Congress Demands Answers from Richard Glick on White House’s Involvement in Natural Gas Policy

June 29, 2022

This week, Republican leadership from the House Committee on Government and Oversight sent a letter to Richard Glick, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), asking how much the White House was involved in writing the commission’s punishing natural gas policy earlier this year. In February, FERC tried to ram through a policy that would have made building new natural gas infrastructure – including pipelines – almost impossible.

Rep. James Comer, the ranking member of the committee, and Rep. Ralph Norman, the ranking member of the environment subcommittee write in the letter:

“When Republicans exposed FERC’s action as threatening America’s energy independence and national security, particularly given the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FERC reversed course and decided to seek comment from the American public on the policy rather than finalize it. While you claim the White House was not involved in FERC’s pipeline policies, reports regarding your calendar indicate that you attended regular meetings with one of President Biden’s climate change czars, raising questions about the White House’s involvement.”

The letter highlights that Glick had a standing meeting with Deputy White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, according to his calendars that have been made public. The Republicans demanded all of Glick’s correspondence with the White House. They write:

“To assist in shining a light on the involvement of the White House in FERC policy, Committee Republicans request you provide all documents and communications between you and the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy from January 2021 to the present, no later than July 12, 2022.”

President Biden has renominated Glick to continue as the chairman of the FERC. His close ties to White House leadership and his track record of building barriers for natural gas infrastructure demonstrate why he is not right for the job. Now, Congress is coming for the receipts.