Rachael S. Taylor will become Chief of Staff for the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), according to Secretary Deb Haaland.
The move will take effect on Nov. 15.
Outgoing chief of staff Larry Roberts is going back to his previous role of strengthening tribal self-determination as Attorney General for a federally recognized tribe.
Roberts was appointed in late April and as a citizen of the Oneida Nation, he was the agency's first Indigenous Chief of Staff.
Haaland said that Taylor’s work ethic and networking skills had stood out since she began working for the agency.
"Since day one of the Biden-Harris administration, Rachael’s expertise has been instrumental in advancing the department’s goals while maintaining an exceptional level of interagency coordination. I am confident in Rachael’s leadership and excited to work with her as we continue to conserve our public lands and waters, honor our relationships with Tribes, and secure a clean energy future,” Haaland said in a press release. “I also want to thank Larry Roberts for his leadership and friendship. I am deeply grateful for his invaluable service and for the central role he has played in helping me carry out President Biden’s vision.”
Over the course of her roughly 16-year career with the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, Taylor negotiated a $38 billion appropriations bill as the Democratic clerk of the Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies while also serving in other executive branch and legislative roles, according to a DOI press release.
"I am thrilled to continue serving the American people in this new role. The Interior Department has a pivotal role to play in building our economy, environment, and communities back better and while we have made significant progress in the last several months, there’s still so much work to do on a bipartisan basis to ensure a healthy, livable planet for current and future generations,” Taylor said. “Under Secretary Haaland’s historic leadership, the Department will continue to lead in this Administration’s all-of-government approach to tackling the climate crisis and strengthening the Nation-to-Nation relationship with Indian Tribes.”
