On Tuesday March 20, 2012*, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will consider the nomination of Tony Clark and re-nomination of Commissioner John Norris to FERC.

On January 24, 2012, President Obama nominated North Dakota Public Service Commission Chairman Tony Clark (R) to succeed former-Commissioner Marc Spitzer, who left one of two Republican seats on the Commission on December 14, 2011.  If confirmed, Clark would serve a term ending June 30, 2016 (see January 30, 2012 edition of the WER).

On February 6, 2012, President Obama re-nominated current FERC Commissioner John Norris (D) to serve on the Commission for a five-year term ending June 30, 2017 (see February 13, 2012 edition of the WER). 

The Committee may choose to report the nomination favorably, unfavorably, without recommendation, or take no action at all.  If the Committee votes to report the nomination, then the process will move to the full Senate.  In some instances, one or more Senators may place a “hold” on a nomination, thereby delaying or preventing it from reaching the floor for further action.  The Senate then has three options: confirm, reject, or take no action on the nomination.  Confirmation requires a simple majority vote. 

A link to the Committee’s hearing list is available here.

*Please note that an earlier version of this post listed a Wednesday March 14, 2012 hearing date.  The hearing referenced above was then postponed to Tuesday March 20, 2012 at 10:00am.