The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Jan. 23 sent the nominations of Douglas Burgum to be interior secretary and Chris Wright to be energy secretary to the floor in bipartisan votes.
“At their nomination hearings last week, the nominees proved that they’re committed to implementing President Trump’s plan to unleash American energy by ending the policies of climate alarmism and extremism, prepared to streamline permitting and rescind regulations that impose needless burdens on energy production and consequently the American people,” ENR Chair Mike Lee, R-Utah, said at the committee’s meeting.
Burgum cleared the committee by an 18-to-2 vote, while Wright secured a 15-to-5 vote as more Democrats voted against him. (See: Trump DOE Nominee Seeks to Assuage Senate Democrats.)
The committee votes yesterday come just a week after Burgum testified before the committee, and eight days after Wright did. (See: Burgum Criticizes ‘FERC Queues’ for Too Many Renewables.)
Lee said he hoped the two nominations would move quickly to a vote by the full Senate, and leadership has been pushing through Trump’s cabinet nominees, having already secured a unanimous confirmation vote for Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Jan. 20.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, explained he opposed both nominees because of Trump’s opposition to clean energy tax credits that both the Finance and ENR committees had worked.
“Rolling back this law is unilaterally disarming America in the face of China,” Wyden said. “Because President Trump states he wants to beat the Chinese while seeming to prefer policies that undermine America’s greatest advantages, I cannot support nominees that will carry out these policies.”
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said she opposed Wright for more local concerns — cleaning up the old plutonium producing site in Hanford, Wash. Wright said cleaning up the site was a top priority, but Cantwell said his commitment to the Tri-Party Agreement that has governed the cleanup for decades was “unsatisfactory.”
“We get roughly about $2 billion a year in the national budget to clean up Hanford, and we have every energy secretary really pushed by [the White House Office of Management and Budget] to basically try to do cleanup on the short,” Cantwell said. “So, I hope maybe between now and the floor, I might get a stronger commitment on the Tri-Party Agreement.”
