(WASHINGTON, DC) -- Could Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz
get a second act atop the Energy Department? With Hillary Clinton dusting
Donald Trump in the polls, rumors around who she could potentially bring into
her cabinet are intensifying. But as Pro's Darius Dixon reports ,
Moniz's expertise and bipartisan support make him a top candidate for carrying
over into the next administration. "All the folks I know who are very
respected in the energy space have the utmost respect for [Moniz] and I think
everyone would be happy to see him there for an extended period of time,"
said Carol Browner, President Barack Obama's first-term climate adviser and
Bill Clinton's former EPA chief as well as an informal energy adviser to
Clinton.
Unfinished Symphony
While some agency chiefs have wrapped
up their heavy lifting for this administration, Moniz is still up to his elbows
in unfinished business. He's trying to improve coordination with the national
labs, make improvements on how DOE responds in emergencies, and monitor the
nuclear deal with Iran. And his work to date has earned him plaudits from
people in important positions. "I think that Ernie Moniz has been the best
Cabinet member of this administration," said Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski.
Oh, It's Never That Easy
The campaigns aren't yet thinking this far ahead. But a thoroughly unofficial shortlist of potential successors is circulating. Cabinet appointments, of course, are as much political calculus as they are about running the government, and leaving Moniz in place would create complicated ripples for the rest of Clinton's team, who are likely going to have a mix of ethnicities, geographies, genders and political loyalties. "The appointments at the Cabinet level are like a big jigsaw puzzle," said Sue Tierney, a former Energy Department official who worked on Obama's transition team. "The first piece the president lays down then begins to shape the next pieces are going to be places and what they're going to look like.
The campaigns aren't yet thinking this far ahead. But a thoroughly unofficial shortlist of potential successors is circulating. Cabinet appointments, of course, are as much political calculus as they are about running the government, and leaving Moniz in place would create complicated ripples for the rest of Clinton's team, who are likely going to have a mix of ethnicities, geographies, genders and political loyalties. "The appointments at the Cabinet level are like a big jigsaw puzzle," said Sue Tierney, a former Energy Department official who worked on Obama's transition team. "The first piece the president lays down then begins to shape the next pieces are going to be places and what they're going to look like.
