March 12, 2020

Wyden Statement on Confirmation of Another Republican FERC Nominee

Wyden: “The confirmation of Danly to the FERC creates a wholly unbalanced Commission”

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released the following statement on the Senate confirmation of James P. Danly to be a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC):

“The confirmation of Danly to the FERC creates a wholly unbalanced Commission and such an unbalanced and partisan Commission threatens the validity of its decisions by defying the commonsense meaning of a bipartisan commission. I question the legitimacy of such a Commission in violation of its Congressional directive. As such, I will carefully review any and all decisions coming from FERC while it remains unbalanced and numerically tilted towards predetermined conclusions.”

There are currently two vacancies on the Commission. With today’s confirmation of Danly, a Republican, three of the four confirmed commissioners are now Republicans, leaving one Democratic vacancy and running counter to the Commission’s longstanding tradition of balance and bipartisanship.

Wyden, a senior member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in January called for Donald Trump to appoint a full and bipartisan commission before the Commission rules on complex projects, such as the Jordan Cove Energy Project in Oregon.

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