Trump nominates Dan Brouillette as his next Energy Secretary

President Donald Trump nominated Deputy US Energy Sec. Dan R. Brouillette to be Energy Secretary, succeeding Rick Perry, who said he would resign by the end of the year (OGJ Online, Oct. 18, 2019). US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-Alas.) immediately applauded the president’s move.

“Dan is a great choice to be Energy Secretary of Energy and I strongly support his nomination,” she said on Oct. 21. “I have enjoyed working with him as Deputy Secretary, appreciate his visits to Alaska, and have every confidence that he will excel in this new role. Once we receive his nomination and paperwork, we will proceed with a hearing so that we can confirm him as soon as possible.”

Prior to becoming Deputy Energy Secretary in 2017, Brouillette was senior vice president and head of public policy at USAA, the nation’s leading provider of financial services to the US military community, and a vice president at Ford Motor Co., where he led the automaker’s domestic policy teams and served on its North American operating committee.

His previous federal government positions included chief of staff on the US House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee and Assistant US Energy Sec. for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs from 2001 to 2003. He also is a former state energy regulator, having served as a Louisiana State Mineral and Energy Board member from 2013 to 2016.

“Dan Brouillette understands the relationship between energy policy and the overall economy. Louisiana workers depend on thought-through energy policy,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s Energy Subcommittee. “Mr. Brouillette’s experience will serve the country well as the United States pursues energy dominance and energy employment.”

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