FERC will lose 9% of workforce, chair says

By Francisco "A.J." Camacho | 04/18/2025 06:15 AM EDT

Mark Christie said the agency would work to keep “key people” and praised the Trump administration’s move to sunset regulations.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member Mark Christie testifies during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on Capitol Hill May 4, 2023.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Mark Christie testifies on Capitol Hill in 2023. Christie said he supports a Trump order to sunset regulations but that everything "has to be done in accordance with law." Francis Chung/POLITICO

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will likely lose 9 percent of its employees as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the federal workforce, Chair Mark Christie said Thursday.

Fifty-five employees out of the agency’s 1,500 have opted for deferred resignations, Christie said. The administration has also offered early retirements and implemented a government-wide hiring freeze.

Christie emphasized that FERC is “working hard” to keep key experts in place, including those who work on natural gas permits.

“We don’t want to lose people who are essential to get those permits out,” he said. “There are a lot of functions here that are very important.”

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