Washington, D.C. – The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today passed 11 nominees to various posts at the Energy Department and the Department of the Interior. The nominations now go to the full Senate.

The committee passed the following nominations by voice vote:

• Mr. Michael L. Connor, to be Deputy Secretary of the Interior
• Dr. Elizabeth M. Robinson, to be the Under Secretary of Energy
• Dr. Franklin M. Orr, Jr., to be the Under Secretary for Science, Department of Energy
• Mr. Steven P. Croley, to be General Counsel of the Department of Energy
• Ms. Esther P. Kia’aina, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Interior (Insular Areas);
• Mr. Tommy P. Beaudreau, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Interior (Policy, Management, and Budget)
• Mr. Christopher A. Smith, to be an Assistant Secretary of Energy (Fossil Energy) - Senator Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., asked to be recorded as voting against the Smith nomination.
• Dr. Marc A. Kastner, to be Director of the Office of Science, Department of Energy
• Dr. Ellen D. Williams, to be Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, Department of Energy

Members requested roll call votes on the nominations of Mr. Jonathan Elkind to be an Assistant Secretary of Energy (International Affairs) and Mr. Neil G. Kornze to be Director of the Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior. Senators John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Tim Scott, R-S.C., voted against the Kornze nomination, which passed by a vote of 19-3. The Eklind nomination passed by a vote of 16-6, with Senators Jim Risch, R-Idaho, Dean Heller, R-Nev., Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., Barrasso, Lee and Scott voting no.