JULIE PACE - AP White House Correspondent
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is announcing his
picks for three Cabinet-level jobs - nominees to run the Energy Department,
Environmental Protection Agency and budget office.
Obama says energy secretary nominee Ernest Moniz is a
"brilliant scientist" who knows how the U.S.
can produce more energy and grow the economy. Moniz will work with EPA nominee
Gina McCarthy, whom Obama calls a "straight-shooter."
The president also lauded Sylvia Mathews Burwell, his
nominee for budget chief, as someone who not only knows how "to make the
numbers add up" but also understands the need for strengthening the middle
class.
The president announced the nominations at a White House
ceremony Monday.
President Barack Obama will nominate a trio of top advisers
Monday, announcing his picks to run the Energy Department and Environmental
Protection Agency, as well as a new budget chief.
The nominations signal the White House's desire to get back
to normal business after the president and Congress failed to avert the $85
billion in automatic spending cuts that started taking effect Friday. While the
president has warned of dire consequences for the economy as a result of the
cuts, the White House does not want the standoff with Congress to keep Obama
from focusing on other second term priorities, including filling out his Cabinet,
as well as pursuing stricter gun laws and an overhaul of the nation's
immigration system.
Obama's nominee to run the Office of Management and Budget,
Sylvia Mathews Burwell, will be a key player in Washington's
fiscal fights if confirmed by the Senate.
Burwell is Washington
veteran, having served in several posts during the Clinton
administration, including deputy OMB director. She currently heads the Wal-Mart
Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the retail giant, and previously served as
president of the Gates Foundation's Global Development Program.
The president will also nominate MIT scientist Ernest Moniz
to head the Energy Department and EPA veteran Gina McCarthy to run the
environmental agency.
Moniz, 69, oversees MIT's Energy Initiative, a research
group that focuses on innovative ways to produce power while curbing greenhouse
gas emissions. But unlike outgoing Energy Secretary Steven Chu, he is also
well-versed in the ways of Washington,
having served as the Energy Department's undersecretary in the Clinton
administration.
Moniz has also advised Obama on central components of the
administration's energy plan, including a retooling of the country's stalled
nuclear waste program, energy research and development, and unconventional gas.
In a 2009 alumni interview published on Boston
College's website, Moniz noted that
he learned to balance both political and scientific demands while working in
the Clinton administration.
"Physics sometimes looked easy compared to doing the people's business,"
he said.
In nominating McCarthy to be the nation's top environmental
steward, Obama is promoting a climate change champion and a 25-year veteran of
environmental policy and politics. McCarthy has served under both Republicans
and Democrats, and is known for a matter-of-fact approach appreciated by both
businesses and environmental advocacy groups.
Among her past bosses: former Massachusetts
governor and Obama's Republican presidential opponent Mitt Romney, for whom she
was a special adviser on climate and environmental issues.
Since coming to Washington
in 2009, McCarthy has been the most prominent defender of EPA policies. As the
head of the air pollution division, she has been behind many of the agency's
most controversial new rules - from placing the first limits on greenhouse
gases on newly built power plants to the first-ever standard for toxic mercury
pollution from burning coal for electricity.
Moniz and McCarthy also must be confirmed by the Senate.
_
Associated Press writers Dina Cappiello and Matthew Daly
contributed to this report.
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