The Biden administration has withdrawn its nominee for a position at the Department of Energy following opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) linked to concerns that the candidate supported efficiency standards limiting the sale of gas stoves.
According to a notice sent out by the White House on Thursday, Jeff Marootian’s nomination to be an assistant secretary at the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has officially been revoked. Marootian, who currently serves as a senior adviser for the office under Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, was originally tapped in July 2022 to head up the EERE office — a post that has been vacant since the departure of Daniel Simmons, a Trump-era holder, in 2021.
ANTITRUST CASE OF THE CENTURY: WHAT TO EXPECT AS JUSTICE DEPARTMENT V. GOOGLE CASE BEGINS
However, the nomination faced a major hurdle over the DOE’s new appliance efficiency standards that aimed at cracking down on emissions from household appliances, including gas stoves. The guidance won the ire of several Republican lawmakers, and one prominent Democratic one: Manchin, the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Back in May, the West Virginia lawmaker abruptly canceled a committee vote to advance the nominee to the Senate floor, citing concerns about the appliance efficiency rules.
“While I supported Mr. Marootian’s nomination in December, since then the office he’s been nominated to lead has proposed stove efficiency rules that I’ve raised concerns about,” Manchin told the Washington Examiner in a statement.
While the committee voted to confirm Marootian back in November 2022, the nomination stalled at the end of the legislative session, resulting in the Biden administration renominating him in January 2023.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In February, DOE unveiled its “Energy Policy and Conservation Program,” which would make at least half of U.S. stove models ineligible for repurchase in stores if they were to come into the market today.
Several Republicans expressed their opposition to the rules, with the House going as far as to pass a bill preventing the federal government from banning gas stoves.
