A former Trump administration official tapped to lead the Western Energy Alliance remains on track to join the oil and gas group next week after its current president ended her bid Thursday to run the Bureau of Land Management.
But the leadership handoff could take weeks.
The Colorado-based trade group announced last week that Melissa Simpson, who was a deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Energy Resources at the State Department during the first Trump administration, would be the organization’s next president. On Thursday, the Western Energy Alliance said there will be a brief period of overlap between Simpson and the current president — Kathleen Sgamma — for the purpose of continuity.
Sgamma withdrew her nomination Thursday to lead BLM, which is part of the Interior Department. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) announced the decision at the start of a morning hearing where Sgamma was scheduled to appear.
