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The media focuses on the President's Cabinet in which women leaders include the Secretaries of Education, Transportation, and Homeland Security, as well as the first woman to head the Central Intelligence Agency. But the business of the federal government happens across many agencies, offices, and departments where women are at the helm or are second in command. This article reviews an unofficial list of women in some 300 politically appointed roles and dozens of judges and ambassadors.
President Donald Trump jokes with United States Treasurer Jovita Carranza at Nuss Truck and ... [+] ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Office of the President alone has over 100 women in politically appointed roles, many as Chief, Secretary, Director, Deputy Director, and Counselor to the President. Women also lead commissions such as Eilen Lappin Weiser, Chairman of the Commission on Presidential Scholars; Samantha Ravich, Vice Chair of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board; Michelle Park Steele, Co-Chair of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; and Liz Sara, Chairperson of the National Women's Business Council.
Margaret Weichert is doing double-duty as Acting Director at the Office of Personnel Management and Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget. Suzanne Kent is Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government. Mary B. Neumayr, unanimously confirmed, is the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). Neomi Rao as Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs spearheaded the President's regulatory reform efforts in his first two years now serves on the District Court of Appeals. The President has appointed 44 female judges to various courts; this amount is on par with the number of female judges nominated by Barack Obama.
Women lead in the White House as Director of the Office of Administration, Deputy Director of the Office of Administration, and Chief Financial Officer in the Office of Administration.
Wilbur Ross may be the Secretary of Commerce, but its Deputy Secretary of Commerce Karen Dunn Kelley who keeps the departmet running. Holly Ham serves as Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The earlier Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Naomi Churchill Earp awaits confirmation to become Assistant Secretary of Agriculture (Civil Rights) and Mindy Brashears, the Under Secretary of Agriculture (Food Safety).
Heather Wilson has served as Secretary of the Air Force for the 2 years, and the President has nominated Barbara Barrett as her successor. At the Department of Defense, half a dozen women have Senate-confirmed roles for Acquisition, Research and Engineering, Finance, Readiness and Force Management, and Intelligence.
Women leaders at the Department of Energy include Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy (Rita Brananwal), Under Secretary for Nuclear Security (Lisa Gordon-Hagerty), Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response (Karen Evans), and Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (Anne White). Linda Capuano is the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration.
Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Charmaine Yoest became Associate Director of the White House Office of Drug Control Policy and now is Vice President of the Heritage Foundation's Institute for Family, Community and Opportunity.
Seema Varma is the Administrator for Medicare and Medicaid. Anna Maria Farias, a Latina who grew up in a Texas housing project is now Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. Olympic Gold Medalist for Volleyball Misty May-Treanor is the Co-Chair of the President’s Council on Sports Fitness and Nutrition along with 7 other female members.
The Department of the Interior has many women firsts including the First Female Alaska Native Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, Tara Mac Lean Sweeney and First Female Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, Brenda Burman. Awaiting Senate confirmation is Aurealia Skipwith who would be the first African American woman Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Women lead at Department of Justice offices including Darlene Hutchinson Biehl, Director of the Office for Victims of Crime; Caren Harp, Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; Laura Rogers, Director of the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking, and waiting to be confirmed, Shannon Lee Goessling as Director of the Office of Violence Against Women.
At the Department of Labor, Kate S. O'Scannlain is the Solicitor of Labor; Cheryl Marie Stanton, Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division; and Patricia Greene, Director of the United States Women's Bureau.
Over a dozen appointments of women at the Department of State include Carol Perez, Director General of the United States Foreign Service which houses America's diplomatic corps, some 13,000 people. The President has appointed some 50 women to ambassadorial posts, including Nikki Haley to the United Nations and Kelly Knight Craft, the first woman Ambassador to Canada, now tapped to fill the UN role. Notably most of the women in ambassador role have had a career with the Foreign Service, and many are placed in war-torn countries with challenging foreign policy.
The Department of Transportation has about half a dozen Senate confirmed women leaders including Nicole Nason, Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. Awaiting confirmation are Thelma Drake, Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration and Heidi King, Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Separately Ann Bageman serves as Chair of the independent Surface Transportation Board.
Women have been appointed to head a number of banks and financial institutions including Serbian-born Jelena McWilliams, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Kimberly Reed, President of the Export–Import Bank of the United States; Judy Lynn Shelton, United States Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Awaiting confirmation are Andeliz Castillo as the Alternate Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank and Jennifer Nordquist as United States Executive Director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
At the Department of Veterans Affairs, Cheryl Mason is the Chairman of the Board of the Board of Veterans' Appeals along with women serving assistant secretary roles for enterprise integration and accountability and whistleblower protection.
Sue Gordon is the Deputy Director of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
At the Environmental Protection Agency, Senate confirmed women serve as the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Administrators for Toxic Substances and Enforcement.
Linda MacMahon served two years as the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, and the President tapped Jovita Carranza, Treasurer of the United States and Latina Leader to Watch to take her place. The Deputy Administrator of SBA is also a woman, Althea Coetzee. Carranza was also appointed to the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission with Kay Cole James.
Senate Confirmation awaits the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board including nominee for Vice Chair Lisa Vickers.
Ann Marie Buerkle serves as Chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission as Victoria Lipnic does for the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.
Maureen Ohlhausen served as Acting Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission from January 2017 to May 2018. The President appointed Christine Wilson and Rebecca Slaughter as FTC Commissioners.
Alveda King and Naomi Earp were appointed to the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission.
Kristine Svinicki has started a third term as Chairwoman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Heather MacDougall is Chairwoman of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Confirmed June 27, 2019 is Aimee Kathryn Jorjani as Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
Jill Nelson is Vice Chair of the Federal Salary Council; Colleen Kiko; Chairman of the Federal Labor Relations Authority; Barbara Stewart, Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service; Jody Olsen, Director of the Peace Corps; Gail Ennis, Inspector General of the Social Security Administration; and Emily Murphy, General Services Administration; Kathy Kraninger, Director of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.
Bonnie Glick, Deputy Administration of US Agency for International Development is waiting on three women to be confirmed for the agency.
Some 45 women await confirmation to leadership roles including ten to National Council for the Humanities; three to the National Endowment for the Art, including its Chair; three to the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation; two to the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service; and nominees to the Commission on Children, Youth, and Families; United States Parole Commission; Fed Board of Governors; Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board; Merit Systems Protection Board; International Trade Commission; Postal Regulatory Commission, and the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
