Obama Appoints New Head of Mineral Management Service

Obama has announced who will take over the beleaguered leadership of the Mineral Management Service:

President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that Michael R. Bromwich, a Washington lawyer who served in the Clinton Justice Department, would lead the sweeping overhaul of the beleaguered Mineral Management Service.

In the wake of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the agency has come under fire for its lax oversight of offshore oil and gas development. And last month, MMS chief Elizabeth Birnbaum resigned under pressure. Obama made the announcement just hours before an Oval Office address to the nation on the BP spill.

Bromwich will be charged with “restoring integrity and rigor to the relationship between federal regulatory officials and oil companies,” according to the White House.