WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) August 1, 2011 — This afternoon, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke resigned his cabinet post after he was sworn-in by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the next U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of China.
Dr. Rebecca M. Blank, Acting Deputy Secretary of the Commerce Department, will serve as Acting Commerce Secretary. Blank has served as acting Deputy Secretary since November 2010.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) which includes NOAA Fisheries, formally known as the National Marine Fisheries Service, is part of the Commerce Department.
According to information provided by the Commerce Department, as Acting Deputy Secretary, Dr. Blank oversaw matters of management and policy for the department's 12 bureaus, functioning as Commerce's chief operating officer. Dr. Blank has served Locke since June 2009 as his principal economic advisor in her role as Under Secretary for Economic Affairs and head of the Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA). ESA oversees the two premier statistical agencies in the United States, the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
In May, President Obama nominated John Bryson to serve as the next Commerce Secretary. His nomination is currently blocked by Senate Republicans. Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) has formally placed a hold on Mr. Bryson's nomination because of his environmental views.
In addition, Northeastern Democrats have raised questions about Mr. Bryson's connections to the Natural Resources Defense Council, a group that has "earned antipathy from fishermen for its efforts to beef up regulation", according to the Boston Globe.