By Michael Brooks

The Senate last night confirmed Arkansas Public Service Commission Chairman Colette Honorable to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Honorable recently completed a term as president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.

Honorable was nominated in August by President Obama to fill the remainder of departing Commissioner John Norris’ term, which will end in June 2017. She was confirmed unanimously by simple voice vote. Honorable was among a handful of non-controversial nominations that the Senate quickly approved before adjourning until January, making her confirmation among the last acts of the 113th Congress.

“Colette brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the important issues we are facing,” FERC Chairman Cheryl LaFleur said in a statement. “She and I worked together closely during her time as the president of NARUC, and I very much look forward to continuing that strong relationship when she joins the commission.”

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted last week to advance Honorable’s nomination to a full vote. Ranking member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said a majority of the committee met off the Senate floor Thursday, also voting by voice, after the committee failed to reach a quorum at its meeting the day before.

Assist from Cruz

Honorable was expected to be confirmed by the Senate this week, but only after some political kabuki by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) inadvertently expedited her nomination.

On Friday, the Senate convened to debate a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill, which had to be passed by Saturday night to avoid a government shutdown. Party leaders worked out a deal to pass a short-term spending bill that would fund the government through Wednesday before convening again on Monday to pass the omnibus bill.

Under the rules of the Senate, votes need to be scheduled a certain amount of time in advance, but this wait period can be waived by unanimous consent. Cruz and colleague Mike Lee of Utah, however, objected to the waiver in an effort to oppose Obama’s executive order delaying the deportation of 5 million immigrants living in the country illegally.

The move forced the Senate to stay in D.C. Saturday, infuriating members of both parties. But it also gave Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) an opportunity to push through 24 of Obama’s nominations, including Honorable’s, which were being stalled by Republicans in the hopes that they would be delayed until the GOP took over the Senate in January.

“While we wait we shouldn’t waste time,” Reid said when the Senate convened Saturday. “The Republican leader has known for weeks, if not months, that we intend to vote on the president’s nominations.”

Senators spent nearly 10 hours voting on procedural motions to advance the nominations while they waited until they could vote on the omnibus bill, which they ended up passing 56-40 Saturday night.

While the Senate was expected to take up the nominations when it reconvened on Monday, Democrats had feared that the process would take too long and some senators would leave for the holidays before all of them passed.

Reid spent most of Monday and Tuesday putting more controversial nominations to a vote, such as Obama’s pick for surgeon general Vivek Murthy, to get them confirmed before the Senate adjourned and Republicans take over in January. While Honorable would have likely been confirmed next year, Cruz’s maneuver guaranteed that she would be confirmed this week and not have to be advanced by the Energy Committee again next year.

Honorable had received praise from members of both parties at her Dec. 4 confirmation hearing. (See FERC Nominee Colette Honorable Gets Bipartisan Support at Senate Hearing.)

Farewell to Landrieu

The committee met on Wednesday to vote on Honorable’s nomination, but it spent most of its 20-minute business meeting complimenting and thanking outgoing Chairman Mary Landrieu (D-La.) for her service. It adjourned when Landrieu announced it had failed to reach a quorum.

Landrieu lost her bid for re-election earlier this month in a runoff vote against Republican Bill Cassidy, who represents Louisiana’s 6th district in the U.S. House. Murkowski, Landrieu’s likely replacement as chair, said her Democratic colleague has been a “true leader” on energy issues.

Landrieu focused “on the things that are not only important to the people of Louisiana but for the people of this country,” Murkowski told her. “I am very, very grateful for what you have given the United States Senate, for what you have given your state and for what you’ve given to the American people.”

Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) also offered their appreciation and support for Landrieu. Franken noted that as a former comedian, he would mostly miss Landrieu’s “infectious” laugh.