CEO Chris Wright has been confirmed by the Senate to serve as President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Energy, where he will play a key role in shaping the president’s “Drill, baby, drill” energy agenda.
Wright earned bipartisan support from Senate members after being selected by Trump to lead the Department of Energy under his administration.
A nominee with extensive experience, Wright has served as CEO and founder of Liberty Energy Inc. since 2011. His nomination passed through the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee before being brought to the floor for a final vote, where he was confirmed 59 to 38.
Upon his swearing-in, Wright will work closely with President Trump to lead the charge on his energy agenda for the next four years. The 47th president has prioritized energy in his first two weeks in office, declaring an “energy emergency” on his first day, ending former President Joe Biden’s pause on liquefied natural gas exports, and rolling back climate standards set by the previous administration.
Wright’s energy vision is aligned with Trump’s, as he stated during his confirmation hearing that his primary focus would be to unleash American energy and enhance energy production in the U.S.
Trump cited the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (“NEA”) and section 301 of Title 3, United States Code, in declaring the energy emergency.
“This active threat to the American people from high energy prices is exacerbated by our Nation’s diminished capacity to insulate itself from hostile foreign actors. Energy security is an increasingly crucial theater of global competition,” the order states.
🚨 #BREAKING: President Trump’s Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, has just been CONFIRMED by the U.S. Senate, 59-38
Now it’s time to UNLEASH American energy!
MAKE AMERICA ENERGY INDEPENDENT AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/ghTCthJcof
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) February 3, 2025
“In an effort to harm the American people, hostile state and non-state foreign actors have targeted our domestic energy infrastructure, weaponized our reliance on foreign energy, and abused their ability to cause dramatic swings within international commodity markets. An affordable and reliable domestic supply of energy is a fundamental requirement for the national and economic security of any nation,” the order continues.
It adds:
The integrity and expansion of our Nation’s energy infrastructure —- from coast to coast -— is an immediate and pressing priority for the protection of the United States’ national and economic security. It is imperative that the Federal government puts the physical and economic wellbeing of the American people first.
Moreover, the United States has the potential to use its unrealized energy resources domestically, and to sell to international allies and partners a reliable, diversified, and affordable supply of energy. This would create jobs and economic prosperity for Americans forgotten in the present economy, improve the United States’ trade balance, help our country compete with hostile foreign powers, strengthen relations with allies and partners, and support international peace and security. Accordingly, our Nation’s dangerous energy situation inflicts unnecessary and perilous constraints on our foreign policy.
“The policies of the previous administration have driven our Nation into a national emergency, where a precariously inadequate and intermittent energy supply, and an increasingly unreliable grid, require swift and decisive action,” says the order.
“Without immediate remedy, this situation will dramatically deteriorate in the near future due to a high demand for energy and natural resources to power the next generation of technology,” it adds. “The United States’ ability to remain at the forefront of technological innovation depends on a reliable supply of energy and the integrity of our Nation’s electrical grid.
“Our Nation’s current inadequate development of domestic energy resources leaves us vulnerable to hostile foreign actors and poses an imminent and growing threat to the United States’ prosperity and national security,” the emergency order continued.
“The United States’ insufficient energy production, transportation, refining, and generation constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to our Nation’s economy, national security, and foreign policy. In light of these findings, I hereby declare a national emergency,” Trump wrote.