What a confirmation mess!
Sen. Jim Inhofe’s hold on Democratic FERC nominee Richard Glick may end up indefinitely delaying the confirmations of a whole bundle of Energy, Interior and FERC nominees his party supports. The Oklahoman desperately wants to get his buddy Scott Pruitt some help at EPA and wants the agency nominees confirmed before he’ll release his hold, but Democrats appear exceedingly unlikely to ease the path to passage for any of President Donald Trump’s EPA picks. The problem is Glick’s pick is a component of a negotiated package of nominees between Senate Energy Chairman Lisa Murkowski and ranking member Maria Cantwell, so without him the entire package is stuck. “As much as I want to move all of the nominees that have gone through the process, other committees are not mine to resolve,” Murkowski told reporters. “That’s something Senator Inhofe is going to have to work through.”