Lawmakers approved the package in an en bloc vote under Senate rules to accelerate confirmation of lower-level executive branch nominees.
The Senate has confirmed 49 nominees selected by President Donald Trump, including several officials tapped to oversee federal land management and energy policy.
Lawmakers in the upper chamber approved the latest package of nominees in a 46–43 vote on May 18 under procedures allowing multiple lower-level executive branch nominations to be considered together.
The package includes ambassadors, assistant secretaries, U.S. attorneys, U.S. marshals, transportation officials, and other executive branch nominees. Among them were nominees for posts at the Commerce Department, Transportation Department, the Surface Transportation Board, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Several of those confirmed will work to advance the Trump administration’s energy policies. They include Stevan Pearce of New Mexico as director of the Bureau of Land Management, Kyle Haustveit of North Dakota as undersecretary of energy, and David LaCerte of Louisiana as a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
“Each of these nominees brings a wealth of experience, and they will play an important role in carrying out President Trump’s agenda to unleash American energy dominance,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, said in a statement praising the successful confirmation of Pearce, Haustveit, and LaCerte.
The Bureau of Land Management, which Pearce will lead, is the federal agency responsible for overseeing more than 245 million acres of public land and approximately 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate across the United States. The agency plays a central role in federal decisions involving oil and gas leasing, renewable energy development, grazing, mining, timber harvesting, and outdoor recreation.
Trump administration officials and congressional Republicans have repeatedly made the case that streamlining permitting and expanding domestic production of oil, natural gas, and other resources are necessary to strengthen U.S. energy security and lower costs for American families.
Haustveit, as undersecretary of energy, is expected to help oversee energy infrastructure, production policy, and implementation priorities at the Department of Energy. In its latest budget request to Congress, the department said it is committed to “common sense energy policies” that turn the nation’s “abundance of resources into affordable, reliable, and secure energy for all Americans.”
