The Senate overwhelmingly voted Thursday evening to confirm former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) to be secretary of interior, and also took a step closer to a confirmation vote on Secretary of Energy nominee Chris Wright.
Burgum, who would also lead President Donald Trump’s National Energy Council, easily won confirmation to head the Interior Department via a 79-to-18 vote.
In addition, the chamber passed a motion by Senate Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to end debate onTrump’s nominee to head the Department of Energy Liberty Energy CEO Wright by a vote of 62 to 35. A full Senate vote on whether to confirm Wright is expected next week, according to C-SPAN.
Cloture is a formal Senate process that requires 60 votes to block a filibuster and bring an issue to the full Senate floor for a vote. Both nominees were voted out of committee last week following confirmation hearings earlier in the month.
According to national news outlets, Wright and Burgum are considered among President Trump’s less controversial nominees in the early days of Trump’s second administration.
NEW: Via public records request, I’ve been able to confirm reporting today that a warrant has been issued for DOE deputy asst. secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition Sam Brinton for another luggage theft, this time at Las Vegas’s Harry Reid airport. (cc: @EMPublications)
DOE spent fuel lead Brinton accused of second luggage theft.
by @BenjaminSWeiss, confirming today's reports with warrant from Las Vegas Metro PD.
Waste has been Emplaced! 🚮
We have finally begun emplacing defense-related transuranic (TRU) waste in Panel 8 of #WIPP.
Read more about the waste emplacement here: https://wipp.energy.gov/wipp_news_20221123-2.asp
Editorial: Sam Brinton’s credibility is now an issue 🔓