Initial takes on Biden’s pick for DOE secretary

King agrees, describing the decision to nominate Granholm as “curious” and noting that the primary idea is that she will focus on speeding up Detroit’s move to electric vehicles. King adds, however, that the job of leading the DOE is much more than that: “Secretary of energy is one of the most demanding assignments in the government. The DOE is a vast archipelago of scientific, defense, diplomatic, and cybersecurity responsibilities. Granholm’s biggest concern, in fact, won’t be energy but defense.” That’s a spot-on assessment, as the majority of the DOE’s budget goes toward maintaining and upgrading the nation’s nuclear stockpile.

Brown says that Granholm might be a great pick “for what Biden wants her to do,” it’s just that the DOE might not be the right place. He states that “the department’s dual nature vexed Biden’s transition team,” citing a New York Times article that reported the team’s struggle over the appointment. The Biden administration’s focus on climate policy may be why Granholm got the nod instead of a scientist more familiar with the DOE complex.