Failed Biden nominee quietly appointed to top role overseeing war on household appliances
'Jeff Marootian is an unelected, unaccountable, and unconfirmed bureaucrat,' GOP Sen Barrasso tells Fox News Digital
By Thomas Catenacci Fox News
The Department of Energy (DOE) quietly promoted a top adviser to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to a senior role overseeing home appliance regulations after he failed to clear Senate confirmation.
The DOE announced last week that Jeff Marootian was appointed to be the principal deputy assistant secretary of the agency's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The appointment came days after the White House withdrew his name from consideration to lead EERE as the office's assistant secretary.
While Marootian's nomination failed after Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., opposed him over the Biden administration's crackdown on natural gas-powered stovetops, his appointment last week makes him the effective chief of the DOE's EERE office.
President Biden has yet to nominate another person to be assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, meaning Marootian, whose new position doesn't require Senate confirmation, is the most senior official in the EERE office. The office is tasked with issuing and implementing energy efficiency regulations such as those affecting gas stoves and other home appliances.
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