On March 12, 2020, the U.S. Senate confirmed James Danly to fill a Republican seat on the Commission by a 52-40 vote. Mr. Danly, who currently serves as FERC’s General Counsel, will serve the remainder of a term that expires June 30, 2023.
President Donald Trump initially nominated Mr. Danly on September 30, 2019, to serve the remainder of a term previously served by former Chairman Kevin McIntyre, who passed away in 2019. Mr. Danly testified in a confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Subcommittee on November 5, 2019 (see November 14, 2019 edition of the WER). The full Senate, however, failed to vote on his confirmation in 2019. As the result, the nomination lapsed and was returned to the White House on January 3, 2020.
In conjunction with Mr. Danly’s re-nomination, the White House did not nominate a Democrat to fill the vacant Democratic seat formerly held by Commissioner Cheryl Lafleur, which was vacated in August of 2019.
FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee congratulated Mr. Danly on his confirmation. He stated, “This is great news for FERC and for the country. I have appreciated getting to know and work with James as my General Counsel, where he’s already proven to be an invaluable asset to the Commission.”
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