Top White House official confirmed as DOE deputy secretary

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday, September 18, as the U.S. Department of Energy’s deputy secretary.

“Liz’s confirmation comes at a historic time in our nation’s energy evolution,” Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said. “She joins us with deep expertise in the department’s nuclear security mission, including both nuclear weapons and countering proliferation. Her extensive public service and recent responsibilities on the White House national security team position her to contribute to the department’s energy and security missions in a major way, both domestically and internationally. I thank the Senate for their attention to Liz’s nomination, and look forward to working closely with her as a key, trusted colleague.”

President Barack Obama nominated Sherwood-Randall in July.

As deputy secretary, Sherwood-Randall will support Moniz in the management and operation of the Department of Energy.

“She will have responsibility for enhancing DOE’s delivery of results for the American people, including strengthening project oversight and management; ensuring the safety, security and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear weapons and advancing the Administration’s nonproliferation agenda; supporting the vital contributions of our unique national laboratory network; and promoting the administration’s “all-of-the-above” energy strategy for a low carbon future and a strong economy,” a press release said.

“I am deeply honored by President Obama’s nomination to this new role and by the trust the Senate has placed in me by confirming me today,” Sherwood-Randall said. “I am excited to have this opportunity to serve with Secretary Moniz and the multi-talented Energy Department staff, whose mission is vital to a strong economy and to our national security.”

Sherwood-Randall has been a top adviser to Obama for nearly six years, and she served as the White House Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control for the National Security Council, from April 2013 until her Senate confirmation. From 2009 to 2013, she served as the president’s principal adviser on Europe, including 49 countries and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the European Union, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Prior to her service in the Obama administration, Sherwood-Randall was a senior research scholar at Stanford University from 2000 to 2008, and a founding principal in the Harvard-Stanford Preventive Defense Project from 1997-2008. She was also an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations from 2004-2008.

Sherwood-Randall served in the Clinton Administration from 1994 through 1996 as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. Previously, she co-founded and served as the associate director of Harvard University’s Strengthening Democratic Institutions Project. At the outset of her public service career, Sherwood-Randall was a chief foreign affairs and defense policy adviser to then-Senator Joseph Biden.

A native of California, she received her bachelor’s degree at Harvard University, and her doctorate as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. She is married to Jeffrey B. Randall, and they have two sons.