At least two Republican senators placed holds on Treasury Department nominees over fears and frustration with the Trump administration’s rhetoric on renewable energy sources.
Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and John Curtis of Utah are making it harder to confirm Brian Morrissey Jr. to be general counsel, Francis Brooke to be an assistant secretary and Jonathan McKernan to be an undersecretary.
Grassley, Curtis and other moderate Republicans want to make sure Treasury follows a compromise in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on the phase-out of renewable energy credits. Enough dissent among Republicans could imperil a nominee because of the party’s small margins.
Grassley announced his holds in comments published in the Congressional Record, and Curtis joined him, according to a person familiar with the situation.
“During consideration of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, I worked with my colleagues to provide wind and solar an appropriate glidepath for the orderly phase-out of the tax credits,” Grassley said. “Ultimately, Congress enshrined in statute a 12-month transition period based on when projects ‘begin construction.’”
He added: “What it means for a project to ‘begin construction’ has been well established by Treasury guidance for more than a decade. Moreover, Congress specifically references current Treasury guidance to set that term’s meaning in law. This is a case where both the law and congressional intent are clear.”
Holds mean a nominee can’t pass by unanimous consent. Democrats have not allowed any Trump picks to get that treatment. Still, Republicans can only afford to lose three members, assuming Vice President JD Vance would break a tie.
Last month, President Donald Trump issued an executive order promising to end “market distorting subsidies for unreliable, foreign controlled energy sources.” That edict directs Treasury to issue implementing guidance for the clean energy credits by Aug. 18.
Curtis, Grassley and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have been pushing for assurances the administration will comply with language allowing wind and solar projects to access tax breaks should they begin construction by July 2026.
But last week, concern grew the Trump administration would not hold up their end of the bargain. The administration unleashed a slew of attacks on wind and solar, with the Interior Department moving to purge any “preferential treatment” toward wind and solar in agency regulations and targeting the density of renewable energy projects.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management also rescinded areas of the U.S. outer continental shelf from offshore wind development.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who pushed for the immediate elimination of all renewable energy subsidies, wrote on social media that Curtis and Grassley should be ignored.
