Biden Appoints Previously Unsuccessful Nominee to Oversee Efforts Against Appliance Concerns

President Joe Biden failed twice to secure the nomination of his choice to head up what conservatives termed a war on appliances, and his administration quietly installed him last week in essentially the same position that requires no Senate oversight.

Jeff Marootian’s name was tacked onto a Department of Energy announcement of appointees and promotions on Sept. 15. Marootian’s promotion to principal deputy assistant secretary of the agency’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) was announced only days after the White House withdrew his name from consideration to lead EERE as the office’s assistant secretary, Fox News reported.

In his new role, Marootian is only one step lower than the position for which he had been nominated, and with no other nominee having yet been made, he will have the same duties as he would have as assistant secretary.

He will report directly to Energy Sec. Jennifer Granholm.

“Jeff Marootian is an unelected, unaccountable, and unconfirmed bureaucrat who is carrying out President Biden’s orders to attack affordable household appliances,” Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Fox News,

“These rules are making life more expensive for all Americans by denying them the products they need. Biden and Marootian are coming after appliances in every room of our home – from gas stoves in our kitchen to water heaters in our basement,” he said.

Barrasso said last year he opposed Marootian’s nomination because he felt he was more qualified for a Transportation Department role.

Marootian was first nominated in July 2022, but his nomination has faced concern since Sen. Joe Manchin, D- W.VA., dropped support for him in May.

“While I supported Mr. Marootian’s nomination in December, since then the office he’s been nominated to lead has proposed stove efficiency rules that I’ve raised concerns about,” Manchin told Fox News in May. “While I appreciate that these rules would only apply to new stoves, my view is that it’s part of a broader, administration-wide effort to eliminate fossil fuels. For that reason, I’m not comfortable moving forward with Mr. Marootian at this time.”