Biden announces picks for heads of Interior, Energy, and EPA


On Dec. 17, President-elect Joe Biden announced his picks for secretaries of energy and the interior, and administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. These announcements leave five remaining Cabinet-level positions in the Biden administration without announced nominees.

Biden nominated former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) as Secretary of Energy. She served as governor from 2003 to 2011 and since has worked as an adjunct professor of law and public policy at the University of California-Berkeley, a senior advisor to The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Clean Energy Program, and a contributor on political talk shows.

Biden nominated U.S. Rep. Debra Haaland (D-N.M.) as Secretary of the Interior. An enrolled member of the Pueblo of Laguna, Haaland would be the first person of Native American descent to serve in this position. In the 116th Congress, Haaland served on the natural resources and armed services committees.

Biden nominated Michael Regan, North Carolina’s secretary of environmental quality, as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Regan worked for the EPA under the Clinton and Bush administrations from 1998 to 2008. He would be the first Black man to serve in this position.

The five remaining Cabinet-level positions without announced nominees are Attorney General, Commerce, Labor, Education, and Small Business Administration.