David Jonas, who President Donald Trump last year nominated to be the Department of Energy’s general counsel, no longer wants the job, according to a LinkedIn post Jonas published late Jan. 7.
“In considering the additional months that would be required for final confirmation, as well as my professional responsibilities at FH+H Law Firm, I respectfully and regretfully requested that my nomination be withdrawn from consideration,” Jonas wrote in the post.
The former Department of Energy (DOE) and DNFSB lawyer did not provide further details. In an email Monday, Jonas confirmed he had written the post, but declined to comment further about his decision or his experience with the Senate last year. Jonas now will return to the law firm FH+H in Tysons Corner, Va., near Washington, where he is a partner.
As general counsel, Jonas would have been DOE’s top lawyer, providing legal advice to the energy secretary so the agency head could focus on policy rather than legal concerns.
Jonas’ nomination made it out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee over the summer. Unlike other DOE nominees considered alongside him, though, the committee’s vote to recommend Jonas for confirmation was not unanimous. Some committee Democrats supported Jonas, but most did not.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, cited unspecified “concerns” about Jonas. Cantwell is a fierce advocate for DOE’s Hanford Site in her home state: the largest legacy nuclear cleanup in both the nation and DOE’s portfolio.
While other nominees for senior DOE leadership positions eventually were confirmed on the Senate floor last year, Jonas was not. In addition, the Senate did not allow Jonas’ nomination to roll over from the previous session of the two-year 115th Congress into the current session that began Jan. 3. Senate rules ordinarily permit the chamber to consider only nominations made in the current session of Congress.
At deadline Monday for Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, there was no DOE general counsel, and the White House had not nominated anyone in Jonas’ stead. John Lucas, a DOE deputy general counsel, was the acting general counsel through November, but he had to step down because of federal time limits on interim agency managers.
