What Does the Secretary of Energy Do?

The Department of Energy, the 12th Cabinet-level department, was established in 1977 during the Carter administration. The department's mission was to oversee the development and testing of the country's nuclear weapons and coordinate the various, loosely organized energy programs established by the federal government. (See also: What Do Trump's Cabinet Picks Mean for Energy Sector Stocks?)

Until the 1970s, the government took a relatively hands-off approach to energy production and policy, but the energy crisis of the mid-1970s changed all that. The Department of Energy was created to address the problem and develop a comprehensive national energy plan that included nuclear energy technology. (See also: What Could Trump Mean for Nuclear Energy?)

Three-term governor of Texas Rick Perry currently serves as the country's 14th secretary of energy. Perry was nominated by Donald Trump in December 2016. His nomination was met with criticism for comments he made during a previous presidential campaign when he said he would shutter the department of energy. Despite the controversy, Perry was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in March 2017. (See also: Trump's Cabinet: The Senate Confirmation Hearings Schedule.)

As with all Cabinet-level positions, the secretary of energy is appointed by the president, confirmed by the Senate and serves at the president's discretion. Each president takes his own approach — some make political appointments, while others choose candidates based on particular knowledge in the field of science and energy. Some are chosen for their executive experience in managing other government agencies. For example:

• James Schlesinger, the first secretary of energy, was an economics Ph.D. who originally served under Nixon and Ford as a budget director, director of central intelligence and secretary of defense before being appointed secretary of energy by Jimmy Carter.
  

• Federico Peña, Bill Clinton's second energy secretary, was the former mayor of Denver before being appointed to lead the Department of Transportation and ultimately the Department of Energy under Clinton.
  

• Samuel Bodman, appointed by George W. Bush in 2005, was an MIT-educated doctor of science in chemical engineering who also served as deputy secretary of both Treasury and Commerce before assuming the top job at Energy.
  

• Steven Chu, Barack Obama's first secretary of energy, earned a Ph.D. in physics from UC Berkeley, where he went on to teach as a professor of physics and molecular biology before accepting the secretary position in 2009.
  

• Rick Perry, nominated by Donald Trump, has a BS in animal science from Texas A&M and served as governor of Texas from 1999 to 2015.
  

The Department of Energy is a sprawling bureaucracy with over 100,000 federal and contract employees and a budget in excess of $28 billion for fiscal year (FY) 2018. The projected budget, requested by Donald Trump, for FY 2019 is $30.6 billion. The department's list of responsibilities includes the nation's nuclear weapons programs, the Navy's nuclear energy program, energy research and conservation, clean energy technologies and domestic energy policy. The Energy Department spends more on physical science research than any other federal agency through the National Laboratories.

The secretary of energy, along with his or her assistants and undersecretaries, oversees the entire Energy apparatus and portfolio. In addition, the department's mission statement includes "advancing the national, economic and energy security of the United States," as well as supporting innovative technology to further those goals.

Perhaps most importantly, the secretary advises the president on matters of energy and nuclear security and advances the president's agenda and policy objectives.

Like all federal employees, pay for Cabinet secretaries is set by Title 5 of the United States Code. Cabinet officials are designated as Level 1 of the Executive Schedule, which carries an annual salary of $199,700 in 2018. (See also: Trump's Cabinet Picks Would Be the Richest in U.S. History.)

Cabinet secretaries serve at the request of the president — they are not appointed to set terms like appointees to federal boards such as the National Labor Relations Board, where each member serves a five-year term.

The first secretary of energy, James Schlesinger, was a Republican nominated by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. Schlesinger was the only person ever dismissed from the position. Hazel O'Leary, who served as secretary of energy under Bill Clinton, was the first woman to hold the position. She was also the first African-American to take on the role. Federico Peña was the shortest-serving secretary of energy in recent history, with the shortest term in the position's history, lasting just 16 months. Steven Chu was the longest, serving from January 2009 through April 2013.