Congressional Hearing Summary Nomination of Chris Wright Secretary of Energy
On January 15th, 2025, the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources held a hearing entitled, “Hearing to Consider the Nomination of Mr. Chris Wright to be Secretary of Energy, ” lasting approximately three hours. Republicans were supportive of Mr. Wright’s nomination while Democrats expressed mixed support and opinions.
Overall Impression Summary:
The senators discussed a range of issues including how to address increasing energy demand and climate change. The Republican members and Independent member Angus King (I- ME) were mostly aligned with Mr. Wright, while Democrats voiced disapproval with some of his positions but largely showed a willingness to work with him. Ranking Member Martin Heinrich (D-NM) began the meeting by speaking of his “disappointment” in receiving Wright’s ethical and financial papers later than expected, which was a point of contention for some of the other Democrats. The hearing was also broken up multiple times by climate protestors mostly focusing on the Los Angeles, California, wildfires. Mr. Wright faced general approval from each of the senators despite defending against a few targeted questions from some of the Democrat senators.
Republican Position:
Generally, Republicans agreed on the need to meet increasing energy demand and reduce energy prices through innovation and cutting red tape. Chairman Mike Lee (R-UT) expressed the party’s concern that the Biden administration prioritized advancing “extreme climate policies” over the accessibility of energy.
Democratic Position:
Mr. Wright faced mixed treatment from Democrats. Despite heavy questioning on his climate change views and plans, Mr. Wright was able to convey an interest in addressing climate change through technology and innovation, of which many of the Democrat and independent members approved.
Bipartisan Position:
All members agreed on the need to invest in new energy technologies and improve the grid. In his opening statement, Ranking Member Heinrich raised three issues that are rapidly evolving the energy landscape: 1) energy demand; 2) advances in AI; and 3) investments in data centers.
Senator Heinrich: “The Secretary of Energy must also adapt to a rapidly evolving energy landscape driven by three empirical trends; first electricity demand is growing for the first time in decades, advances in generative AI technologies, and investments in manufacturing and data centers are driving up electricity demand.”
Witnesses
Key Issues
The Grid
In all questions referring to the grid, Mr. Wright emphatically expressed his commitment to a reliable and upgraded grid and views the biggest impediment to grid optimization as government policies and regulations.
Ranking Member Heinrich also raised concerns over the potential of the Department of Energy (DOE) Grid Deployment Office being cut by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) taskforce and wanted assurance that Mr. Wright will focus on improving the grid regardless of any cuts to the Department. Wright confirmed that improving the grid was of top concern.
Senator Hickenlooper (D-CO) discussed the importance of the permitting process in order to meet energy demand but also the concerns over the displacement of local communities due to transmission lines being built through them. Senator Heinrich also pressed him on the importance of transmission line permitting. Senators Hirono (D-HI) and Gallego (D-AZ) expressed concern over this topic as well. Mr. Wright stated that the “most pressing problem we have is our electricity grid.”
Senators Cantwell (D-WA) and Daines (R-MT) took interest in the need for investments into the grid to bolster the increasing energy demand from AI and blockchain datacenters with Sen. Daines specifically referring to the “proliferation of datacenters.” Mr. Wright showed support for these efforts.
Infrastructure
Both Republicans and Democrats emphasized the importance of building out U.S. electric transmission infrastructure. In his opening remarks, Mr. Wright stated that his immediate tasks would be to build infrastructure to make energy more affordable and ensure that the infrastructure is able to be built in the first place.
Mr. Wright: “[W]e must build things in America again and remove barriers to progress. Federal policies today make it too easy to stop projects and very hard to start and complete projects. This makes energy more expensive and less reliable. President Trump is committed to lowering energy costs and to do so, we must prioritize cutting red tape, enabling private sector investments, and building the infrastructure we need to make energy more affordable for families and businesses. ”
Other issues raised:
Issues Senators raised included increasing energy demand, climate change, and innovation and investment. Mr. Wright answered that innovation and investment will answer those first two problems. In his opening remarks, Chairman Lee stated that “the Biden administration has failed” referring to the regulatory inefficiencies limiting the country’s energy capabilities. Democrats were largely concerned over matters of climate change, and some expressed worry over the potential of losing Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) investment programs.
Meeting Energy Demand: Republicans stressed an all of the above approach to unlocking energy production. Wright emphasized the potential of research and innovation to allow for the utilization of all types of energy. Republicans also voiced concern over the current weight of the regulatory burden and Wright agreed with these statements.
Climate Change: Democrats questioned Mr. Wright on his commitment to slowing climate change and brought up some his past comments on the topic. Wright addressed this topic by asserting his commitment to investing in all types of energy.
Innovation and Investment: Wright frequently discussed the need for innovation and the important role that the national labs like Los Alamos and the 16 other labs play in the future of energy. Democrats voiced concern over losing investment funding granted to them by the prior administration in the Inflation Reduction Act. Both parties discussed at length investments into building up the country’s nuclear infrastructure and updating the grid.
Democrat Opposition to Wright:
Mr. Wright faced mixed treatment from Democrats. Despite heavy questioning on his climate change views and plans, he was able to convey an interest in addressing climate change through technology and innovation, of which many of the democrat and independent members approved.
The three senators who took a notably oppositional line of questioning against Mr. Wright were Senator Cortez-Masto (D-NV), Hirono, and Padilla (D-CA).
Senator Cortez-Masto sought assurance that the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository project would not continue, which Mr. Wright could not give her. In her final line of questioning, she pressed him on which sources of energy he wants to grow. Wright responded with “coal, nuclear, hydropower, wind and solar, and geothermal.” However, she did not hear him say solar and expressed her disappointment in his not mentioning it.
Senator Hirono asked Mr. Wright about a dinner that President Trump hosted at Mar-a-Lago where the President supposedly made certain promises to Mr. Wright and a group of oil executives that he would cut back on taxes and regulations for their industry if they raised money for his campaign.
Mr. Wright: “I was at the dinner and the president put forward no such deal.”
Sen. Hirono: “That’s not what was reported.”
Padilla took an aggressive stance towards Wright in his questioning on the Los Angeles, California, fires and would not allow him to make a response.
Padilla: “I’m not sorry for cutting you off, I feel that the point has been made.”
Democrats also expressed ethical concerns that Mr. Wright’s loyalty to Trump would be a barrier to him fulfilling his ethical obligations as Secretary of Energy. In each of these questionings, Mr. Wright stated that he would follow the law and any ethical obligations that he has. Senators also raised the issue of Mr. Wright’s potential conflict of interest with his own investments.
Despite the three outwardly dissenting members, the conversations with the other senators were cordial and allowed Mr. Wright to demonstrate his alignment with their concerns.