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Senate Energy Committee reports three nominations to Senate after roll-call votes
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Summary
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted to report three White House nominees favorably to the Senate floor during its business meeting, recording two 12–8 votes and one 11–8 vote with one senator recorded as abstaining.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted in a business meeting to report three presidential nominees to the full Senate for consideration, Chairman Lee said during the committee session.
The committee voted to report William Dauphamier to be Solicitor at the Department of the Interior (ayes 12, nays 8), Catherine Herreza to be Assistant Secretary of Energy for Electricity (ayes 11, nays 8, Senator King recorded an abstention), and Kyle Hasfied to be Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy (ayes 12, nays 8). The clerk called the roll for each nomination and Chairman Lee announced that each nomination was "agreed to and ordered to be reported favorably to the Senate."
The votes followed procedural roll calls conducted by the committee clerk. Senator Justice offered brief praise after the business votes, saying, "I'm very, very proud of who we just voted for," and singled out the nominee from his hometown. Chairman Lee then closed the business portion and opened the hearing portion of the meeting.
Why it matters: Reporting a nominee favorably advances the nominations to a floor vote in the Senate where final confirmation occurs. The three offices—Interior solicitor and two assistant secretary posts at the Department of Energy—carry legal, regulatory and program responsibilities that shape federal energy and resource policy.
What happened next: After completing the business votes, the committee proceeded directly into the scheduled confirmation hearing for four additional nominees from the Departments of Energy and Interior.
Details and procedure: The clerk performed roll-call voting; the committee used proxy votes in several cases. On the Herreza vote, the clerk recorded that Senator King would abstain pending a later meeting with the nominee. The committee set deadlines for follow-up: questions for the record were due by 6 p.m. the day of the hearing, and additional statements remained open through Thursday, May 15, the chairman said.
No formal amendments or additional motions were made during the business meeting portion; the committee recorded the votes and moved to the hearing without further action.
