Trump picks oil fracking CEO as his choice for energy secretary – cabinet updates

Trump’s pick for energy secretary, Chris Wright, would be responsible for leading the department tasked with maintaining the nation’s nuclear weapons fleet.

Wright would serve on a newly formed Council of National Energy which will be led by Doug Burgum, Trump said in the statement tonight.

“This Council will oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the Economy, and by focusing on INNOVATION over longstanding, but totally unnecessary, regulation,” Trump said.

The appointment requires Senate approval.

“Barron Trump is so cool. He’s like the sleeper a little bit. He’s kind of stayed out of the spotlight, probably intentionally,” she said.

President-elect Donald Trump is filling key posts in his second administration, putting an emphasis so far on aides and allies who were his strongest backers during the 2024 campaign.

Here’s a look at who he’s selected so far.

Trump’s Energy Secretary pick Chris Wright is a campaign donor and fossil fuel executive.

Wright, CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking, a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market.

Wright has won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term.

Hamm helped organize an event at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in April where Trump reportedly asked industry leaders and lobbyists to donate $1 billion to Trump’s campaign, with the expectation that Trump would curtail environmental regulations if re-elected.

Wright has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change and could give fossil fuels a boost, including quick action to end a year-long pause on natural gas export approvals by the Biden administration.

Wright has criticized what he calls a “top-down” approach to climate by liberal and left-wing groups and said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.”

Trump has also announced that Will Scharf, one of his personal attorneys, will be his White House staff secretary.

In a statement shared on Truth Social, Trump credited Scharf with playing “a key role in defeating the Election Interference and Lawfare waged against me, including by winning the Historic Immunity Decision in the Supreme Court.”

Trump has announced that he is nominating oil industry CEO Chris Wright to be his Energy Secretary.

In a statement, Trump said:

“I am thrilled to announce that Chris Wright will be joining my Administration as both United States Secretary of Energy, and Member of the newly formed Council of National Energy.

“Chris has been a leading technologist and entrepreneur in Energy. He has worked in Nuclear, Solar, Geothermal, and Oil and Gas. Most significantly, Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American Shale Revolution that fueled American Energy Independence, and transformed the Global Energy Markets and Geopolitics.

“As Secretary of Energy, Chris will be a key leader, driving innovation, cutting red tape, and ushering in a new “Golden Age of American Prosperity and Global Peace.”

Two Democratic senators have urged for a review into Elon Musk’s alleged contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the contracts his companies currently hold with the federal government.

Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a senior Democrat on the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, called for the Pentagon and Justice Department to review the contracts in light of the reported contact with Russia, the BBC reports.

Last month The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had been in regular contact with Putin and the pair have spoken on the phone about business and geopolitical matters.

In their letter, Shaheen and Reed wrote: “We urge an immediate review to ascertain whether Mr Musk’s relationship with multiple high-level Russian officials warrant an investigation and a determination by the Department of Defense’s senior debarment official whether SpaceX should exclude Mr Musk’s involvement in current or future US Government contracts.”

When reached for comment from Musk at the time, a SpaceX spokesperson told The Independent the claims in the Journal were “misleading” and “unsubstantiated.”

“My client testified to the House Ethics Committee that she witnessed Matt Gaetz having sex with a minor,” Leppard told the outlet.

Read the full story below.

Trump’s transition team is standing by Pete Hegseth for defense secretary.

Hegseth shared a post from the Trump War Room on X, one of the 2024 campaign’s social media accounts, with a supportive quote from Steven Cheung, who has been named as Trump’s communications director.

Brendan Buck, a longtime GOP adviser, said if Matt Gaetz has a Senate confirmation hearing, it will be one “of the most insane.”

He told MSNBC’s Alex Witt that he “wouldn’t want to be in [Gaetz’s] position” right now.

“He’s obviously not coming in with a strong hand. I’m not ready to say that Republicans are going to reject him,” Buck said. “I think you have to appreciate how many Republicans see what Donald Trump just did and would be very concerned about crossing him.

“We’ve seen reports of as many as 30 Republican senators willing to vote against him but that’s all said anonymously.

“I do think if he gets to this point this will be some of the most insane confirmation hearings we’ve ever seen,” Buck added.

“The things that the House Ethics Committee has been looking into, whether or not the report comes out, are going to be front and center. Don’t think that Democrats on the committee will just let that go if it does not come out.”