
That leaves only two NNSA positions that must go through the Senate for confirmation: principal deputy administrator, the No. 2 position in the Energy Department weapons subagency, and deputy administrator for the NNSA’s $10-plus-billion-a-year Defense Programs stovepipe.
On Feb. 26, nearly two months ago, the White House nominated Charles Verdon, principal associate director at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Weapons and Complex Integration Directorate, to lead Defense Programs at NNSA headquarters in Washington.
The Senate Armed Services Committee, which vets NNSA nominees, did not reply to emails Tuesday asking why Verdon had not been scheduled for a nomination hearing yet.
Meanwhile, the White House had yet to nominate a deputy for Gordon-Hagerty at deadline Tuesday for Weapons Complex Morning Briefing.
