The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources today held a business meeting to advance five nominees to the Senate floor:

• Mr. Joseph Balash to be Assistant Secretary at Interior for Land and Minerals Management;
• Mr. Richard Glick to be a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission;
• Mr. David Jonas to be General Counsel of the Department of Energy;
• Mr. Kevin McIntyre to be a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; and
• Mr. Ryan Nelson to be Solicitor of the Department of the Interior.

“We continue to move expeditiously on these nominees so that Secretary Zinke and Secretary Perry can have their teams in place, and so FERC no longer has a mere quorum, but instead a full complement of five commissioners,” Murkowski said. “I am particularly pleased to be able to advance Alaskan Joe Balash to this important position within Interior. Joe has served Alaska well over the years, and I look forward to his leadership on national issues relating to our lands and minerals. I recognize that we have a busy calendar in the coming weeks, but am hopeful that we will be able to confirm all five of these nominees, in addition to the other four that we have pending on the Senate floor, during this work period.”

The committee favorably reported Balash, Nelson, McIntyre, and Glick by voice vote, and Jonas by a vote of 14-9.

Murkowski supported all five nominations, which now head to the Senate floor. 

Murkowski is chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.