Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee reports two DOE nominations favorably and hears four nominees for Interior and Energy posts

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on May 7 held roll-call votes to report two nominations for Department of Energy posts and then conducted a nominations hearing for four nominees to senior Interior and Energy positions.

During a short business meeting the committee took roll-call votes on the nominations of Mr. Wells Griffith to be Under Secretary of Energy and Dr. Dario Gill to be Under Secretary of Energy for Science. The committee reported Mr. Griffith's nomination favorably by a roll-call tally the clerk recorded as 14 ayes and 6 nays; the clerk later recorded Dr. Gill's nomination as reported favorably with 15 ayes and 5 nays. The clerk captured that roll-call tallies were taken for each floor nomination and the chair ordered both nominations reported favorably to the Senate.

After the votes the committee moved into a scheduled nominations hearing for four nominees: Dr. Andrea Travnik (nominee to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science), Ms. Leslie Beyer (nominee to be Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management), Mr. Ted Gerrish (nominee to be Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, Department of Energy), and Mr. Tristan Abbe (nominee to be Administrator of the Energy Information Administration). The committee swore in the nominees and each gave opening statements. Senators asked questions about western water infrastructure, tribal consultation, public lands management, nuclear licensing and financing, hydropower operations on the Colorado River, and the Energy Information Administration's capacity to produce a congressionally directed critical minerals outlook.

Dr. Travnik said if confirmed she would prioritize Western water infrastructure, engagement with the seven Colorado River basin states, and work on the critical minerals list maintained by USGS: "If confirmed as the assistant assistant secretary for water and science, I'll bring my core values and natural resources and management experiences to the role. I look forward to leading and working again with the dedicated teams of engineers, hydrologists, and scientists at the Bureau of Reclamation and the US Geological Survey." Ms. Beyer described her experience in energy and land management and said she would seek to balance multiple uses of public lands and follow congressional directives: "If confirmed, I pledge to be a responsible steward of more than 245,000,000 acres of surface, 700,000,000 acres of subsurface, and over 3,000,000,000 acres offshore."

Mr. Gerrish told senators nuclear power must be advanced through licensing, prototype demonstration, and financing tools; he said building and licensing a first new reactor is a priority. Mr. Abbe, the nominee for EIA administrator, emphasized objectivity and modernization, telling senators he would work to clear unfinished projects, recruit technical talent, and produce the congressionally required critical minerals outlook if confirmed.

Committee members raised procedural and policy concerns during questioning. Senators pressed Dr. Travnik and Ms. Beyer about tribal consultation and whether expedited permitting guidance could meaningfully accommodate consultation timelines; nominees replied they would work to ensure consultation was meaningful while seeking permitting efficiencies. Senators also questioned Ms. Beyer about any approach to conveyance of public lands; she said only Congress can dispose of federal lands and that she would follow congressional direction if confirmed.

The committee then began the formal nomination hearing and entered questions for the record; the chair announced the record would remain open for statements until 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 8 and that senators' written questions were due by 6 p.m. that evening.