The BLM said that eliminating Obama’s fracking rule “supports [the] president’s priorities" and reduces “the burden of federal regulations that hinder economic growth and energy development.” Last December, the EPA issued a finding that fracking contaminates water. "Across the country, Americans have had their lives turned upside down as fracking has poisoned the water coming out of their faucets and has made their families sick,” Mark Ruffalo of Americans Against Fracking said at the time.   read more

In 2003, Nsofor was the dissenting vote in a three-justice panel in a contested presidential race between candidates Buhari of the ANPP and incumbent Obasanjo of the PDP. Nsofor wrote that the PDP had engaged in intimidation tactics and violence: “I find that the substantial non-compliance with the mandatory electoral law amounts to no election. I also find that there was violence perpetuated by Pres. Obasanjo...” Obasanjo was nonetheless confirmed for a second term.   read more

As chief of staff (intelligence) for the U.S.-led forces in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thompson served under disgraced Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who recently pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI—a felony—for covering up conversations he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn played a major role in Thompson’s 2016 retirement ceremony, after which she became director at the McChrystal Group Leadership Institute. She left in 2017 to serve as national security advisor to Vice President Mike Pence.   read more

In 1998, Gordon-Hagerty took a job on the staff of the National Security Council as director for combating terrorism. She was on duty in the White House when the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, occurred. In 2003, she became executive VP and CEO of USEC, which supplied fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. Gordon-Hagerty was said to be a model for Nicole Kidman's character--a woman supervising the search for stolen Russian nuclear weapons--in the 1997 film, The Peacemaker.   read more

In a major political victory for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson over former White House advisor Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump has nominated Susan A. Thornton to lead the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Thornton, who has been acting assistant secretary since March 2017, was strongly opposed by Bannon, who bragged to an interviewer in August that he was “getting Susan Thornton out at State” because she was not sufficiently hawkish.   read more

In 1994, Brogan won election as Florida’s commissioner of education, but not without opposition from teachers’ unions. “We never got comfortable that he had kids at heart,” said Florida Teaching Professional's Jeff Wright. “We felt many of his moves were political.” Brogan was a good fit as Jeb Bush’s running mate in the state gubernatorial election, echoing Bush's support of charter schools, and his promotion of “voluntary” prayer and “creation theory” in public schools.   read more

President Trump once again chose someone to lead an agency whose existence he opposes. Trump nominated Scott Garrett in April 2017, but, in the end, even some Republicans couldn’t stomach Garrett, and he was rejected on Dec. 19, 2017, by the Senate Banking Committee, whose Democratic members wrote: "The Export-Import Bank is far too important to the U.S.'s economy to place it under the stewardship of such an avowed opponent. It is unconscionable that the president would nominate Mr. Garrett.”   read more

Goldstein moved into media in 2001 as vice president/chief communications officer for Dow Jones, owner of The Wall Street Journal. He presided over the company’s response to two tragedies: the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, right across the street from Journal offices; and the kidnapping and subsequent brutal execution of Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan in 2002. Goldstein made many of the decisions on what information to release about Pearl in the weeks after he was abducted.   read more

Matz participated in the 1989-90 invasion of Panama as assistant division commander of the 7th Infantry Division. In 1990, he was named deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Pacific, based at Fort Shafter, Hawaii. In 2002, Metz moved to Saudi Arabia to head the Saudi National Guard modernization program for Vinnell-Arabia/Northrop Grumman. In 2005, he became president and administrator of the Society of Military Widows and president and CEO of the National Association for Uniformed Services.   read more

Multiple agencies weren't following best practices for initiatives to help Indian tribes achieve their energy goals. Development of tribes' resources requires approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, where we've found long-running federal mismanagement of Indian energy resources. We've also found that deteriorating facilities have led to unsafe conditions at Bureau of Indian Education schools. Misused funds included $1.7 million that was improperly transferred to off-shore accounts.   read more

In nominating McWilliams, Trump has inched closer to finalizing his banking regulation team, which he intends to use to undermine the financial system protections adopted under President Barack Obama. McWilliams’ deep involvement with the banking industry began in 2007, when she joined the Federal Reserve Board of Governors as an attorney. In 2010 she joined the Senate Small Business Committee to work on financial regulations, economic policy, and related small business issues.   read more

President Trump has selected a car dealer to serve as the next ambassador to Morocco. Although David Fischer has no known connections to Morocco, he gave $250,000 to Trump’s inauguration committee and has donated heavily to Republican candidates for many years. Fischer began his career as a service advisor at his dad’s dealership, which he took over in 1978. It is the 16th largest automotive retail dealer group in the U.S. Fischer is currently CEO of the North American International Auto Show.   read more

Stewart spent about five years working in the office of Illinois Governor James Thompson (R) on his policy and program staff. In 1991, as Thompson’s term was ending, Stewart moved into government relations for Commonwealth Edison, the Chicago-area electric utility. She returned to politics in 1996 as deputy chief of staff to Lt. Governor Bob Kustra (R-Illinois). Stewart stayed there only briefly, however, leaving in 1997 to become a vice president at the Fleishman-Hillard public relations firm.   read more

In 2005, Pres. George W. Bush nominated Schneider to lead NCES (part of IES). The administration favored charter schools, putting Schneider in an awkward position when an Education Dept report showed that fourth-graders in public schools did much better in math and reading than those at charter schools. So Schneider said the Education Dept should stop studying such questions. “We know [charter schools] are not doing harm," he said, "so they pass a fundamental test of policy analysis.”   read more

In June 2010, Ciocoi was appointed to his first ambassadorship, as envoy to Germany. In March 2011, he was named non-resident ambassador to Denmark as well. After spending the first nineteen years of his diplomatic career focused on Europe, Ciocoi himself was “surprised” when he was appointed to serve as ambassador to China, with concurrent accreditation to Vietnam, in October 2015. He served in Beijing until April 2017, when he was recalled in anticipation of his U.S. assignment.   read more

Olofsdotter joined the Swedish Foreign Service in 1994. Her first foreign posting was in Moscow, where she was responsible for covering issues related to Belarus. She also served on the Swedish delegation to NATO. She next served at Sweden’s mission to the EU in Belgium, and chaired the EU’s Political-Military Group during the Swedish presidency of the EU in 2001. Her first posting in the U.S. was as minister-counselor and deputy chief of mission at the Swedish Embassy in Washington, DC.   read more