Hopper served as energy adviser to Maryland's then-Gov. Martin O’Malley. She moved to the BOEM in January 2015. Some of the things her agency accomplished right before she left office as the Trump administration was about to take over was the oversight of the offer of 48 million acres of Gulf of Mexico oil leases; the halt of seismic testing for Atlantic Ocean oil fields; and the prohibition of oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean.   read more

Lampton has served as president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and was founding director of the Chinese Studies Program at the Nixon Center. He is currently head of SAIS China, a program run by the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies that offers educational courses around the world about contemporary China. Lampton continues to serve as Hyman professor and director of China studies at John Hopkins.   read more

Roberts left federal service in 2002 to go into private practice, including a stint as a registered lobbyist, working on Indian law and environmental matters. From 2003 to 2005, he served as chair of the Native American Resources Committee of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy and Resources. He returned to government in 2010 as general counsel to the National Indian Gaming Commission, then joined the Department of the Interior in 2012.   read more

While participating in a fellowship sponsored by Walter Reed and NIH, Birx began to be consulted on patients with what became known as HIV. Her early knowledge of the disease may have saved her life. While giving birth to her eldest daughter in 1983, Birx had complications, but told her husband not to let the doctors give her blood. They didn’t, and the blood that Birx would have received was later found to contain HIV. Thus, she began a long career of searching for a cure for that disease.   read more

Olijar has worked at BEP for 29 years, beginning his career in 1988 as a systems accountant implementing BEP’s first Enterprise Resource Planning system. In 2006, he became BEP’s chief financial officer. He initiated the performance of BEP-wide risk assessments and implemented a program to improve customer service and efficiency. In 2012, Olijar served as the executive sponsor for BEP’s Best Place to Work initiative and the BEP was recognized as one of the most improved agencies.   read more

As an associate at the Patton, Boggs & Blow law firm, El-Hindi practiced international law, focusing on cases relating to sanctions, export controls, foreign corrupt practices, foreign sovereign immunities, status of forces agreements, international trade and banking litigation. He began his Treasury Department career in December 2000 as legal counsel to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers and enforces economic sanctions imposed by the federal government.   read more

When President Donald Trump nominated Rick Perry to be Secretary of Energy, there was some concern that Perry, who had proposed eliminating the Department of Energy, did not fully understand what the department does. That was probably an exaggeration. However, just in case, now that Perry has been confirmed for his new position, for him or for anyone else, a good place to start is AllGov’s page about the department here.   read more

Muniz worked as office manager for Leon E. Panetta (D-California) in the House of Representatives. In 1995, she was legislative assistant in the Office of Legislative Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget and in 1996 she was special assistant for policy in the Office of the Secretary of the Army. She then served as deputy director of the Department of Media Affairs in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina.   read more

In 1998, President Clinton nominated Aponte to be ambassador to the Dominican Republic, but Republicans killed the nomination, using rumors, later debunked, that she'd been recruited by Cuban intelligence. Aponte caused a stir in El Salvador in 2011 when she wrote in a local newspaper, “No one should be subjected to aggression because of who he is or who he loves. Homophobia and brutal hostility are often based on lack of understanding about what it truly means to be gay or transgender."   read more

Garber oversaw bilateral relations with the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Slovenia. She later served as ambassador to Latvia, the first career diplomat to the small Baltic nation since Brian E. Carlson served in Riga from 2001 to 2004. Garber’s two immediate predecessors, Catherine Todd Bailey and Chuck. Larson, Jr., were non-career appointees who raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the 2004 presidential campaign of George W. Bush.   read more

McMaster has said that rather than taking an anti-Muslim stance, the U.S. should join forces with Muslim-majority countries to fight the Islamic State. Another contrast with Trump’s philosophy was outlined in an April 2015 speech at the University of South Florida, when McMaster said “the military-industrial complex may represent a greater threat to us than at any time in history.” McMaster also warned about military strategy think tanks that are actually funded by defense contractors.   read more

Pence became the first sitting VP to speak at Washington's annual anti-abortion march, and later said, "America's Obamacare nightmare is about to end.” In December 2015, after candidate Trump called for a temporary halt to Muslims entering the U.S., Pence tweeted, “Calls to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. are offensive and unconstitutional.” Yet, when Trump, as president, signed an order banning the entry of Muslims from seven countries, Pence stood behind him, smiling and nodding approval.   read more

As assistant secretary for employment standards in the George W. Bush administration, Lipnic backed employers’ calls to weaken the Family and Medical Leave Act and pushed through a change in overtime policy that allowed employers to exempt more of their workers from earning overtime pay. As an EEOC member, she dissented in a decision that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a form of sexual discrimination. She also voted against pay data requirements to curb discrimination.   read more

Acosta's cases included lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy in a casino deal; and Jose Padilla, accused of planning a “dirty bomb” attack. Acosta also cut a deal with Palm Beach financier Jeffrey Epstein, a social acquaintance of Donald Trump, who was accused of operating an international sex ring involving underage girls. In the deal, Acosta turned prosecution over to the state of Florida, which charged Epstein with a relatively minor offense.   read more

In the Bush Justice Dept's Office of Legal Counsel, Engel worked on Guantánamo detainee issues. Later as a partner at the Dechart law firm in Washington, he represented Republican governors in U.S. vs. Texas, in which those governors fought the implementation of Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, an Obama program to delay some deportations of undocumented immigrants. He also represented those challenging the individual mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act.   read more

Bilden remained in Hong Kong for 20 years, becoming a major player in bringing private equity investment to Asia. He opened HarboutVest offices in Tokyo in 2010 and Beijing in 2012. Back in the U.S. in 2016, he he sat on the board of the Naval Academy Foundation and the Naval War College Foundation, where he was the inaugural chairman of the Center for Cyber Conflict Studies Task Force. Bilden's nomination was a surprise, as Trump adviser Randy Forbes was the expected choice.   read more