President-elect Donald Trump is moving quickly to select his nominees for cabinet positions, with some considered controversial by nonpartisans. Those nominees would have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, but Trump has said he would push for recess appointments if necessary.
The president-elect also posted on social media that he would not support a candidate to lead the Senate who did not accept these appointments. Sen. John Thune (RND), who was elected Nov. 13 to be the new GOP Senate leader starting in 2025, said he is not opposed to recess appointments, according to news reports.
The announced elections to lead the US Departments of Interior and Energy reflect the incoming administration’s anticipated shift toward more fossil fuel development in the United States. Chris Wright, the pick to lead the US Department of Energy, is currently the CEO of Liberty Energy, a Denver-based fracking company, but also sits on the board of Oklo, an advanced reactor developer nuclear that receives funding from the agency to develop its cleaner technology.
Trump also named North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) as his nominee for both interior secretary and chairman of a new federal entity called the National Energy Council that would include all agencies involved in permitting , regulating, producing, generating, distributing and transporting “. all forms of American energy,” the governor said in a statement. As the energy “czar,” according to Trump’s references, Burgum said he would seek “an unprecedented level of coordination among federal agencies to advance American energy.” Efforts will focus on boosting private sector investment, streamlining “red tape” and innovation, Trump said.
According to the federal Energy Information Administration, the state of North Dakota gets about 55% of its energy from coal plants, but also 36% from onshore wind. It ranks sixth among states in wind generation, with about 4 GW.
Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy, described Burgum as “uniquely qualified to coordinate a whole-of-government approach to US energy dominance,” adding that North Dakota has “a thriving renewable fuels sector, growing along with oil and gas while reducing emissions with carbon capture.”
But environmental advocates say Trump’s election, if confirmed, could roll back efforts to address climate change and environmental safeguards that have been in place for decades.
Jeff Deyette, deputy director of the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said Wright’s nomination “makes clear the disproportionate and undue influence of the fossil fuel industry in shaping and implementing the climate agenda Trump Administration.”
Leah Donahey, senior director of advocacy for the League of Conservation Voters, said Burgum helped organize the campaign event in which Trump offered to promote fossil fuel interests in exchange for $1 billion in political contributions. “Instead of comparing Burgum to other Trump candidates, the question should be how much Burgum is willing to hand over to oil CEOs and other big polluters,” he said. “If Burgum cares about our public lands, he will deauthorize the MAGA Project 2025. agenda and Trump’s extreme campaign to remove protections in order to ‘drill, drill, drill.’
Different priorities at the EPA
Trump also nominated former Republican House Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York to head the US Environmental Protection Agency. In a Nov. 11 statement, Trump said Zeldin would push for deregulation while “maintaining the highest environmental standards.”
Mark Sudol, a senior adviser at regulatory consulting firm Dawson & Associates, told ENR that he expects a second Trump administration to try to craft new rules that would reduce what US waterways would require federal protection under the Water Act clean Numerous lawsuits are currently challenging the existing rule, which expires in 2023, with some states using the current federal rule to guide permits while others do not, he said.
Sudol is previously the chief of the US Army Corps of Engineers regulatory program responsible for drafting the Corps’ guidelines on federal waterway permits in response to the “significant nexus” test outlined in the state Supreme Court United from 2006. rapanos decision related to federally protected waters in the US
But developing a new rule will take at least a year or two, Sudol said, because the EPA will have to start from scratch. The Trump administration’s goal of shrinking the federal workforce is jeopardizing those “who know how to overcome these processes and get things done, and replace them with new people, they’re going to make mistakes,” Sudol said. “A revised rule could be upheld just because they don’t jump through all the hoops and hoops and things that are necessary to achieve that.”
Appointed head of the DOT
Sean Duffy, a former congressman and Wisconsin district attorney, and host of Fox Business, is Trump’s choice to be the US Secretary of Transportation. In a Nov. 18 post on Truth Social , the president-elect said Duffy “will use his experience and the relationships he has built over many years in Congress to maintain and rebuild our nation’s infrastructure … focusing in safety, efficiency and innovation”. ”
Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said in a statement: “Transportation policy has a long bipartisan history, and I look forward to continuing that tradition under former Congressman Sean Duffy. leadership and working together to approve the next surface transportation authorization, if confirmed.”
