The Senate overwhelmingly voted Thursday evening to confirm former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) to be secretary of interior, and also took a step closer to a confirmation vote on Secretary of Energy nominee Chris Wright.
Burgum, who would also lead President Donald Trump’s National Energy Council, easily won confirmation to head the Interior Department via a 79-to-18 vote.
In addition, the chamber passed a motion by Senate Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to end debate onTrump’s nominee to head the Department of Energy Liberty Energy CEO Wright by a vote of 62 to 35. A full Senate vote on whether to confirm Wright is expected next week, according to C-SPAN.
Cloture is a formal Senate process that requires 60 votes to block a filibuster and bring an issue to the full Senate floor for a vote. Both nominees were voted out of committee last week following confirmation hearings earlier in the month.
According to national news outlets, Wright and Burgum are considered among President Trump’s less controversial nominees in the early days of Trump’s second administration.
