After losing his seat in the U.S. Senate, Michigan Republican Spence Abraham was appointed as President-elect George W. Bush’s Secretary of Energy.
Rumors of a possible appointment had begun in early December, as the final results from the presidential election came to a close and Bush was emerging the clear winner.
The appointments will not be final until approval by the Senate.
MSU political science Professor David Rohde said he wasn’t surprised Abraham accepted the position after being defeated on Nov. 7 by Lansing Democrat Debbie Stabenow.
“The president’s team decides who is appointed. A number of prominent Michigan politicians, including Gov. (John) Engler, pushed for Abraham to be named to a cabinet position,” Rohde said. “People turn down these jobs, but the people that turn them down already have other jobs.”
Many of Bush’s appointments have been met with controversy. Democrats argued with the nominations of Missouri Republican John Ashcroft as attorney general and Linda Chavez as secretary of labor.
The bulk of the criticism surrounding the announcement of Abraham’s position regards his past sentiments about the Department of Energy. While working in the Senate, Abraham took part in a movement to eliminate the department, hoping to cut down on government spending. Some critics of the move thought that Abraham should have turned down the appointment after his previous opinions about the agency.
“I’m hoping that while Abraham’s in the position, he’ll keep people in mind and not special interests,” said Jeanne Raven, president of the MSU College Democrats. “He’s appointed, he’s there, and I hope he’s doing it for the right reasons.”
The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to help deal with the energy crisis of the mid-70s. Some of the goals of the agency are to decrease America’s dependence on foreign oil and to research alternate energy sources.
Abraham lost a highly publicized race for the U.S. Senate. Abraham, an incumbent, lost the election by a slim margin, and many Republicans were surprised by the loss. Like many races in last year’s election, the results were too close to call until the day after ballots were cast.
“We’re all very pleased with his appointment,” said Jason Ahrens, chairman of the MSU College Republicans.
“I think he’s very qualified. Losing his Senate seat was a big disappointment. I think he was worried about the ways the energy committee was working, and now he’s got a lot of new ideas and can work with it directly.”
