A number of Republican senators are raising alarm over a recent personnel decision reassigning a high-ranking intelligence official within a Department of Energy office.
Led by Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), GOP lawmakers are seeking answers from Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on the reassignment of Steven Black — a long-serving director at the DOE’s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. The senators said the reassignment happened “suddenly and without explanation” when they received word of the transition Oct. 17.
The lawmakers also referenced “deeply concerning” findings from an outside contractor study that outlined the state of counterintelligence across the department and national laboratories. The senators requested that the agency refrain from reassigning Black to any department office that focuses on national security missions if, during his tenure, there were “serious shortcomings” regarding counterintelligence.
“As you are well aware, the Department of Energy and the research it supports, especially at the national laboratories, is among the most important national security work undertaken by this country,” the senators wrote in a letter. “The findings in the contractor study, which Congress requested, are deeply concerning.”
It is unclear which contractor report the senators are referring to, what the findings of the report were, and how they may relate to Black.
Along with Risch, the letter was signed by Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member John Barrasso (R-WY), Intelligence Committee ranking member Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT), Susan Collins (R-ME), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Jerry Moran (R-KS), John Cornyn (R-TX), and James Lankford (R-OK).
In the letter, the senators asked for immediate answers regarding why Black was reassigned from his role, and whether the findings outlined in the study influenced the decision to transition him to become a senior adviser within the department. The senators are probing into when DOE was made aware of the study and whether Granholm agrees with the findings of the report. They also are asking which part of the department Black will be serving his new role under.
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Black, who was appointed director of the agency during the Obama administration, served in his role for more than 12 years. His LinkedIn page still notes his director position as his occupation and does not reference any “senior advisor” position for the DOE. Previously, he was the chief operating officer for the National Nuclear Security Administration from 2001 to 2011.
A spokesperson for the Department of Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
