Watching Government - Who's Going? Who's Staying?

Nov. 22, 2004
US Interior Sec. Gale A. Norton plans to stay.

US Interior Sec. Gale A. Norton plans to stay. So does Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Mike O. Leavitt, primarily because he only recently arrived. But Energy Sec. Spencer Abraham won't be back. Neither will Commerce Sec. Donald L. Evans.

A time-honored Washington sport began soon after the Nov. 2 election: guessing who's going and who's staying for the president's second term.

Some members of president George W. Bush's cabinet already have given notice that they won't be back. Evans was one of the first, although his resignation was overshadowed the same day by that of the more controversial John D. Ashcroft as attorney general.

Back to oil patch

The first commerce secretary to come from the oil patch plans to go back there. Evans may find it somewhat difficult to return completely to what he left behind since the company he led, Tom Brown Inc., became part of EnCana Ltd. while he was gone. But he would not be the first oil and gas executive to start over—merely the first to do so after 4 years of heading a federal agency in Washington.

Abraham's resignation letter was dated Nov. 14, although he agreed to stay on until his successor arrives. Speculation centered on his deputy, Kyle McSlarrow, a long-time Department of Energy employee who is in charge of the department's day-to-day operations. But it's also possible that Bush will pick John Breaux, who will retire from the Senate at the end of this year. The Louisiana Democrat's reputation for breaking deadlocks could prove irresistible in finding a way to resolve the impasse over comprehensive energy legislation.

DOE still needs to fill two of its top oil and gas-related positions—undersecretary for energy, science, and environment (David K. Garman is acting undersecretary) and assistant secretary for fossil energy (which is being led by Mark R. Maddox, principal deputy assistant secretary, who appears likely to continue).

At the Department of the Interior, Norton "is happy in her job," a spokes- man said. Just below her, neither Minerals Management Service Director Johnnie Burton nor Bureau of Land Management chief Kathleen Clarke has made her plans public.

People and policies

The situation looks more definite at EPA, where Leavitt has been working for barely a year after serving 11 years as Utah's governor. His deputy, Stephen L. Johnson, was sworn in this past August. But he has worked at EPA in several capacities (including deputy director of the Office of Pesticide Programs) for several years. EPA will be looking for a new science advisor since Paul Gilman will be leaving at the end of November.

Ultimately, however, guessing who's coming and going in a second presidential administration becomes academic because of a basic Washington truth: Names and faces near the top of the bureaucratic heap may change for the new term, but policies usually don't.