By Scott Weiser | Denver Gazette
Chris Wright, a Denver businessman and President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Energy secretary, told U.S. senators Wednesday that, if confirmed, he would use the position to “unleash American energy at home and abroad.”
That message and others like it drew universal praise from the Republican members of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, setting him up for an easy confirmation, with Chairman Mike Lee, R-Utah, saying he hopes to have it wrapped up before the end of the month.
Wright faced fairly straightforward questions during his confirmation hearing and he appeared to have secured bipartisan support. Once confirmed, Wright would be tasked with administering U.S. energy policy, maintaining and protecting the nation’s nuclear stockpile, running 17 national laboratories and overseeing the department’s Loan Programs Office.