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Glick, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC), needs to be approved by the full Senate for another
term.
Manchin took umbrage with comments by Biden days before the
midterm elections about shutting coal-fired power plants. "We're
going to be shutting these plants down all across America,"
Biden said on Nov. 4.
"The Chairman was not comfortable holding a hearing," Sam
Runyon, a spokesperson for Manchin said in a release. Runyon did
not respond to a question about whether Manchin, the chairman of
the Senate Energy Committee, was refusing to hold a hearing
because of Biden's coal comments.
A White House official said: "We understand that the Committee
needs more time, and we hope to move forward as we continue to
work collaboratively with both the Committee and Chairman
Manchin."
Manchin's stance on not having a hearing for Glick was reported
by Bloomberg Law.
Manchin, the founder and partial owner of a private coal
brokerage, Enersystems, has been reluctant to rein in fossil
fuels. His support for Biden's Inflation Reduction Act
legislation came only after the legislation's climate measures
were trimmed.
He blasted FERC earlier this year over proposed scrutiny of
greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas pipelines and
liquefied natural gas terminals. The agency has since walked
back the proposal.
While the hearing could still be rescheduled, time is running
short before the end of the current Congress. Glick's term ends
when the current Congress adjourns on Jan. 2 or before, and he
cannot hold the chairmanship or a seat on the five-member panel
after that unless reconfirmed by the full Senate.
The razor-thin Democratic control of the Senate is in question
after the Nov. 8 elections and it would be unlikely for a
Republican-controlled Congress to approve Glick. Even if the
Senate remained at 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris
having the tie-breaking vote, a "no" vote from Manchin could
doom Glick's chairmanship. A FERC with only two Republicans and
two Democrats could deadlock the panel's energy policy
decisions.
FERC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; editing by Diane Craft and
Bradley Perrett)
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