Four of President Trump’s energy nominees were voted favorably out of the Senate energy committee on Tuesday, despite some opposition from Democrats and repeated interruptions by activists in the panel’s chamber.
The nominees included David Bernhardt, Trump’s nominee to be deputy secretary of the interior, who was approved in a 14-9 vote. The committee also voted 17-6 to approve Dan Brouillette to be deputy secretary of energy, and voted 20-3 to approve Neil Chatterjee and Robert Powelson to be Federal Energy Regulatory Commission members.
The nominees will now be considered on the Senate floor. Democrats are expected to oppose the nominees there, but as in the committee, the Republican majority is expected to prevail.
The committee’s meeting on Tuesday was repeatedly interrupted by activists and protesters in the chamber. The protesters even tried to drown out the roll call votes while in process.
