Appointments and Resignations
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development: Who Is Jay Williams?
Running as an independent, he won and became Youngstown's first African-American mayor in 2006. While mayor, he worked to transform Youngstown from a decaying rust-belt city to a tech hub. One of his programs urged the removal of abandoned buildings in the city, accepting the idea that Youngstown wouldn’t be as big as it once was. Williams won re-election in 2009 running unopposed.
President Obama tapped Williams in 2011 to be his auto czar. read more
Director of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office: Who Is Huban Gowadia?
She managed Homeland Security’s Science & Technology Countermeasures Test Beds until 2005, when she joined DNDO.
Gowadia moved quickly up the ladder in that agency, starting as assistant director for assessments. In 2007, she became assistant director of the mission management directorate before becoming deputy director of DNDO in 2010. She took over as acting director of the agency in 2012 before being formally appointed as director in 2013.
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Administrator of the Maritime Administration: Who Is Chip Jaenichen?
Most of Jaenichen’s 30-year Navy career was spent in submarines. He served two years as director of submarine/nuclear power distribution, overseeing 4,500 submarine officers and aviators. His last posting, from October 2010 to May 2012, was as deputy chief of legislative affairs for the Department of the Navy.
After retiring from the Navy, Jaenichen in July 2012 was appointed deputy maritime administrator. The following June, he was appointed acting administrator. read more
Acting Head of Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Resigns after Only 7 Weeks
Popovic, who took over the agency on January 26, told members of Congress in February that ATSDR lacked the authority and expertise to determine if the toxic well water had caused cancer. This assertion contradicted what ATSDR’s own scientists said in 2008, that such a study was feasible. read more
Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy: Who Is Christopher Smith?
Smith was asked to join the Obama Administration in October 2009. His first assignment was as deputy assistant secretary for Oil and Natural Gas in the Office of Fossil Energy. He served as the president’s representative to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico spill.
Smith has been acting deputy secretary in the fossil energy office since February 2013.
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Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs: Who is Esther Kia’aina?
In 2012, Kia’aina ran for the Democratic nomination for Hawaii’s 2nd district. That seat was vacated by Mazie Hirono, who ran for and won a U.S. Senate seat. Kia’aina lost her race, placing third. She was then appointed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie to be deputy director of Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources, a position she held until her Interior Department nomination. read more
Homeland Security Dept. Finally Gets an Inspector General after a 3-Year Vacancy…9 More IG Positions Still Unfilled
Inspectors general are expected to audit the department or agency for which they work for examples of fraud, waste, mismanagement and general incompetence.
The Homeland Security inspector general post was unfilled for 1,134 days before Roth was confirmed. That’s a long time, but it wasn’t close to the current record. That’s held by the Department of Interior, which hasn’t had an IG since February 23, 2009, or 1,846 days as of this writing. read more
U.S. 14 Months without Ambassador to Ireland; Canada Finally Gets One after 8 Months
Ireland has not had an American ambassador for 14 months. The fault lies squarely with President Barack Obama, who has not nominated a replacement. The White House offered no explanation for the delay. Officials in Canada also complained about the eight-month delay in their country getting a new U.S. ambassador.
But Obama was not to blame for this one. Bruce Heyman's confirmation vote before the full Senate was delayed by partisan politics. He was finally confirmed on March 12. read more
Director of Oversight of Biomedical Research Misconduct Blasts Bureaucracy in Resignation Letter
The bulk of his time,Wright said, was spent trying to cut through the bureaucracy run by Assistant Secretary for Health Howard Koh, for whom Wright worked. One example cited by Wright involved his efforts to fill the post of an ORI division director. He says he was told by Koh’s deputy, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Wanda Jones, that the position Wright wanted to fill was on a secret priority list and he was not allowed to know where that position fell on the list.
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Principal Deputy Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration: Who is Madelyn Creedon?
In 2011, she was appointed assistant secretary of defense for Global Strategic Affairs (GSA). In that post, Creedon has overseen such policy issues as cybersecurity for the Department of Defense (DOD), nuclear weapons, missile defense and countering weapons of mass destruction.
As part of her position as assistant secretary of defense, she has been co-leader of a Pentagon team reviewing recent problems with Air Force nuclear missile crews.
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Obama Outdoes Previous Presidents in Appointing Campaign Donors to Ambassadorships
President Obama has nominated a higher percentage of campaign bundlers to ambassadorships than any recent president. Since January 2013, 48 of his 85 ambassadorial nominees have been political appointments rather than career Foreign Service employees. Twenty-four of those nominees have been prominent fundraisers for Obama’s presidential campaigns, according to the Center for Public Integrity. read more
Federal Judge Nominee Finally Gets a Confirmation Hearing after Waiting 2½ Years
Arizona’s Republican U.S. senators have finally lifted a hold on most federal judicial nominees for their state—a delay that left one candidate waiting two and a half years for her confirmation.
Rosemary Márquez, a private practice attorney from Tucson, was nominated for the federal bench by President Barack Obama in June 2011. She is expected to receive her confirmation hearing this week.
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Top Auto Safety Administrator Leaves Government to Join Law Firm Representing Auto Companies He Investigated
David Strickland, the top official at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), who announced last month he was resigning, has now added that he is accepting a position at Venable LLP, which counts carmakers among its many clients and represents them before the NHTSA.
Strickland will work in the firm’s regulatory group after running an agency that oversees vehicle safety standards, recalls, fuel economy regulations and other vehicle regulatory issues.
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Ambassador to Iceland: Who Is Robert Barber?
When big campaign donors are rewarded with plum ambassadorships—a practice engaged in by presidents of both parties—they are usually sent either to a tropical paradise like the Bahamas or a wealthy ally like Belgium. Not so Robert C. Barber, an attorney who raised more than $2.9 million for President Obama’s election campaigns. He was nominated October 30 to be the next ambassador to the North Atlantic island nation of Iceland. read more
Ambassador to Jamaica: Who Is Luis Moreno?
A career Foreign Service Officer who has spent the bulk of his career fighting the so-called “war on drugs” is set to be the next ambassador to the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica, home to more than 29,000 Rastafarians, who regard the smoking of marijuana a holy sacrament.
On February 29, 2004, it was Moreno who accompanied Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to the airport when he was forced out of office in a military coup. read more
Ambassador to Angola: Who Is Helen La Lime?
A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, La Lime lived in Angola as a child because her father worked for Texaco. La Lime has been detailed to the Defense Department since 2011, serving as director of Outreach for the United States Africa Command. She served as ambassador to Mozambique from April 2003 to December 2006 and in South Africa from 2006 to 2011. read more