Cedar Rapids native gets Senate Appropriations appointment

Cedar Rapids native Adrienne Hallett has been appointed majority clerk of Sen. Tom Harkin's Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies.

Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara A. Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, appointed Hallett to replace Erik Fatemi, who has worked as a professional staff member for Harkin on the subcommittee since 2001, the last three years as clerk.  Fatemi leaves Capitol Hill Oct. 4 for the private sector.

As majority clerk, Hallett, 37, will be responsible for advising Harkin and Mikulski on how to allocate more than $160 billion a year in discretionary appropriations under the subcommittee's jurisdiction for critical services ranging from medical research, job training, and home energy assistance to mental health, early childhood care and education, and the operations of the Social Security Administration.

“Adrienne understands the depth and breadth of this subcommittee and knows firsthand how funding directed at healthcare, job training, education, and volunteerism can truly impact people's lives,” Harkin said. “She demonstrated particularly strong leadership with the public health and volunteer service responses to various natural disasters, such as the flooding that devastated part of the Midwest in 2008.  It is this leadership combined with her many years on the subcommittee that will be incredibly valuable as she takes the helm as majority clerk.”

Hallett first came to Capitol Hill in 1999 as a legislative correspondent for Harkin. She joined the subcommittee as a professional staff member in 2001. In her current capacity, she manages a portfolio of $17 billion of federal spending annually, which includes funding for programs of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Hallett, the daughter of Shirley and the late Albert Hallett of Cedar Rapids, is a graduate of Jefferson High School, the University of Northern Iowa and Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville with a master of theological studies. She lives in Washington.

In 2007, Hallett, who was advising Harkin on public broadcasting issues, was given the 2007 Public Radio Leadership Award by National Public Radio.