Category: Administration

President-elect Trump has named James Mattis to be the Secretary of Defense.

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon is largely credited with inspiring the Department of Defense’s operational renewable energy initiatives.

Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, who retired in 2013 from his post as head of U.S. Central Command, has been an outspoken critic of the Obama administration and the Iran nuclear deal since he retired in 2013 following a 41-year career in the Marines. Mattis led the Marines into Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War and the initial wave into Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003.

It was during his time in Iraq that Mattis noticed that service members under his command were trying to move faster than fuel supplies could accommodate, requiring forces to slow down for resupply chains. The observation led Mattis to famously ask Congress, in a post-combat report, to “unleash” the military “from the tether of fuel.”

Mattis’ report prompted the Pentagon to take a closer look at its supply chain, with DOD ultimately finding that by 2009 more than 3,000 troops and civilian contractors had been killed or wounded protecting convoys, 80 percent of which were transporting truck fuel.

DOD began a number of efforts to reduce soldiers’ reliance on oil in combat, including the development of solar blankets to provide energy to Marines on foot patrol, and more energy-efficient generators that could power entire forward operating bases.

Those steps are likely to stay in place under Mattis’ leadership, and the use of renewables in the field has a clear tie to saving time and lives.

President-elect Trump is expected to name Elaine Chao as his pick for Secretary of Transportation. Cho was Secretary of Labor in the President George W. Bush Administration, and Deputy Secretary of Transportation in the President George H.W. Bush Administration. Chao is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

Early today, President-elect Trump announced he has selected Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) as his nominee for Secretary of HHS and Seema Verma as Administrator of CMS.

Rep Tom Price (R-GA)

Price is the current House Budget Committee Chairman. An orthopedic surgeon by trade and a staunch conservative, Price has been a vocal and active opponent of the ACA since its inception. He began his rise through House leadership starting as Chairman for the influential, conservative House Republican Study Committee. He is a six term Congressman and was a state legislator for nine years. Also, he was a Trump healthcare surrogate during the campaign.

Since 2009, Price has championed his own legislation, H.R. 2300 the Empowering Patients First Act, to repeal the ACA. In its latest iteration, the proposal includes refundable, age-adjusted tax credits for individuals to buy insurance if they don’t have access to coverage through an employer or government program. Individuals in a government program, such as Medicare, Medicaid, or Tricare, would also be allowed to opt out of that coverage and receive tax credits toward the cost of private coverage instead. 

Price attended University of Michigan for undergrad and medical school, his residency was at Emory, and he was medical director of the orthopedic clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.

Seema Verma

Verma is the founder and CEO of SVC, Inc., a health policy consulting firm. Verma has strong ties to Vice President-elect Pence as she lead the health overhaul for the state of Indiana. She also was the architect of the Healthy Indiana Plan, the state’s 2015 Medicaid expansion waiver.  She was active in crafting the Republican Governors Association’s Public Policy Committee Report, A New Medicaid: A Flexible, Innovation and Accountable Future, which established seven principles for Medicaid.

She has a Master’s degree in Public Health with concentration in health policy and management from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences from the University of Maryland.