FERC Commissioner Bernard McNamee today announced that he will not seek a second term at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission when his current term expires on June 30. “I love this job, but I love my family more,” he said at the monthly FERC open meeting. He also said he has informed the White House of his intentions.
McNamee said he will stay on at the commission until a new commissioner is in place, preventing the commission from lacking a three-member quorum on the five-member panel. President Trump named McName, a veteran Republican energy lawyer who was working on policy at the Department of Energy, to fill a vacant Republican seat on the commission in early October 2018. He has been on the commission for just over a year, following Senate confirmation.
There have been no public announcements from the White House on filling the current two vacancies on the commission. McNamee’s announcement may prompt the Trump administration to move on the vacancies, although predicting any action from the White House is dangerous.
— Kennedy Maize