Senate confirms physicist Moniz as energy chief
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Senate has unanimously confirmed President Obama's nominee to lead the Energy Department.
Physicist Ernest Moniz is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Moniz replaces Steven Chu, who served as energy secretary in Obama's first term.
Moniz was an energy undersecretary in the Clinton administration.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina had delayed a vote on Moniz for several weeks. Graham was protesting Obama's plan to cut about $200 million from a South Carolina project to turn weapons-grade plutonium into fuel for nuclear reactors.
Graham and other GOP lawmakers said the plan jeopardized a plant being built at the Savannah River nuclear site.
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden is chairman of the Senate Energy Committee. He calls Moniz smart, savvy and solution-oriented.