Rebecca Higgins

Meet the Chief of Staff
Rebecca Higgins was appointed by President Biden as the Permitting Council’s Chief of Staff in 2023, bringing her extensive background in transportation and infrastructure policy from her prior role as a senior policy advisor at the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. With a strong focus on environmental permitting, Rebecca works closely with the Executive Director, Eric Beightel, to manage a portfolio of nearly $75 billion in large-scale infrastructure projects.

During her tenure on Capitol Hill, Higgins led the Environment and Public Works Committee’s transportation and environmental permitting teams, setting priorities and advising Senate leadership. She was the principal author and negotiator for the $350 billion highway portion of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and significant parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, including funding for environmental reviews and permitting. Previously, Ms. Higgins was a senior policy analyst at the Department of Transportation, focusing on streamlining environmental reviews and project delivery, and worked as an energy industry analyst at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Ms. Higgins holds a Masters in Public Policy—Energy and Public Policy–from Georgetown University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Chicago.