The Senate confirmed David Turk to be deputy secretary of energy on Tuesday, voting 98-2 to install the former Obama official and Biden staffer as the Department of Energy’s No. 2.
Only Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted no.
Turk was most recently deputy executive director of the International Energy Agency. He served in the Obama administration’s State and Energy departments, working on climate issues and the New Start nuclear arms-control treaty with Russia.
Before Obama was elected, and Biden became Obama’s vice president, Turk was a member of Biden’s Senate staff.
Turk cleared the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee with a unanimous vote on March 11. The Department of Energy, through its semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, owns, maintains and modernizes U.S. nuclear warheads and bombs and the stockpile of special nuclear materials that power these weapons.