    [Senate Hearing 119-119]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                          S. Hrg. 119-119

                              DOFFERMYRE, JEREZA,
                           AND HAUSTVEIT NOMINATIONS
    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                                  COMMITTEE ON
                          ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                        ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                       TO

     CONSIDER THE NOMINATIONS OF WILLIAM DOFFERMYRE TO BE SOLICITOR OF THE
        DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, CATHERINE JEREZA TO BE AN ASSISTANT
        SECRETARY OF ENERGY (ELECTRICITY), AND KYLE HAUSTVEIT TO BE AN
                 ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF ENERGY (FOSSIL ENERGY)

                                   __________

                                  MAY 8, 2025

                                   __________

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                           Printed for the use of the
                   Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

            Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov

                                    __________

                       U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
    61-235                    WASHINGTON : 2026
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                   COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES

                            MIKE LEE, Utah, Chairman
    JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming               MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico
    JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho                RON WYDEN, Oregon
    STEVE DAINES, Montana                MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
    TOM COTTON, Arkansas                 MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii
    DAVID McCORMICK, Pennsylvania        ANGUS S. KING, Jr., Maine
    JAMES C. JUSTICE, West Virginia      CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
    BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana              JOHN W. HICKENLOOPER, Colorado
    CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi        ALEX PADILLA, California
    LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska               RUBEN GALLEGO, Arizona
    JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota

                      Wendy Baig, Majority Staff Director
                Patrick J. McCormick III, Majority Chief Counsel
                     Jasmine Hunt, Minority Staff Director
                     Sam E. Fowler, Minority Chief Counsel

                               C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------

                               OPENING STATEMENTS

                                                                       Page
    Lee, Hon. Mike, Chairman and a U.S. Senator from Utah............     1
    Heinrich, Hon. Martin, Ranking Member and a U.S. Senator from
      New Mexico.....................................................     7
    Justice, Hon. James C., a U.S. Senator from West Virginia........     8
    Hoeven, Hon. John, a U.S. Senator from North Dakota..............    11

                                   WITNESSES

    Doffermyre, William, nominated to be Solicitor of the Department
      of the Interior................................................    12
    Jereza, Catherine, nominated to be an Assistant Secretary of
      Energy (Electricity)...........................................    16
    Haustveit, Kyle, nominated to be an Assistant Secretary of Energy
      (Fossil Energy)................................................    20

              ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED

    Doffermyre, William:
        Opening Statement............................................    12
        Written Testimony............................................    14
        Responses to Questions for the Record........................    41
    Haustveit, Kyle:
        Opening Statement............................................    20
        Written Testimony............................................    22
        Responses to Questions for the Record........................    53
    Heinrich, Hon. Martin:
        Opening Statement............................................     7
    Hoeven, Hon. John:...............................................
        Introductory Statement.......................................    11
    Jereza, Catherine:
        Opening Statement............................................    16
        Written Testimony............................................    18
        Responses to Questions for the Record........................    46
    Justice, Hon. James C.:
        Introductory Statement.......................................     8
    Lee, Hon. Mike:
        Opening Statement............................................     1
        Written Opening Statement....................................     4
    McCormick, Hon. David:
        Letter for the Record........................................    10

                            DOFFERMYRE, JEREZA, AND
                             HAUSTVEIT NOMINATIONS

                                  ----------

                             THURSDAY, MAY 8, 2025

                                           U.S. Senate,
                     Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m. in Room
    SD-366, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Mike Lee, Chairman
    of the Committee, presiding.

                  OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE LEE,
                         U.S. SENATOR FROM UTAH

        The Chairman. Today, we will receive testimony from three
    of our fellow citizens nominated by President Trump for senior
    offices within our Committee's jurisdiction--one with the
    Department of the Interior and two with the Department of
    Energy. I thank President Trump for putting their names
    forward. After these opening statements, and assuming we are
    not interrupted by a vote, I will recognize Senator Justice to
    introduce Ms. Jereza and then Senator Hoeven will introduce Mr.
    Haustveit.
        Today, we are considering three nominees for these
    positions at Energy and at Interior, officers of the United
    States responsible for legal affairs, conducting research to
    modernize and protect the power grid, and researching and
    developing projects to increase domestic production of oil,
    gas, coal, and elements necessary for energy. First, we will
    hear from Mr. William Doffermyre, to be Solicitor at the
    Department of the Interior; second, we will hear from Ms.
    Catherine Jereza, to be Assistant Secretary of Energy for
    Electricity; and third, we will hear from Mr. Kyle Haustveit,
    to be the Assistant Secretary of Energy for Fossil Energy.
        Mr. Doffermyre is the nominee to be the Solicitor for the
    Department of the Interior. The Solicitor is the chief legal
    officer of the Department, providing legal counsel and advice
    to the Secretary and other offices within the Department, as
    well as all of its bureaus and offices, ensuring the
    Department's components carry out their responsibilities in
    accordance with the law. Attorneys from the Solicitor's Office
    represent the Department in administrative proceedings and work
    collaboratively with attorneys in the Department of Justice to
    represent the Department of the Interior at judicial
    proceedings. The Solicitor's term also assists in drafting and
    reviewing legislation, regulations, and contracts, as well as
    upholding the Department's ethical obligations.
        Mr. Doffermyre currently serves as Senior Advisor to the
    National Energy Dominance Council at the White House. Prior to
    that, he served as a general counsel in corporate America and
    was a partner at the law firm of Williams and Connolly. He is a
    graduate of the University of Virginia, both as an
    undergraduate, where he got his bachelor's degree, and also
    where he went to law school, and at Virginia's law school, he
    served as an editor on the Virginia Law Review.
        Second, Ms. Catherine Jereza, nominated as Assistant
    Secretary of Energy for Electricity, will lead the Department
    of Energy's research and development to modernize and harden
    America's electric grid infrastructure. That task requires
    modernizing grid hardware components, engineering end-to-end
    systems for communications, modeling, measurements and
    controls, operations and planning, and conducting research and
    development into power storage reliability and safety. Ms.
    Jereza currently serves as Senior Advisor in the Office of the
    Under Secretary, and in the first Trump administration, served
    as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transmission, Permitting, and
    Technical Assistance. She holds a B.S. in chemical engineering
    from Virginia Tech and an M.B.A. from Loyola University,
    Maryland.
        And finally today, Mr. Kyle Haustveit, nominated as
    Assistant Secretary of Energy for Fossil Energy, will lead the
    Office of Fossil Energy. This division of the Department
    focuses on investing in research, development, and
    implementation of fossil-fuel-derived projects, as well as
    strengthening American energy and critical mineral security.
    The Office's core functions include increasing domestic
    production and processing of critical minerals and materials,
    reducing methane emissions, reviewing applications for LNG
    imports and exports, and issuing licenses accordingly. The
    Office also manages the National Energy Technology Laboratory
    (NETL), which is the lead field center for research and program
    development. It is also expected that the President will
    restore to this office its longstanding duty of managing
    America's strategic petroleum reserve.
        Mr. Haustveit is currently the Geoscience Manager at Devon
    Energy, where he directs multi-disciplinary teams responsible
    for completions design diagnostic programs, field-development
    planning in unconventional reservoirs, and he also manages that
    company's affiliate that invests in digital, low-carbon, and
    next-generation drilling technologies. Mr. Haustveit holds a
    B.S. in petroleum engineering from Montana Technological
    University and an M.B.A. from the University of Oklahoma.
        All nominees here today are well qualified for the offices
    for which the President has nominated them and they represent
    exactly the type of bold leadership that America needs and
    deserves now.
        Now, the United States truly is in a battle for our future,
    and we won't win it--we won't win the artificial intelligence
    race, we won't win in advanced manufacturing, we won't win the
    battle for western civilization--unless we win the energy war.
    Under the Biden administration, residential electricity rates
    skyrocketed a staggering 23 percent, and our energy
    independence was significantly compromised. This was the
    foreseeable future of an administration defined by burdensome
    regulations, reckless climate mandates, and a deliberate war on
    reliable American resources like oil, gas, coal, and critical
    materials and minerals. These policies weakened our grid. They
    inflated our prices and left America vulnerable to adversaries,
    adversaries who don't share our interests or our values.
    Republicans' agenda for energy dominance is an overdue
    departure from this approach. It places American interests
    first, prioritizing the responsible development of our abundant
    natural resources. The Trump administration recognizes that a
    strong America requires a reliable, affordable energy supply
    that does not depend on foreign nations, especially adversaries
    like China, Russia, or regimes in the Middle East.
        Once confirmed, each of today's nominees will have critical
    responsibilities to help achieve this.
        All right, we have a quorum. I am going to pause there,
    much as I am sure you were all just riveted by that lovely
    statement.
        [Laughter.]
        [Recess to business meeting.]
        The Chairman. We will now proceed directly back into the
    hearing.
        I will, in the interest of time, unless there is objection,
    submit the rest of my opening statement in written form for the
    record.
        [The remainder of the Chairman's opening statement follows
    in written form:]
    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        The Chairman. I will turn to Senator Heinrich now for his
    opening statement.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARTIN HEINRICH,
                      U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW MEXICO

        Senator Heinrich. Thank you, Chairman.
        Welcome to Mr. Doffermyre, Ms. Jereza, and Mr. Haustveit.
    Each of these nominees has been nominated for an important
    office with broad responsibilities under this Committee's
    jurisdiction.
        The Office of Solicitor of the Department of the Interior
    is one of the most important legal offices in our government.
    As broad as these authorities are, they are, however, not
    unlimited. The Solicitor does not make law, but only interprets
    and enforces the laws enacted by Congress. For these reasons, I
    am deeply troubled by a senior advisor to Secretary Burgum
    using the Solicitor's authority to suspend all of the legal
    opinions of the prior Solicitor. We all recognize that
    departmental policies will change from one administration to
    the next. Our laws, however, do not. I am even more troubled
    that this same advisor reinstated an earlier Solicitor's
    opinion that had been vacated by a federal district court. The
    Department needs to follow the law as interpreted by the
    district court, not try to change it on its own. And I will be
    very interested to hear your thoughts on these matters, Mr.
    Doffermyre.
        The Assistant Secretary of Energy for Electricity is
    another office with crucial responsibilities. More than 340
    million Americans depend on the electric grid for the power we
    need for our daily lives. Americans, today, are facing an
    energy affordability crisis as electricity prices are on track
    to be the highest they have been since the 1990s. Programs like
    the Weatherization Assistance Program and the Home Electric
    Appliances Rebate Program are saving American families money.
    The proposed cuts to these programs in the President's skinny
    budget take money away from families, just as inflation and
    tariffs are raising the prices of everyday goods.
        As we all know, the EIA expects that electricity demand
    will grow. And as this happens, electricity costs will continue
    to rise. We simply won't be able to meet our energy needs
    without substantially more transmission and generation.
    Expanding transmission planning across regions could lead to
    billions of dollars in energy cost savings. And in fact,
    scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
    estimate that by 2050 transmission expansion could lead from
    $270 billion to as much as $490 billion in savings. We will be
    looking to you, Ms. Jereza, if confirmed, to help ensure that
    the grid is reliable, resilient, and to see that it has
    adequate capacity to add the new generation of resources that
    we need to meet our growing demand.
        Finally, the Assistant Secretary of Energy for Fossil
    Energy is responsible for natural gas export permitting, but
    also has important responsibilities for fossil energy research
    and development, critical minerals production, carbon capture
    and sequestration, hydrogen production, and methane emissions
    reduction. The job is bigger than just issuing export permits,
    and I will be interested in hearing your thoughts on these
    other matters within the Office's portfolio, Mr. Haustveit.
        Thank you, Chairman.
        The Chairman. Thanks, Senator Heinrich.
        The rules of the Committee require that all nominees be
    sworn in connection with their testimonies. So if you would
    each please stand and raise your right hand.
        Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to
    give before the Committee will be the truth, the whole truth,
    and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
        [Witness panel sworn.]
        The Chairman. Thank you.
        And then, before we have you begin with your opening
    statements, I will ask the witnesses three standard questions
    that are posed to nominees appearing before this Committee.
        First, will you be available to appear before the Committee
    and other congressional committees to represent departmental
    positions and respond to issues of concern to Congress?
        [All witnesses respond, ``yes.'']
        The Chairman. Second, are you aware of any personal
    holdings, investments, or interests that could constitute a
    conflict of interest or create the appearance of such conflict,
    should you be confirmed and assume the office to which you have
    been nominated by the President?
        [All witnesses respond, ``no.'']
        The Chairman. And third, are you involved in or do you have
    assets in a blind trust?
        [All witnesses respond, ``no.'']
        The Chairman. Okay, we are going to go to Senator Justice
    first, who will introduce Ms. Jereza, and then we will go to
    Senator Hoeven to introduce Mr. Haustveit.

              INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT OF HON. JIM JUSTICE,
                    U.S. SENATOR FROM WEST VIRGINIA

        Senator Justice. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, I really
    appreciate the opportunity to introduce and speak very, very
    highly of this young lady right here. That's all there is to
    it. Katie Jereza and I attended the same high school in
    Beckley, West Virginia. That's hard--I'm sorry?
        Senator Hoeven. Around the same time--or not?
        Senator Justice. Well, actually, I was there a few years
    earlier.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Justice. And, in fact, I was amazed that it was
    still a high school when I was there. No, I can just tell you
    just this, that we are both Flying Eagles from Woodrow Wilson
    High School in a little town of Beckley, West Virginia. And
    when I grew up--and I am sure when Katie grew up, in all
    fairness--I rode my bicycle all the way across town, some four
    or five miles, to the little league to go to practice there. It
    was the perfect ``Hometown America'' and absolutely, I know we
    are really proud of that.
        But, this goes way deeper for me because, absolutely, I
    know Katie. I know absolutely all of the great things that she
    has done. Just listen, just to a couple of these. Now, just
    think about this. She served in the prior Trump administration
    as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transmission, Permitting,
    and Technical Assistance. Then she served as Vice President of
    Corporate Affairs at Electric Power Research Institute. She was
    the Director of Infrastructure Resilience at Edison Electric
    Institute. Absolutely, she is so qualified, it is off the
    chart. And I absolutely would tell us all that all these
    nominees, I am very confident you are going to be confirmed.
    That's all there is to it.
        But listen to me just this--you have a task that's in front
    of you that is astronomically important. I have said it over
    and over, and people were getting sick of listening to me say
    this and everything, but energy is everything, guys. It's
    everything. Right now, it is totally everything. It resolves
    everything, whether it be inflation, national security, on and
    on and on. We all know that every country in the world--every
    single country in the world--the more energy they have, the
    longer their people live and the healthier their people are. We
    have got to stop this war--this war on energy--in every way. We
    have to stop it. It was brought up by our Chairman--how do we
    win? How do we win the war? Well, you stop the war. I mean,
    that's what we have got to do. We have to stop the war and
    realize just one thing, we are going to awaken to a crisis like
    you can't imagine in this country and we better get ourselves
    ready and get ourselves ready right now. We are going to lose
    on a bunch of fronts if we are not ready.
        This lady is extremely, extremely qualified. And I,
    absolutely, am right in her camp, wholeheartedly. So Mr.
    Chairman, I will defer the rest of the time, and thank you,
    Katie, thank you for being here.
        The Chairman. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Justice. It's
    fantastic. I am sure you both have statues and plaques
    commemorating your public service at your shared high school.
        We have also got a statement from Senator McCormick that,
    without objection, will be admitted into the record in support
    of Ms. Jereza.
        [The prepared statement of support for Ms. Jereza from
    Senator McCormick follows:]
    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    The Chairman. Senator Hoeven, you are recognized.

              INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN HOEVEN,
                     U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH DAKOTA

        Senator Hoeven. Thanks, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate it very
    much, and Senator Justice, I was just wondering, like you said,
    if you attended that school at about the same time, or maybe
    you were a year or two ahead of her. Maybe you were a senior
    when she was like a sophomore. Well, anyway, that's pretty
    cool.
        Great to have all of you here. Mr. Chairman and Ranking
    Member Heinrich, thanks for holding this very important
    hearing, and it is a pleasure to introduce, this morning, Kyle
    Haustveit to the Committee. Kyle is a fellow North Dakotan,
    which you can kind of tell because he has that sharp, capable
    look about him, and is the nominee for the Assistant Secretary
    for Fossil Energy at the Department of Energy. I also would
    like to welcome your wife--Brea, where are you? Okay, good. You
    got his back, good girl--and four children. Now, I want to make
    sure I get these right, so Kyle, you correct me if I am wrong.
    Is it Navaeh? Navaeh. There you are. All right. Good to have
    you here. Also, Harper, I am pretty sure I got that one right.
    Hi, Harper, how are you? Noah. Oh yeah, I understand that
    feeling. And Hudson, where is Hudson? Okay, all right. Boy,
    they look awesome. And so cool to have them here.
        Born in Fargo and then raised in Tioga, which is out in the
    heart of oil country. He has roots in both energy and
    agriculture, our two biggest industries. He is a third-
    generation energy worker. A petroleum engineer by training and
    a real leader in terms of innovation. He co-invented and
    patented a hydraulic fracturing technique--music to every North
    Dakotan's ears, right? Hydraulic fracturing, we love that. And
    that is used across other shale basins as well. He understands
    that energy is foundational, as Senator Justice said so
    eloquently, to really, everything--our economic security, our
    national security, and many other things as well--our standard
    of living, just every way you can think of, just like Senator
    Justice says. He brings a tremendous amount of experience,
    skilled to our nation's mission, which is energy dominance,
    right? Not just energy secure, we want to be energy dominant,
    and we are going to do it and ensure that Americans have access
    to low-cost, dependable energy.
        Kyle, thanks for being here. Thanks for your willingness to
    serve. We appreciate it.
        Thank you, Mr. Chair.
        The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Hoeven. I am impressed
    that you can tell by looking at someone that they are from your
    state, which you have that sharp North Dakota----
        Senator Hoeven. Look at him. When I look in the mirror
    every morning, that's what I see.
        [Laughter.]
        The Chairman. Fantastic. It's the cold, brisk air. What is
    the coldest it got up there this winter?
        Senator Hoeven. I think about----
        The Chairman. Thirty below, yeah, that is rather
    significant.
        Senator Hoeven. Thirty above is nice.
        The Chairman. Two degrees Kelvin.
        All right, now, as I turn to each witness, what we are
    going to do is, we will have opening statements first from Mr.
    Doffermyre, and then Ms. Jereza, and then Mr. Haustveit. Feel
    free to introduce any family you have with you, and you may
    begin.

     STATEMENT OF WILLIAM DOFFERMYRE, NOMINATED TO BE SOLICITOR OF
                     THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

        Mr. Doffermyre. Chairman Lee, Ranking Member Heinrich, and
    distinguished members of this Committee, it is an honor and
    privilege to appear here today as President Trump's nominee to
    serve as the Solicitor of the United States Department of the
    Interior.
        Before I begin, I would like to recognize and introduce the
    most important people in my life--my family. Here with me today
    is my oldest son William, my daughter Perry, my daughter Wynne,
    and my youngest son Hodges, who is celebrating his birthday
    tomorrow. They are my best friends and biggest supporters. I
    would also like to recognize my beautiful and wonderful wife,
    Bessie Liedtke Doffermyre, the love of my life and the greatest
    wife and mother imaginable. My sweet and always-supportive
    sister Julia Green is here, along with the woman who brought me
    into this world and raised me to be the person that I have
    become--my mom, Mary Doffermyre. I love you, Mom. Finally, I
    would like to recognize my late father, Everette ``Bubba''
    Doffermyre, who I loved so very much, and who I trust is with
    us in spirit here today.
        Thanks again to the members of this Committee for your warm
    welcome to my family, and thanks to all of you for your service
    and dedication to this country. My inspiration to serve my
    country dates back many years ago when, completely out of the
    blue, I was asked to serve in one of the single most important
    positions at the White House. Thanks to my sweet wife, Bessie,
    who was my girlfriend at the time and was working in the
    visitors' office in the Bush administration, I was appointed to
    serve as the Easter Bunny at the 2006 White House Easter Egg
    Roll. And as you can imagine, it was really hard to see out of
    that six-foot-tall bunny suit, and it was hot and uncomfortable
    underneath all that fur, but I can assure you, that was a small
    price to pay for literally being the most important figure at
    the White House, even if it was just for an afternoon, and I
    didn't even have to go through Senate confirmation. But in all
    seriousness, I am truly honored and humbled by the opportunity
    to serve as the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior, if
    I am confirmed. Serving at the Department of the Interior would
    be a dream job for me in many ways.
        My very first job out of college was as a whitewater
    rafting guide in Teton National Park. I lived in a two-room log
    cabin on the edge of the park, heated by nothing more than a
    woodburning stove, with a majestic view of the Grand Teton out
    my loft window, a view that I shared with a moose living in my
    backyard. When I wasn't guiding on the river, I spent my free
    time backpacking, fishing, and skiing on some of America's most
    treasured public lands. If fortunate enough to be confirmed,
    please know that this former Snake River rafting guide will
    consider it an honor and privilege of a lifetime to serve as a
    faithful steward for ``America's Best Idea,'' our National Park
    system. It would also be an honor and privilege of a lifetime
    to work with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service at the
    Department of the Interior. I love to hunt, I am an avid fly
    fisherman, I love to hike, I love nature, I love to explore,
    and I especially love sharing these life-long passions with my
    four children. I couldn't agree more with the great Teddy
    Roosevelt, when he observed that very few responsibilities of
    the Federal Government ``compare in importance with the great
    central task of leaving this land even a better land for our
    descendants than it is for us.''
        Yet, above all else, the Department of the Interior's
    responsibility for managing our nation's vast energy resources
    is what landed me in this seat here today. For the past five
    years, I have had the privilege of working in Texas at one of
    America's great energy companies, Energy Transfer. After
    spending over a decade as a D.C. attorney at Williams and
    Connolly, and then as General Counsel of an overseas
    development agency in the first Trump administration, I decided
    to move to Texas to work in the energy business, to work
    alongside the patriotic Americans who actually design, build,
    and operate the critical infrastructure that fuels our economy
    and enables our way of life. I learned a tremendous amount
    working in the energy business over the past five years. One
    lesson I learned all too well is that the energy emergency our
    nation currently faces is not due to a shortage of natural
    resources. From my perspective, working in the private sector,
    the primary contributor to this energy emergency is our
    country's byzantine state and federal regulatory framework that
    makes it far too easy to kill infrastructure projects with
    endless litigation, and far too hard to actually get shovels in
    the ground.
        If confirmed, I look forward to working with this Committee
    to fix our broken permitting system, to help ensure that our
    country has a transparent, predictable, and efficient
    regulatory regime that not only permits but actually promotes
    the responsible buildout of our nation's critical energy
    infrastructure.
        I would like to conclude by giving all thanks and praise to
    God, the Father, and his Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ, who
    taught us all that ``to whom much is given, much is required.''
    I feel so incredibly blessed to have been born a citizen of the
    greatest country in the history of the world. This country has
    given me and my family so much that we feel that it is
    incumbent upon us to give back to our country in any way that
    we can. If confirmed, I look forward to working with this
    Committee to do just that.
        Chairman Lee, Ranking Member Heinrich, and members of the
    Committee, thank you again for the opportunity to appear before
    you here today. I look forward to your questions.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Doffermyre follows:]
        [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Doffermyre.
        Before we turn to Ms. Jereza, I just want to note, first of
    all, the thought of the Easter Bunny. I am just imagining this
    is how you won Bessie over.
        Mr. Doffermyre. Absolutely.
        The Chairman. High stakes gambit. One the one hand, it
    could have ended in disaster, but if you pull it off, you would
    have won her affection, which apparently happened.
        Number two, had I known about this, I would have insisted
    that you wear the Easter Bunny costume to your hearing.
        [Laughter.]
        The Chairman. It would have been fun.
        Ms. Jereza.

      STATEMENT OF CATHERINE JEREZA, NOMINATED TO BE AN ASSISTANT
                   SECRETARY OF ENERGY (ELECTRICITY)

        Ms. Jereza. Thank you, Chairman Lee, Ranking Member
    Heinrich, and distinguished members of this Committee. It is a
    true honor to be here, and I want to thank President Trump and
    Energy Secretary Wright for the trust they have placed in me
    with this nomination to serve as the Assistant Secretary of
    Electricity at the U.S. Department of Energy. If I have the
    honor of being confirmed, I look forward to working with all
    the members of this Committee.
        I would like to take a moment to recognize those who are
    very dear to me, especially those who have traveled to be here
    and continue to support me during one of the most important
    opportunities of my life. My husband Ken and stepdaughter Chloe
    from Maryland, my sister Betty and her daughter Ella from
    Virginia, my sister Tina and her son Brandon from West
    Virginia, and many extended friends and colleagues. My parents
    wish they could be here in person, but since my mom is
    recovering from surgery, they are watching from their home in
    Beckley, West Virgina. I also want to thank my very large and
    extended family, who are watching from all over the country.
    More importantly, I want to thank my parents and the leaders
    who have come before me. My dad instilled the importance of
    academics, religion, music, and sports, also known as ARMS,
    which has armed me for how to live my life. My mother is a lot
    like President Trump--a fighter. When times get tough, their
    never-give-up attitude inspires me to keep going.
        I will never forget growing up under their guidance in a
    place called ``Almost Heaven,'' West Virginia. When I was a
    baby, my dad moved our family to Beckley to work as an internal
    medicine doctor for the United Mine Workers of America.
    Unbeknownst to me, my passion for math and science would
    eventually lead me to get back to my roots to unleash baseload
    power, including fossil fuels, advanced nuclear, geothermal,
    and hydropower, that is so vital to the affordability,
    reliability, and security of our nation's electricity system.
    My whole life, I have honed my skills in multi-stakeholder
    collaboration. Imagine growing up with seven siblings and
    trying to get to an agreement on anything. Negotiating and
    persuading such strong and divergent personalities to line up
    and move forward is never easy. Now imagine doing that in
    today's political environment. I believe collaboration is one
    of my most important leadership skills that I can bring to the
    U.S. Department of Energy and the many stakeholders that make
    our North American electricity system work. Engineers help make
    things work. That is why I chose to become an engineer--an
    engineer who likes to pick the most difficult things to figure
    out. I picked the French Horn because it is the most difficult
    instrument to play. I picked chemical engineering because it is
    the most difficult undergraduate degree to earn. And now, if
    confirmed, I will tackle one of the most challenging problems
    our nation has ever faced, helping add the baseload power
    America needs to meet its energy demands today and in the
    future.
        President Trump and Energy Secretary Wright have made their
    agenda clear, and if confirmed, I will work every day to
    advance U.S. leadership in innovation, reduce costs for
    American families, and strengthen grid reliability and
    security. I have a mindset for innovation. Starting with my
    first job out of college, I implemented programs that increased
    production and product quality. For 20 years, I have worked
    with national laboratories and other premier research
    institutions to drive innovation from concept to
    commercialization and foster ingenuity to optimize technology
    throughout its lifecycle. I am a systems thinker who
    understands the promise and trade-offs of all energy
    technologies under real-world conditions. If confirmed, I will
    strive to bring common-sense, cost-effective solutions that
    benefit all Americans.
        In President Trump's first term, I had the opportunity to
    work in the Office of Electricity as Deputy Assistant Secretary
    for Transmission Permitting and Technical Assistance. In that
    role, I developed and still have extensive relationships and
    understanding of the complex and often divergent perspectives
    at the international, regional, state, and local levels. The
    North American power grid is the biggest machine in the world
    and has the biggest bureaucracy in the world to make it work.
    If confirmed, I will work relentlessly to deliver on President
    Trump's promise to cut red tape and expedite the development of
    reliable energy infrastructure. I enjoyed meeting with many
    members of the Committee, and I appreciate the perspective,
    priorities, and insight that you have shared. If confirmed, I
    will need your continued partnership to strengthen our grid. I
    look forward to answering your questions and, if confirmed,
    implementing the President's and Secretary's bold energy agenda
    to unleash energy security and prosperity.
        Chairman Lee, Ranking Member Heinrich, thank you for the
    opportunity to appear before the Committee today, and I look
    forward to your questions.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Jereza follows:]
        [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        The Chairman. Thank you. I had a few friends in college who
    were chemical engineering majors, and I can vouch for the fact
    that nobody worked harder. I was science too, just political
    science. Apparently, it's not the same.
        Senator King. There is no science in politics, Mr.
    Chairman.
        The Chairman. No science, exactly.
        We will hear now from Mr. Haustveit.

       STATEMENT OF KYLE HAUSTVEIT, NOMINATED TO BE AN ASSISTANT
                  SECRETARY OF ENERGY (FOSSIL ENERGY)

        Mr. Haustveit. Chairman Lee, Ranking Member Heinrich, and
    distinguished members of the Committee, thank you for the
    opportunity to appear before you today. I am deeply honored to
    be considered for the role of Assistant Secretary for Fossil
    Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. I want to express my
    sincere gratitude to President Trump for his nomination and to
    Energy Secretary Wright for his support.
        I would also like to take a moment to thank my family and
    friends here with me today and those watching online. Here with
    me are my high school sweetheart and wife, Brea, our four
    children, Nevaeh, Harper--Noah is sleeping there--and Hudson is
    also sitting down next to my two parents, Tom and Donna. I have
    also been joined by several close friends. Thank you all for
    your support.
        I was born and raised in North Dakota, just a few miles
    from the historic Williston Basin discovery well. My family's
    roots run deep in both energy and agriculture. One grandfather
    managed drilling operations, while the other farmed our family
    homestead, where he and my grandma still live today. Growing
    up, I developed a profound appreciation for both industries and
    the critical role energy plays in modern agriculture, from
    fueling tractors to providing the fertilizers that nourish our
    crops. I am proud to say that I am a third-generation energy
    worker. My family's connection to energy spans decades, and
    their hard work instilled in me a deep respect for the industry
    and its importance to our nation. With a small nudge from my
    late grandfather, I pursued a degree in petroleum engineering
    from Montana Tech, followed by an M.B.A. in energy from the
    University of Oklahoma. This combination of engineering and
    economic study has been instrumental in shaping my career and
    preparing me to address the challenges and opportunities in the
    energy sector.
        Early in my career, I was fortunate to lead a team that
    invented and commercialized a diagnostic technique, now used
    globally, to optimize hydraulic fracturing and resource
    development. This experience sparked a growing passion for
    energy and technology, which led me to lead an Energy Ventures
    team. In this role, our team had the privilege of investing in
    early-stage startups rooted in fundamental science, including a
    leading next-generation geothermal company with operations in
    Nevada and a 500-megawatt development underway in Utah. Our
    team also conducted technical evaluations for innovative
    projects, such as a direct lithium extraction from brine in
    Arkansas and California, carbon capture utilization and
    sequestration in Wyoming, and produced water treatment and
    beneficial use in New Mexico. These experiences have given me a
    front-row seat to the incredible innovation happening in the
    energy industry across our resource-rich nation.
        I have been blessed to build my career during one of the
    most transformative periods in energy history--the shale
    revolution--a revolution brought about by industry and enabled
    in part by fundamental research from our tremendous National
    Laboratories. This technological breakthrough moved the U.S.
    from the world's largest importer of liquefied natural gas to
    the largest exporter, positioning us as a global leader in oil
    and natural gas production, transforming us from energy
    dependent to energy dominant. The energy industry has not only
    powered our nation, but it has also fueled economic growth,
    strengthened national security, and improved the quality of
    life for millions of Americans and our allies around the world.
    U.S. natural gas has delivered affordable, reliable, and secure
    energy, while at the same time, reducing the emissions from
    electricity generation by more than 40 percent.
        It has been a privilege to contribute to this progress, and
    I am passionately aligned with President Trump's common-sense
    energy agenda--an agenda that will ensure future generations
    have access to affordable, reliable, secure, and abundant
    energy made in America. If confirmed, I will honor the
    fundamentals of science and economics to serve our country. I
    am committed to advancing policies that unleash U.S. energy
    dominance, foster innovation, and ensure that America remains a
    global leader in energy production and technology. If
    confirmed, I will work to leverage the incredible talents
    within our DOE and our national labs to drive forward cutting-
    edge research and development. Simply put, energy is the
    backbone of our national security, our economy, and our way of
    life.
        Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward
    to your questions.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Haustveit follows:]
        [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        The Chairman. Thanks so much, Mr. Haustveit.
        Okay, we are going to proceed now to five-minute rounds of
    questions. Each Senator on the Committee here will have a turn.
    We will go between Republicans and Democrats, alternating in
    order of Committee seniority, as modified by the earlybird
    rule, and I will begin that now.
        Mr. Doffermyre, why don't we start with you? As a lawyer,
    you are aware of the fact that NEPA, the National Environmental
    Policy Act, is a procedural statute. It doesn't require a
    specific, foreordained, or substantive outcome. It rather
    requires that agencies take a hard look at environmental
    impacts. Recognizing that, and given the urgency that we face
    in the energy space, the Department of the Interior recently
    invoked some procedures to speed up the process. There are a
    lot of countries that have emulated our NEPA law, and it has
    worked well for them. A lot of them have been very good, at
    this point, at making sure that process doesn't take longer
    than necessary. And so, the plan, as I understand it, at the
    Department of the Interior, would be to complete environmental
    assessments within 14 days and environmental impact statements
    within 28 days for energy projects.
        Now, do you believe these expedited timelines are
    consistent with NEPA's requirements, and how do you plan to
    help the Department meet those goals?
        Mr. Doffermyre. Thank you, Chairman Lee.
        As we discussed in your office, and I very much enjoyed my
    time with you and your staff, I very much agree with President
    Trump that our country does face an energy crisis. With
    generative AI and data centers and advanced manufacturing, our
    demand curve is going up exponentially, and meanwhile, we have
    a permitting system that takes far too long to actually meet
    the increase in demand that we are facing. When President Trump
    first took office, on his first day, he signed a number of
    executive orders relating to energy, and the ``Unleashing
    American Energy'' executive order instructs all the agencies to
    exercise all legal authorities they have to expedite this
    permitting process.
        I am not at the Department of the Interior, and I have not
    been involved with devising the emergency procedures, but, as
    you said, I am familiar with NEPA, and it is a procedural
    statute, and it does require a hard look. And I am looking
    forward to working with the Department of the Interior to make
    sure that we satisfy all the legal requirements during the time
    period allotted in order to get energy projects moving and not
    stuck in endless litigation.
        The Chairman. Thank you.
        Mr. Haustveit, I will go to you next. The U.S. Trade
    Representative recently released a notice of potential action
    in response to an investigation about Chinese maritime shipping
    dominance. The action laid out in the fourth annex to that
    document is likely, if implemented, to have a detrimental
    effect on LNG exports. The action would require, as I
    understand it, one percent of LNG export vessels to be U.S.-
    flagged and U.S.-built by 2029, and then that percentage shifts
    up gradually over time until it gets to 15 percent by 2047. But
    the action would also allow USTR to suspend LNG export licenses
    until the terms of the action are met. Now, this, in my mind,
    raises considerable concerns and bears a striking, stunning
    resemblance to the so-called Jones Act. Now, the Jones Act, of
    course, applies with regard to shipments between U.S. ports--
    one U.S. port to another one without an intervening stop in
    another country requires them to be U.S.-built, crewed,
    flagged, and so forth.
        In your opinion, does USTR have the authority and the
    jurisdiction to suspend Department of Energy LNG export
    licenses through a rulemaking procedure?
        Mr. Haustveit. Senator, thank you for the question.
        This is not an area of expertise, but I can say that LNG
    has been a force of good for the world. It has been a boon for
    the U.S. economy. It has delivered affordable, reliable energy
    to our allies across the globe. So any type of rulemaking that
    restricts our ability to deliver that incredible fuel to our
    friends and allies across the globe is a negative for America,
    a negative for allies, and we need to do everything we can to
    avoid putting further restrictions on LNG exports.
        The Chairman. Thank you. I appreciate that. And if you are
    confirmed, will you agree to work with me and my staff to
    clarify and figure out this jurisdictional ambiguity between
    whenever you are confirmed and prior to finalization of this
    proposed, possible rulemaking?
        Mr. Haustveit. Absolutely, Senator.
        The Chairman. Okay, thank you. I appreciate that.
        Okay, my time is up. We are going to turn next to Senator
    Heinrich, who will be asking questions. I have got to run to
    the Foreign Relations Committee for a moment to cast a few
    votes. Senator Hoeven has graciously agreed to take the gavel
    while I am out, and I will be back in a few minutes.
        Senator Heinrich.
        Senator Heinrich. Thanks, Chairman.
        Mr. Doffermyre, the Office of the Solicitor is responsible
    for making sure that the Department follows the law. However,
    right now, the Department continues to violate court orders
    with respect to frozen funds. And at some point, the excuse
    that these funds are ``under review'' begins to not hold water.
    If confirmed, will you ensure that appropriated funds are
    obligated and disbursed in a timely manner, in accordance with
    the law, and in accordance with the Impoundment Control Act?
        Mr. Doffermyre. Thank you, Senator Heinrich.
        I have not started working at the Department of the
    Interior yet, so I am not familiar with what appropriated funds
    have or have not been spent, but as the Solicitor, my job will
    be to review the facts and review the law and provide my clear
    advice on what the law requires. And the Impoundment Control
    Act and other legal requirements say that Congress controls the
    purse strings. And I will analyze them and give the advice that
    if the law requires that the funds be obligated and spent, then
    the funds will be obligated and spent.
        Senator Heinrich. Last month, a senior advisor to the
    Secretary exercising the power of the Solicitor, outside of the
    Vacancies Reform Act, reinstated a legal opinion that had been
    vacated by a federal district court. The district court vacated
    the prior Solicitor's opinion because the Solicitor had
    misinterpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Notably, the
    Justice Department did not press an appeal to that court's
    decision, yet the senior advisor's opinion purports to
    reinstate the vacated opinion in 93 of the nation's 94 judicial
    districts.
        So I am curious, do you believe that a solicitor, or even
    an advisor exercising the solicitor's authority, can overrule
    the decision of a federal district judge?
        Mr. Doffermyre. Thank you, Senator Heinrich.
        The short answer is no. I do not believe that the solicitor
    can overrule a federal district judge. M-Opinions, what you are
    referring to, is something that's unique to the Department of
    the Interior, something that I have learned a little about, and
    I look forward to learning a lot more about, but they are the
    highest-level legal interpretation by the Solicitor and they
    are binding--those opinions are binding on the Department of
    the Interior. My past, as you heard, in addition to the Easter
    Bunny and a raft guide and other things, I was a litigator for
    12 years. I have since gone on to the private sector, but when
    I first learned about the M-Opinions, and turned through a few
    of them, I thought, wow, this is really going to hearken back
    to my litigation days. They are very long, reasoned opinions.
    They look a lot like court opinions, and I look forward to
    exercising some of those skills that I learned in order to
    analyze the law and the facts and provide opinions that are
    sound and durable and will stand up in court.
        Senator Heinrich. I want to go back for just a minute to
    something that the Chairman asked you about, which is complying
    with NEPA with both environmental impact statements and
    environmental assessments in these 14- and 28-day timelines.
    And if you can do that, and meet all the requirements of the
    law, I am all for it. I think what you have seen in this
    Committee has been a bipartisan commitment to permitting
    reform, to getting to yes or no faster for projects. However,
    if you get to the end of 28 days and you haven't been able to
    meet all the legal requirements for an EIS, if at that point
    you publish an EIS that does not meet those requirements, it
    creates litigation risk. That's the opposite of shovels in the
    ground.
        So talk to me about how you are going to balance that. If
    you can get to a high-quality legal product that does not
    create litigation risk for the proponents in 28 days, I am all
    for that, but if you haven't checked all those boxes at the end
    of 28 days, are you going to continue forward and make sure
    that those products actually will withstand legal challenge?
        Mr. Doffermyre. Yes, thank you, that's a great question,
    and I do want to first say thank you very much to you and the
    members of this Committee for the work that you have done on
    permitting reform. The Fiscal Responsibility Act, with the time
    limits for NEPA, as well as the work for the permitting reform
    bill that didn't quite pass last year, were both very, very
    welcome news to the industry. When it comes to----
        Senator Heinrich. We can still pass that law. I would just
    mention to all my colleagues, I think that would be a good
    idea.
        Mr. Doffermyre. But the short answer to your question is,
    well, I don't know if there is a short answer. What I will say
    is, it would do no good and would be counterproductive to
    publish a final EIS in a record of decision that did not entail
    the necessary hard look in what is required by the statute. You
    can get a permit in 28 days, but if two years' worth of
    litigation results in a remand, that's going to require six
    months of new analysis. That's not doing anyone any good,
    that's not getting shovels in the ground. So we are completely
    aligned on that, Senator Heinrich. Thank you.
        Senator Heinrich. Thank you. I appreciate it.
        Senator Hoeven.
        Senator Hoeven [presiding]. Thank you, Ranking Member
    Heinrich.
        Senator Justice.
        Senator Justice. Well, before I get started, and I am going
    to be really short and sweet, I have to tell you a little
    story, and this is--this centers around Senator Hoeven. But the
    story is just this: a long time ago, my dad was sitting at a
    pool bar in the pool with Lawson Hamilton, and Dad had been
    working really, really hard on trying to come up with the keys
    to Emerald City in regard to how a highwall miner worked. And
    he was trying to basically go in to the high wall with a round
    hole and come back with a square hole. And he looked in the
    bottom of the pool, and there was this circle with this square
    around it. And he said, ``there it is, Lawson, right there.
    Right there it is, Lawson.'' And Mr. Hamilton was telling me
    this story, and he kept looking back at me and saying, I didn't
    know what to say to your dad. I thought, you know possibly,
    your dad had lost his mind because he kept saying, ``there it
    is, Lawson, right there, right there it is.''
        Well, I was struggling with this striking resemblance
    between Mr. Haustveit and our Senator Hoeven.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Justice. But I got it now. I got it and I get it
    and everything. The resemblance is, without question, there,
    and everything, and the youth, the passion, the wisdom,
    absolutely, I have got it. And so, it took me a little while to
    see the circle in the square, but I have got it now.
        Listen----
        Senator Hoeven. Senator, that's why everybody likes you. I
    am telling you right now.
        Senator Justice. But I would tell you just this--I can ask
    you questions, and they may sound important. We are really
    blessed--really, really blessed to have three nominees like
    these. I mean, that's all there is to it. And so, I
    congratulate you in every way. I have looked at the questions
    and thought about it and everything, and thought I am
    absolutely just going to waste your time and maybe mine too. I
    congratulate you, and we have got to have these nominees.
    That's all there is to it. You will do amazing work, I know you
    will.
        I can feel it in my heart, and I really listen to my heart,
    maybe more than my mind a lot of times. But I think you will be
    fantastic beyond belief. The only other thing I can say is just
    this--I go back and I just think just a second about my dad and
    really how hard that he tried, and we started with nothing, and
    I mean nothing. And how proud he would be of all of you all.
    You are young, and go to work and make us proud.
        That's all I've got. God bless you. I am deferring the rest
    of my time. Thank you.
        Senator Hoeven. Thank you, Senator Justice.
        Senator Hickenlooper.
        Senator Hickenlooper. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thanks to
    all of you for all the work you have done and for being willing
    to put yourselves out and commit yourselves to public service
    for who knows how long.
        I have a question for Ms. Jereza. The mission of the Office
    of Electricity is to lead research and development to
    strengthen and modernize the nation's power grid, which, lord
    knows, needs a lot of help right now. And yet, DOE has lost
    more than 4,000 staff members this year so far, including over
    70 percent of the people in the Grid Deployment Office,
    national laboratories working to advance research in grid
    modernization, and they've begun layoffs. NREL in Colorado
    recently laid off 114 people. It seems to put our energy goals
    at risk. I just wanted to ask--as we try to upgrade our grid to
    prevent blackouts, to meet this rising energy demand, and
    oftentimes, we are going to need energy in places where we
    didn't need it before, especially as AI really takes off, we
    are losing the expert staff at DOE and at our national labs--
    how are we going to respond to that? You are going to come into
    a situation where you are probably not going to have--when you
    say all hands on deck, there's not going to be a crowd.
        Ms. Jereza. Thank you, Senator, for the question. I really
    appreciate it, and one of the reasons that I love working at
    the Department of Energy is the opportunity to work with some
    of the brightest minds, who have such a commitment and
    dedication to their mission, and they work tirelessly for that.
    If confirmed, my mission space will be with the Office of
    Electricity, and the Grid Deployment Office is currently a
    separate area, but I would, when I think about the resources,
    if confirmed, I will make every effort to work with you and
    assess the situation to ensure that we have the staffing and
    the resources that we need to ensure that we are able to
    continue to meet our very, very important mission.
        Senator Hickenlooper. Great, and I noticed that when Chris
    Wright came in, his first secretarial order was an imperative,
    as we consider current and anticipated low growth on our
    nation's electric utilities. And I think that's what--you are
    going to be very busy.
        Ms. Jereza. No doubt.
        Senator Hickenlooper. Mr. Haustveit, I saw you spent--is it
    your whole professional career with Devon?
        Mr. Haustveit. Yes, Senator.
        Senator Hickenlooper. It's either a curse or very
    fortunate. I know Devon somewhat----
        Mr. Haustveit. I think it's the latter.
        Senator Hickenlooper. Yes, I know. I wouldn't argue there.
        Colorado has a proud history. We were the first government
    entity of any kind to regulate methane--to recognize the
    negative effects of it and to recognize that you can, by
    regulating it, you can actually allow it to be captured and
    used as a form of energy instead of having it working against
    us, against the climate. A number of Colorado companies and
    universities have continued to try to focus on how do we make
    that next step in methane, and be able to measure more clearly,
    and other aspects of methane emissions for the benefit both of
    industry and climate.
        If you are confirmed, are you willing to really push and
    continue that methane reduction research that has been taking
    place at a variety of places within the Fossil Energy Office?
        Mr. Haustveit. Senator, thank you for the question.
        METEC, one of your state's most well-known labs in this
    area of study, is a lab that we work with at my current
    employer. As you know, methane is a very difficult gas to
    measure. We are actively working to develop technologies,
    including low earth orbit satellites, drones, continuous
    monitoring. Our company has a test site in Oklahoma that we
    invite people to visit freely, where we can test these
    different methane monitoring systems so we can find the best
    solution. Not only is it the right thing to do for the
    environment, it's the right thing to do for our economics. We
    spend millions of dollars to drill and complete these wells in
    order to produce the valuable products--oil and natural gas. We
    want to do our best to capture it and put it to good use to
    supply the energy that America needs. I will absolutely commit
    to continue to work to find ways to take care of our nation's
    natural resources.
        Senator Hickenlooper. Right, and I think that it's
    important to continue to recognize that we can have a strong
    economy and address climate change at the same time. There is
    an alignment of self-interest there for all of us.
        I am just about out of time. Ms. Jereza, I did want to--we
    talked a little bit about the power grid and how we are going
    to need to get energy from places where we don't generate it to
    places where we now are going to need it, but part of that--we
    lost some of the research around that, and we were looking at
    ways, before, to strengthen and modernize our grid. Past
    research has shown that increasing the flows of electricity
    across multiple regions can make our grid more reliable,
    electricity more affordable, but some of those research
    findings have been suppressed in various ways. I am sure you
    are aware of some of that.
        Obviously, you are committed to scientific inquiry and the
    integrity of science. I respect that. Will you make sure that
    we get the research published in a timely manner, no matter
    which direction it points us?
        Ms. Jereza. Senator, I very much appreciate what you are
    saying. Starting with my college years, I got very rigorous
    review, and I have learned from that and I offer that to others
    when I look at their reports so that they will resonate and
    that they will be useful. And so, it is important that, at the
    pace that we need to go, that yes, I will--if confirmed--I will
    work to help to expedite the analysis so that it gets into the
    hands of those who need it.
        Senator Hickenlooper. Great. I am out of time, but
    appreciate all of your time being here and I will have other
    questions I will pepper you with in written form in the future.
        Senator Hoeven. Thank you, Senator Hickenlooper.
        Mr. Haustveit, you are very familiar with the Bakken, and
    so, do you know that even before it was commercially viable to
    produce the Bakken, it was technologically viable? And so, the
    challenge we had--I was Governor back at that time--and
    starting in 2000, is we were drilling the vertical wells, which
    you are very familiar with, but the economics were such that
    all the companies were leaving. There were other places where
    they could go, and frankly, do better. We started to work on
    the shale play, and eventually, of course, cracked the code and
    went from just being technologically viable to commercially
    viable.
        So talk to me in terms of carbon capture, because the same
    thing applies. Now, you are very familiar with the Energy and
    Environmental Research Center at the University of North
    Dakota. My first question is, are you committed to continuing
    the PCOR partnership that they have with the Department of
    Fossil Energy at DOE?
        Mr. Haustveit. Senator, thank you for the question. Thank
    you for the time earlier this week. I am very familiar with the
    EERC. It's a team of very talented scientists, geologists. I
    don't know the details of the agreement that's currently in
    hand at DOE. If confirmed, I do commit to reviewing that
    contract, understanding the benefits to the DOE and to the
    nation.
        Senator Hoeven. Okay, but that's part of the work that is
    going to--and EERC is a great example of the type of entity
    that you need to work with, along with private enterprise, to
    crack the code here. You need to crack the code in terms of
    getting carbon capture commercially viable. How are you going
    to do it?
        Mr. Haustveit. Senator, thank you for the question.
        Working with the brightest minds in the country is one way.
    We need to drive the cost down, just like we did with the shale
    revolution. In order to make anything compete for capital, it
    needs to generate a return that attracts investment. We need to
    find ways, not only to capture CO2, we need to use
    the CO2. Most of our unconventional revolution
    resources are maturing, and we are leaving 90 percent of the
    oil in the ground. We have 90 percent of the oil that we need
    to go get, and CO2 is an incredible resource to do
    that. It has the right physical properties that it will be easy
    to inject. It will mix with the oil at lower pressures and will
    allow us to go recover the remaining resource below our feet,
    below wells that have already been drilled, on locations that
    have already been built, with infrastructure already in place.
        So we need to be thinking about how to use this resource to
    go recover more affordable, reliable energy.
        Senator Hoeven. Right, it's a huge two-fer, right? You not
    only pull the CO2 off the coal plants, so now you
    have longevity with baseload, but now you also have that
    CO2 for carbon floods, which doubles the life of
    these oil fields, right? That's energy and more energy, right?
    And better environmental stewardship.
        Mr. Haustveit. Senator, we need to get more oil out of the
    ground, and CO2 is a fantastic resource to do that.
        Senator Hoeven. Right. And we have this time now to do it
    with an administration that understands how to produce all of
    our energy resources. So we need to get this done for our
    future so we have this resource for future generations. Would
    you agree?
        Mr. Haustveit. We need this resource for many generations.
    Hydrocarbons make up more than 80 percent of our primary
    energy, and we need more of it for many, many decades.
        Senator Hoeven. Thank you.
        And so, then, I am going to turn to Ms. Jereza. Going down
    the same line, we have--we need more electricity. All these
    smart guys want it for AI and all these different uses, right?
    They always want more and more and more electricity, yet at the
    same time, we face all these pressures that actually constrain
    our ability to produce that baseload electricity. And so, coal-
    fired electricity is incredibly important for the stability of
    the grid and having that baseload. How are you going to work
    with your colleague next to you there and make sure that we
    have these coal plants around for a long, long time--future
    generations--so that they can provide you that baseload you
    need for a reliable electric grid?
        Ms. Jereza. Thank you, Senator, for that----
        Senator Hoeven. I am counting on you two to get this done
    now, so.
        Ms. Jereza. Well, it's a daunting task, but we work for
    President Trump, and I think that he would only trust folks who
    are movers and shakers and want to get things done. And so, I
    will, if confirmed, it also will involve not just the two of us
    working together, but working with our federal families and
    also, the grid, in itself, has many, many stakeholders working
    with the states and the local people to get it done. And so,
    the collaboration that I talked about before, we will have
    early conversations and ongoing engagement to ensure that what
    we are doing is in the best interest of our taxpayers and can
    benefit all Americans with affordable, secure, reliable energy.
        Senator Hoeven. Do you agree we need that baseload?
        Ms. Jereza. Oh, absolutely. In fact, that is--we are in a
    situation today--thank you for reminding me about that.
    Baseload is so important for stabilizing our grid. It allows
    more buffer in the system to accommodate the different shapes
    that are happening. You were talking about the AI and data
    centers. We know that they are not only going to have huge
    demand, but they are also going to have interesting shapes that
    the grid is going to have to respond to, and baseload will
    certainly help to support that.
        Senator Hoeven. So, Mr. Doffermyre, and then you have got
    the key role to play, in that, you know, delays defeat. You
    started out talking about your job in terms of guiding
    whitewater rafting and hunting and fishing. I mean, I about
    cried it sounded so good. I mean, I love to hunt, love to fish,
    love the outdoors, and I could just see the serene look on your
    face while you were talking about it. That's really awesome
    stuff. So we love the environment and we want to always protect
    it and all that, but at the same time, we have to develop this
    energy. And so, we have to have a permitting process that
    works, that's certain, that we get the investment made. We do
    it right and well, but we get it done, right?
        Mr. Doffermyre. Amen.
        Senator Hoeven. Talk about that. How are you going to work
    with these two next to you to make sure we have energy from
    these sources, that we can't get to energy dominance without
    the things we are talking about. How do you see us moving
    forward to get that done?
        Mr. Doffermyre. Thank you so much, Senator Hoeven, for the
    question, and thank you for all of the work that you have done,
    or that I witness. I was not involved with the Dakota Access
    Pipeline, but I was familiar with it, and I know that you were
    very helpful, and that's a perfect example.
        Senator Hoeven. Well, the whole country was familiar with
    it.
        Mr. Doffermyre. Yeah, it's a perfect example of a broken
    regulatory system----
        Senator Hoeven. Exactly.
        Mr. Doffermyre. One President says you got the permit----
        Senator Hoeven. It has been operating for almost, I don't
    know, well over five years now, 500,000-plus barrels a day, and
    it still doesn't have the final regulatory approval.
        Mr. Doffermyre. Right.
        Senator Hoeven. Think about that.
        Mr. Doffermyre. Yeah, and it's granted the right-of-way,
    and then it's revoked, and then it's granted again and it's
    revoked. If we continue along that line, if we continue to have
    a permitting system that operates like that, the capital will
    dry up, the investment in these types of infrastructure
    projects will not be there, and we will not be able to meet the
    growing demand, and ultimately, heaven forbid, we will lose the
    AI arms race to China. So I think permitting is absolutely
    critical to our energy security, and I think we all agree that
    our energy security is critical to our national security.
        Senator Hoeven. Thank you to all three of you. I appreciate
    it.
        Senator Cortez Masto.
        Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you. Congratulations, and
    welcome to all of your family members who are here as well. I
    appreciate your willingness to serve.
        Let me start with Mr. Doffermyre. I don't really have
    questions for you, but I will do it on the record, but I have
    to say, I am just--I appreciate your candor and your respect
    for the law and the rule of law and what it means. That is very
    rare in this day with individuals coming before us. So I thank
    you. I thank you for your comments on that.
        Let me start with Ms. Jereza as well as Mr. Haustveit. The
    Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is helping Nevada become a
    national leader for battery manufacturing and recycling. We
    also hold the capacity to support the entire supply chain in my
    home state. For example, Nevada has enough lithium to supply
    the world for 85 years. I know you are aware of that. However,
    it is unfortunate that President Trump's FY26 budget calls for
    the cancellation of over $15 billion from the Bipartisan
    Infrastructure Law, and he specifically, in that fiscal year
    budget, targets battery manufacturers, and calls these funds
    handouts. Now, as lithium-ion batteries and related
    technologies continue to be used by our military and clean
    energy applications, I believe we should be making them here to
    cut our reliance on Communist China and not dismantle enacted
    DOE programs that strengthen our global competitiveness, quite
    honestly.
        So, if confirmed, let me ask you what your positions would
    be on the dismantling of those programs that support the
    research into and the support for battery manufacturing. And
    Ms. Jereza, let me start with you.
        Ms. Jereza. Sure, thank you for the question, Senator.
        It is, in this race, very important that we continue to
    have the innovation that is so necessary to deploy the new
    technologies that we need. And just for clarification, the
    Office of Electricity has energy storage research in its
    budget, and it is not IIJA-related, and so, I expect that, if
    confirmed, that that research will continue. And what is really
    interesting, even though I haven't been directly involved in
    that research, there is a cluster effort at the Pacific
    Northwest National Lab where it looks at working with the
    Office of Science and basically going from atoms to systems to
    make sure that concept-to-commercialization is happening. And
    so, I am excited to see, when we are competing with China, that
    we come up with non-lithium solutions, and America is poised to
    be able to take advantage of that. And if confirmed, I look
    forward to working with you and with the others around me to
    ensure that we do that.
        Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you.
        Mr. Haustveit.
        Mr. Haustveit. Senator, thank you for the question. Your
    State of Nevada is blessed with great resource, both hardrock,
    clay, and brine, and it has been incredible to watch the rapid
    technological development of new techniques, including direct
    lithium extraction. I am not yet in the office, so I don't know
    exactly what is being dismantled and what is being proposed,
    but I am fully aligned that we need to take out of the hands of
    Communist China 90-plus percent of the manufacturing of battery
    technology and onshore and bring manufacturing back to the U.S.
    We have the resource. We have the talent.
        Senator Cortez Masto. I agree, and let me just say, and I
    appreciate some of your written testimony earlier and even your
    comments about the importance of lithium extraction and mining
    and its role in the future of technology and that this country
    should be leading, believing in public-private partnership. Why
    would we be doing that extraction if we are not bringing the
    manufacturing back here that utilizes that technology,
    particularly around battery and battery storage as well. So I
    appreciate those comments.
        Let me jump back to something that has come to my
    attention, and Ms. Jereza, if you would, if you can comment on
    this. In 2022, Congress appropriated $1 billion to the
    Department of Energy for resilient energy infrastructure in
    Puerto Rico. And this past December, the Department announced
    $365 million in awards for energy supply projects at community
    health care centers. In March, the Department wrote a letter
    specifying requirements to advance these projects, but their
    future now appears to be at risk.
        So my question to you is, can I count on you to implement
    these projects that will provide life-sustaining electricity to
    medically vulnerable Puerto Rican Americans?
        Ms. Jereza. Thank you, Senator, for the question.
        The Puerto Rico efforts are led by the Grid Deployment
    Office, and so, I think that they are the ones who are leading
    the efforts and the review efforts as well. And if confirmed,
    what I will do is, I will assess those projects and look at how
    does this impact not just those that are in need, but also the
    entire grid. Secretary Wright and President Trump have made it
    clear that we need to look at what we can do to improve the
    security----
        Senator Cortez Masto. So let me just ask you this, because
    this was appropriated by Congress. This goes back to the rule
    of law. This was appropriated by Congress for a specific
    reason. So how does the administration have the authority now
    to redirect those funds when that really wasn't within their
    jurisdiction? That is my concern. And I am hoping that you are
    going to be, when you get in this position, following the rule
    of law and respecting the role of Congress and our
    appropriation authority and where we direct these funds.
        Ms. Jereza. Senator, I very much appreciate the rule of
    law, and if confirmed, I will comply with the law and we will
    work--I look forward to looking into this to assess the
    situation.
        Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Senator Hoeven. Senator King.
        Senator King. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Mr. Doffermyre, I was fascinated by your exchanges with
    Senator Hoeven at the end of his questioning about the
    restricting and changing permits in midstream. How do you feel
    about the fact that two weeks ago the Department of the
    Interior canceled the permits for Empire Wind, which took seven
    years, cost $2.5 billion. They had fully completed permits,
    including a lease from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
    from 2017? How do you feel about that?
        Mr. Doffermyre. Thank you, Senator King.
        Senator King. Is it okay to pull that permit, but not a
    permit for a pipeline?
        Mr. Doffermyre. No, and I will address your question
    directly. I did want to just say, because you were not here at
    the introduction, my wife and I, during our first year of
    marriage, lived in Maine, and I believe you were the Governor
    at the time, and we absolutely loved it.
        Senator King. Referred to as the Golden Age.
        Mr. Doffermyre. It was the Golden Age.
        [Laughter.]
        Mr. Doffermyre. It was a honeymoon--a year-long honeymoon.
    It couldn't have been any better.
        I am not familiar with the wind project, permit, or
    licensing issue that you are describing. I will say, from my
    standpoint, especially in the private sector, I think the
    reliance interest of business, the predictability of these
    permits is something that's very important. I don't know what
    would have caused this administration to review a permit the
    way that you described.
        Senator King. It was fully--it was completed, issued, final
    record of decision, everything was done. They were ready to--I
    think they were actually beginning construction.
        Mr. Doffermyre. Okay.
        Senator King. In construction, that was stopped, so, I wish
    you would look into that. As a person who has been in the
    development business, this is the worst nightmare.
        Mr. Doffermyre. Yes.
        Senator King. To go through the process and spend, in my
    case, millions of dollars, in this case, several billion
    dollars on permitting and have a permit pulled after it's
    issued. That's not a good signal to industry, as I think you
    will agree.
        Mr. Doffermyre. Yes, I do agree. As the solicitor, I won't
    be as much of a policymaker as I will be an advisor, but to the
    extent that, where the lines blur, you are going to have a
    strong voice in the room in favor of reliability and
    predictability and durability of these permits, and that the
    private sector needs to be able to rely on this in order to
    attract the capital to build the infrastructure that we need.
        Senator King. Completely agree. And I hope that strong
    voice will be heard.
        Fourteen days, 28 days for an environmental impact
    statement, that's impossible. That is the ``lawyers' and
    accountants' relief act of 2025,'' because that decision will
    inevitably, as you point out yourself, be appealed, go into
    litigation, which will take a year or two, come back to the
    agency. I am completely committed. I joined the Chair (Senator
    Manchin) and Senator Barrasso on permitting reform and time
    limits, absolutely, but setting time limits that are so
    unrealistic as to guarantee litigation, it seems to me, is not
    a productive use of the rulemaking power.
        You have been in this business. Twenty-eight days for an
    environmental impact statement? That's not serious.
        Mr. Doffermyre. Well, I share Senator Heinrich's view that
    if we are able to comply with the statute within 28 days, then
    I will applaud the entire----
        Senator King. And if I can walk across the Potomac River,
    that will be good, too.
        Mr. Doffermyre. Well, it doesn't seem----
        Senator King. Although, the press would say, ``King unable
    to swim'' if I did that.
        [Laughter.]
        Mr. Doffermyre. Right, right.
        I am not sure I would agree that it's impossible, it
    doesn't defy the laws of physics. My view is that it's a very
    ambitious timeline. I have not been involved in developing that
    timeline, but I am very much committed to expediting these
    permitting timelines as much as we possibly can.
        Senator King. We all committed to that. I just don't want
    unrealistic goals that end up lengthening the timeline.
        Ms. Jereza, are you aware what the cheapest electricity
    produced in America today is?
        Ms. Jereza. The cheapest?
        Senator King. The cheapest source of electricity in America
    today?
        Ms. Jereza. So when it comes to the cost----
        Senator King. The fact that I am asking it as a question
    should give you a hint.
        Ms. Jereza. Would it be Maine?
        Senator King. It's solar and wind, the cheapest form of
    electricity today.
        And would you also agree that renewables plus storage
    equals baseload?
        Ms. Jereza. Senator, thank you for asking about the costs
    of electricity. It's a complicated question, and there are many
    drivers----
        Senator King. No, it isn't complicated. It's how much--what
    the busbar cost is of various forms of electricity. There are
    reports. I get a report every week on what the cost of
    electricity is from various sources. Wind and solar are
    consistently the lowest.
        Ms. Jereza. So, at the Office of Electricity, we look at
    systems, and so, as an engineer, that's what we look at. We
    look at integrated systems planning, not just resource
    planning. And so, every resource has a certain value that they
    can provide to the grid, and sometimes there are system costs
    and there are different values that compared from firm baseload
    to solar and wind that you need to make some accommodation for
    the intermittency that you have.
        Senator King. And I agree with that. I totally agree with
    that, and right now, battery storage is more expensive, and
    therefore makes the net cost higher. I understand that. On the
    other hand, I think the important thing is, there have been
    gigantic steps in battery technology just in the last five
    years. And the point is, wind and solar are intermittent, but
    when you have storage, whether it's battery or pumped storage,
    or whatever else, that's the same as baseload because the
    intermittency problem goes away. Correct?
        Ms. Jereza. Senator, when we think about the cost of
    electricity, it's going to depend on the geography, like where
    you are located and how does that resource behave there, and
    it's also going to depend on the load and how that behaves with
    that. And so, it's really going to depend on where you are in
    the system. And what we are finding is----
        Senator King. Of course, windy places have more wind power
    and it's a higher capacity factor, I get that. But still, I
    will share the data with you. It's pretty clear. Natural gas
    combined cycle is a little bit higher. Wind and solar are the
    cheapest. Nuclear is more expensive. Coal is very expensive.
    So, and I understand, you have got to talk about storage, too.
    But the point I want to make is, all of the above means all of
    the above. And it worries me that we are talking strictly about
    fossil fuel development and not the technologies that will
    enable us to have a cleaner energy future. Storage is part of
    it. Solar and wind have already--the price has already dropped
    so dramatically.
        One other point, and I am way over time, is about grid-
    enhancing technologies when you are talking about transmission.
    I hope that's something you will look seriously at so that we
    are not just over-building, and we should take advantage of
    technologies like reconductoring and the so called GETs. Do you
    agree that that's something that should be seriously looked at
    as we are talking about transmission enhancements?
        Ms. Jereza. Senator, the GETs are very important because if
    we are going to get much more energy out of the system, we need
    to not just have energy addition, but we can also get more out
    of the system, and so, GETs would offer that.
        Senator King. Which will save us huge costs in transmission
    development, and that, I think, is something that should be
    looked at first before we talk about new rights-of-way, poles,
    et cetera.
        Ms. Jereza. Senator, I think that we have to look at
    everything--all the options that are available because the
    demand is increasing by so much that we are going to have to
    look at every option that's on the table and what is
    commercially ready, what is most viable over the long term. And
    so, if confirmed, the Office of Electricity will be looking
    at--I will be working in that research area for advancing
    conductors, power electronics, microgrids, and various areas to
    advance the state of the technology.
        Senator King. Thank you.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the indulgence.
        The Chairman [presiding]. Senator Murkowski.
        Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        And I apologize that I have missed most of your testimony.
    My commitment to you is, I am going back to read it all. Some
    very quick questions today as we are running between different
    committees.
        First, to Mr. Haustveit--carbon capture. We have some key
    projects that we are anticipating as we are looking to process
    North Slope natural gas. This is central to the viability of
    our Alaska LNG project. DOE has already been awarded funding
    for two CCS initiatives. One is ASRC's CarbonSAFE Hub, and then
    a direct air capture feasibility study. Both of these are in
    limbo right now. We are concerned that they may be on a DOE
    list of cuts going to the White House. It is something, again,
    that we have been working on with industry in a very
    collaborative way, working with the agencies, and we look at
    this piece as, really, very strategic for the energy initiative
    that we have up there.
        I know you are not in yet, but I am just asking for your
    commitment to look critically at this, to have the ability to
    defend these Alaska-based projects, given their strategic
    energy importance.
        Mr. Haustveit. Senator, thank you for the question. As you
    stated, I am not in, so I don't know the details, but I do
    commit to looking at projects that are part of the Department.
    Carbon capture, especially for use for extracting additional
    hydrocarbons, is something that I am passionate about. Prudhoe
    Bay benefited greatly because you didn't have a place to put
    the gas for a long time, and you reinjected it.
        Senator Murkowski. Still doing that.
        Mr. Haustveit. Resulted in higher recovery.
        Senator Murkowski. Yes.
        Mr. Haustveit. My home state of the Bakken is recovering
    somewhere between 10 and 15 percent of the oil in place, and
    CO2 is a potential solution to inject into the
    reservoir to recover more oil. We have got tremendous resource
    in our country. Alaska is blessed greatly with resources across
    the entire state. And CO2, if available at
    affordable levels, can be a great injectant, can be a great
    solution to recover more of that resource.
        Senator Murkowski. Well, we look forward to sharing more of
    the details about these projects and the opportunity to show
    you firsthand.
        Mr. Haustveit. Thank you, Senator.
        Senator Murkowski. Let me turn to you, Ms. Jereza. As you
    know, the map shows we are not connected by geography to the
    Lower 48, and our grid is not part of a continental grid. And
    so, we have some unique reliability and affordability
    challenges. Our grid is what we call the ``Railbelt.'' So it
    goes up as far as the railroad, and then it kind of comes back
    down the other way. But we have aging infrastructure--aging
    transmission infrastructure that we are dealing with. We have
    limited redundancy. We have high costs to our ratepayers.
        So I need you, and again, same point that I just made
    previously, I understand you are not there, but we have a grid
    modernization effort that is underway--significant grant
    funding that came a couple of years ago to help us with this
    integration of this transmission grid to boost it up to allow
    it to take us at least forward for the next decade or so. So I
    just need your commitment to look critically at what our needs
    are in Alaska, again, when we are not part of anybody else's
    interrelated grid.
        Ms. Jereza. Senator, it would be my pleasure to do that. I
    actually was fortunate enough to go to Cordova and see the
    great innovations that are happening at Cordova Electric.
        Senator Murkowski. Super-cool stuff.
        Ms. Jereza. So I can't wait to go back.
        Senator Murkowski. Yeah, good.
        Ms. Jereza. If confirmed.
        Senator Murkowski. Well, you will have that invitation.
        And finally, Mr. Doffermyre, I know you have got a little
    bit of a connection to Alaska through some of your law school
    buddies who are very focused on Alaska--Kaleb Froehlich, who is
    around here. He speaks highly of you, by the way. We saw, in
    the last administration, just a torrent of decisions and
    regulations from Interior that were absolutely contrary to what
    we passed into law here in Congress. It was pretty tough. And
    this was on our petroleum reserve. It was on the non-wilderness
    portion of the coastal plain. It was on the Ambler Access
    Project. Our public land orders, we have a whole list of them.
        I just need your commitment--and I hope that this is the
    easiest question that you will ever get--your commitment to
    ensure that Interior returns to following the law--the law as
    it is written, if you are confirmed as Solicitor.
        Mr. Doffermyre. Yes, ma'am.
        Senator Murkowski. See how easy that was?
        Mr. Doffermyre. Easy enough.
        Senator Murkowski. I appreciate that because we feel like
    we are pretty clear here in our policies, and then, when it's
    not followed through on the other end, great frustration. So I
    look forward to seeing you keep that commitment.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I appreciate the opportunity
    to blast in at the very end. Thank you.
        The Chairman. Thank you.
        I want to thank our witnesses for their testimony today and
    all the Senators for their cooperation. I want to thank Senator
    Hoeven and his team for filling in when I had to step down to
    another committee.
        Questions for the record for the hearing will be due by
    6:00 p.m. this evening. The record of the hearing will remain
    open for statements until 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 15, one
    week from today.
        Thanks again to the members of the Committee. On behalf of
    the Committee, I am pleased to extend congratulations to all
    three of these nominees and look forward to working with each
    one as we progress to the floor, and should you be confirmed,
    thereafter.
        I also look forward to working with all the Senators on the
    Committee as we continue to consider each of the President's
    nominees within the jurisdiction of this Committee in a timely
    manner.
        And I hope everybody on the Committee will keep working
    with me to help persuade leadership on both sides of the aisle
    to bring these nominees to the floor and have them considered
    on the floor as soon as possible.
        The hearing is adjourned. Thank you.
        [Whereupon, at 11:11 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

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