Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs (2020 Presidential transition)

From USApedia
Revision as of 01:02, 21 December 2024 by OpenBook (talk | contribs) (Text replacement - "<ref>DOE. (2021). Transitions 2020: Organization Overviews. US Department of Energy. </ref>" to "")
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Book 3 - Organization Overview

DOE 2020 Transition book - Organization Overviews cover.jpg

Entire 2020 DOE Transition book

As of October 2020

File:Congress building.jpg
Washington Capital

The Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs (CI) manages overall relations with Members of Congress and supports the Secretary as the chief strategic advisor on all interactions with congressional and state officials. CI also facilitates the confirmation process of all DOE Senate confirmed officials and notifies Congressional members and State officials of DOE announcements, initiatives, proposals, and grants which may affect their respective jurisdictions, across the full range of DOE’s energy, national security, environmental, and science and technology missions, and assures any appropriate follow-up is provided.

Mission Statement

To promote the Secretary’s, Department’s, and Administration’s policies, legislative initiatives, and budget requests with the Congress, State, territorial, Tribal, and local government officials, and other Federal agencies. CI is also responsible for managing and overseeing the Department’s liaison with Members of Congress, other levels of governments, and stakeholders, which includes consumer liaison and public interest groups.

Budget

Fiscal Year Budget
FY 2019 enacted $6,200,000
FY 2020 enacted $4,395,000
FY 2021 requested $5,626,000

Human Resources

FY 2020 authorized full-time equivalents (FTEs): 33

Functions

The CI functions are organized around the following major constituency groups: Congressional, Intergovernmental, Tribal, and External Affairs.

Congressional Affairs

CI provides oversight, management, and direction of legislative strategies in connection with the Department’s policy and program initiatives, and ensures that the Department’s positions are properly communicated with the Congress. CI provides advice and guidance to the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Under Secretaries on policy issues and Members’ interests and concerns, and facilitates accurate, timely information and responses to the Congress. Congressional interactions and hearings on National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) issues are handled by the NNSA Office of External Affairs. Issues involving appropriations and appearances before the appropriations committees are handled by the External Coordination Office in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Hearings

CI prepares Departmental officials for congressional hearings, including confirmation, programmatic, and oversight hearings before authorizing committees. CI works in close coordination with the CFO, which leads preparations for budget hearings. In this capacity, CI manages testimony development, prepares DOE officials for engaging in hearings, and manages the Department’s response to questions for the record. The Department’s primary authorizing committees are: Senate Energy and Natural Resources; Senate Armed Services; House Energy and Commerce; House Armed Services; and House Science and Technology.

Budget

CI works in partnership with the CFO and Public Affairs offices on an annual basis as the CFO leads coordination and preparation of Departmental officials for the roll-out of the President’s Budget to Congress. This includes multiple meetings, briefings, and hearings before the congressional committees of jurisdiction. and prepares all Departmental officials for meetings, briefings, site visits, and engagements with Members of Congress, Congressional staff, or committees. CI notifies Congressional members of DOE announcements, initiatives, proposals, and grants which may affect their respective states across DOE’s energy, national security, environmental, and science and technology missions, and assures any appropriate follow-up is provided. The CFO manages and coordinates briefings for the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee staff in the House and Senate and provides all notifications to the appropriations committees, as needed.

Legislation

CI provides counsel, advice, and support on all legislative and non-legislative initiatives of Congress and the legislative implications of major Departmental programs and policies. CI works in counsel with the Office of General Counsel who officially manages, and catalogues, all legislation introduced to Congress that could affect DOE programs. The CFO leads the engagement with the appropriations committees on DOE annual funding bills.

Oversight and Investigations

CI coordinates with the Office of General Counsel in managing Congressional oversight and investigations requests, including the document production process.

Intergovernmental and External Affairs (IGEA)

CI maintains ongoing communications with governors, state legislators, tribal, and local officials across the country. CI proactively engages stakeholders to ensure that their views are considered as part of the Department’s decision making process. CI also communicates routinely with all relevant stakeholders on DOE announcements, initiatives, proposals, and grants, and assures appropriate follow-up.

The Department has a physical presence in 30 states. Of those, much of CI’s focus is on 12 states where multiple, ongoing DOE missions are executed (California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Nevada, New York, New Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington).

CI interacts on a regular basis with intergovernmental and tribal associations including but not limited to: the National Governors Association; regional governors associations; National Association of Attorneys General; National Congress of American Indians; National League of Cities; National Conference of State Legislatures; National Association of Counties; U.S. Conference of Mayors; Southern States Energy Board; and the National Association of State Energy Officials. The focus of CI’s work with these organizations is to communicate the activities of DOE programs, policies, and initiatives and solicit these groups’ views, comments, and concerns. These efforts extend to a broad group of constituencies, to include business/industry, civic groups, colleges, universities, foundations, trade associations, and energy-oriented organizations.

Tribal Affairs

CI engages with the 566 federally-recognized tribes, and the tribes’ more than 250 reservations. This includes: advising and informing DOE senior officials on the potential impacts of Departmental programs on tribal interests and culture; developing and enhancing working relationships with Tribal leaders and organizations and entities working with tribal governments; representing DOE with sovereign Tribal governments and at tribal meetings and conferences; and recommending policies and procedures for on-going collaboration between DOE and tribes.

Recent Organization Accomplishments

CI has accomplished the following activities during the course of the 116th Congress.

Successful Nomination Hearings

During the course of FY 20 CI has supported the timely execution of multiple nominations hearing including the nomination of a new Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Energy. Earlier in the Congress CI also helped facilitate nomination hearings for the Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, the General Counsel, the Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, and others

Congressional Hearings

CI has supported Departmental participation in 52 hearings over the course of FY19/20 and helped to provide responses to 962 questions from Member of Congress.

State Negotiations

CI has been integral in maintaining and advancing relationships with stakeholders at the state level. In some cases CI has been a key partner in bringing states to the negotiating table to resolve differences and advance mutually beneficial solutions to shared challenges.

Congressional Engagement

CI has also helped to facilitate approximately 500 congressional member and staff briefings and advance congressional and intergovernmental notification of nearly 200 important DOE priorities, events, advancements, and funding announcements.

Industry Engagement

CI held numerous conference calls and industry roundtables over the course of the year to connect energy industries and stakeholders with Departmental leadership to help inform, and advance, DOE policies. These conversations spanned all of the applied energy sectors and helped inform the Department’s, and Administration’s, response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to major disruptions in energy markets resulting from that event.

Tribal and Arctic equities

CI continues to be a key component in planning, organizing, and executing the Department’s interactions with tribes. This includes participation in the Indian Country Energy and Infrastructure Working Group and in planning, organizing, and conducting the National Tribal Energy Summit which occurs every two years. CI also helped advance the Department’s re-establishment of the Arctic Energy Office in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Leadership Challenges

CI leadership challenges include:

Financial Constraints

CI received a reduction of $1.9 million in funding as part of the FY 2020 appropriations process. This has created a situation where the office faces significant funding constraints to accomplish its mission. CI has implemented aggressive cost cutting, is working with the Office of the Chief Financial Officer to gain additional funding and remain solvent, and has requested increased financial resources as part of the FY21 and FY22 budget process.

New Administration Confirmation

Manage the confirmation process for new Administration officials in a smooth and timely manner with fewer staff given the political nature of CI’s workforce.

Stakeholder Coordination

Coordinate a high volume of stakeholder inquiries in the new Administration’s energy priorities and leadership. Historically, CI has also organized roundtable events to connect the newly installed Secretary with organizations representing major energy industries and elected officials.

Staffing Resource Constraints

CI has an authorized staff level of 33 employees of these approximately 20 are Schedule-C positions. CI will lose more than half of its workforce during a transition making management of constrained staff resources while Schedule-C positions are filled an ongoing challenge. This is exacerbated by the fact that the beginning of the calendar year is often a busy time for CI due to the rollout of the President’s budget request and required associated hearings and briefings.

Critical Events and Action Items

3-month events

  • Prepare the incoming DOE Secretary nominee for confirmation hearings, including DOE program briefings and congressional courtesy visits.
  • Develop issue-specific questions and answers, and briefings and background information on new Administration DOE and legislative issues.
  • Manage confirmed DOE Secretary’s initial round of congressional hearings.
  • Advise on and schedule appropriate Secretarial participation in “Big Seven” Intergovernmental Groups’ Annual Washington DC Meetings (occurring in February and March) and conduct “meet-and- greet” roundtables with major energy industry trade associations if deemed appropriate.

6-month events

  • Manage the confirmation process for all DOE nominees (anticipate 2-4 nomination hearings to include waves of multiple nominees in each hearing)
  • Finalize and begin implementing an outreach and communications strategy with Members of Congress and leaders of major constituent groups (e.g., industry, environmental, academic groups).
  • Rollout the FY 2022 revised DOE Budget Request to Congress.
  • Manage program oversight and issue hearings for Program Secretarial Offices.
  • Coordinate the DOE Secretary and Deputy Secretary congressional, intergovernmental, and external affairs engagements during anticipated travel and tours of the DOE complex and field sites.
  • Assist with Departmental priorities for inclusion in major legislative packages to include, but not limited to, the National Defense Authorization Act, and other major legislative packages that could contain DOE equities.

12-month events

  • Continue execution of the outreach and communications strategy with Members of Congress and leaders of major constituent groups (e.g., industry, environmental, academic groups).
  • Continue engagement and outreach on annual legislative priorities.
  • Develop and implement August congressional recess travel schedule for the DOE Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Under Secretaries.
  • Assist the CFO with engagement on conference negotiations of appropriations legislation.

Organizational Chart

File:Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs org chart - 2020 Transition book.png

Links

Internal

External

References