VIDEO: Heinrich Delivers Opening Remarks During Nomination Hearing to Consider Dr. Dario Gil for Under Secretary of Science at DOE & Preston Wells Griffith III for Under Secretary of Energy at DOE

VIDEO: Heinrich Delivers Opening Remarks in Hearing to Consider DOE Nominations, April 10, 2025.

WASHINGTON — In his opening remarks during the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s nomination hearing to consider Dr. Dario Gil for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Under Secretary of Science and Preston Wells Griffith III for DOE’s Under Secretary of Energy, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Committee, sought assurances from the nominees to follow the law as enacted by Congress.

In addition to noting the importance of the Under Secretaries’ roles in delivering for the Department and the American people, Heinrich highlighted how the hearing comes on the heels of significant reductions in the Department's workforce, grant and loan funding freezes, contract uncertainties and the so-called “hit list” of programs targeted for termination, all of which threaten the important work of the Department.

Heinrich’s remarks as delivered are below:

Thank you, Chairman Lee, and welcome Mr. Griffith and Dr. Gil.

The Committee meets this morning to consider the nominations of Mr. Griffith to be Under Secretary of Energy and Dr. Gil to be Under Secretary of Science. I understand that Ms. Sgamma will not be appearing before this Committee today.

The Office of Under Secretary of Energy was established in 1977 to perform functions and duties assigned by the Secretary.

The Office of Under Secretary for Science was added in 2005 to serve as the Secretary of Science and Technology Advisor to oversee the Department's research and development programs and to carry out additional duties assigned by the Secretary.

The flexibility built into these two offices has enabled different Secretaries to shift functions and programs between the two Under Secretaries. Most recently, Secretary Granholm combined both science and energy offices under the Under Secretary for Science, and she consolidated the Department's loan and infrastructure programs under the Under Secretary of Energy, renaming the office the Under Secretary for Infrastructure.

I am told that Secretary Wright has kept Secretary Granholm’s organizational structure, at least for now. But I'm most interested to hear from Dr. Gil and Mr. Griffith, what issues they believe will be in their portfolios, whether there are any plans or if there have been discussions about reorganizing these offices.

Overhanging our hearing this morning are, of course, the reductions in the Department's workforce, the grant and loan funding freezes, the contract uncertainties and the so-called “hit list” of programs targeted for termination, all of which threaten the important work of the Department.

I will be particularly interested to hear from the two Under Secretary nominees how they will balance their competing obligations to the President who has nominated them, and the statutory requirements enacted by Congress, governing the department's programs.

Thank you, Chairman.

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