Sponsors (2)
The bill increases transparency and reduces potential fossil-fuel influence in energy policymaking, but at the cost of narrowing the pool of experienced appointees and imposing new compliance burdens and scrutiny that could slow decisions and raise costs.
Taxpayers and the public will have energy and climate policy overseen by appointees without recent fossil-fuel industry ties, reducing perceived industry capture and increasing confidence in impartial decisionmaking.
Federal ethics/conflict rules and clearer definitions of 'fossil fuel lobbyist' and trade associations will make it clearer which department heads and appointees are covered, improving transparency and focusing disclosure/enforcement.
Employees at fossil fuel companies who work on renewables or clean-energy efforts will be excluded from being treated as 'executive officers,' avoiding penalties on staff aiding the clean energy transition.
Federal agencies will lose a pool of experienced energy-sector executives for senior appointments, reducing available technical expertise and institutional knowledge for energy policy roles.
Taxpayers may face slower decisionmaking and higher costs if agencies must hire outside experts or consultants to replace prohibited appointees' technical experience.
A broader named list of covered department heads and amended Lobbying Disclosure Act references could increase paperwork, registration, enforcement obligations, and compliance costs for senior officials, nonprofits, and related organizations.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Prevents individuals who in the past 10 years were fossil-fuel company executives, fossil-fuel lobbyists, or fossil-fuel trade association executives from serving in certain cabinet-level and political appointee roles.
Introduced January 21, 2025 by Edward John Markey · Last progress January 21, 2025
Prohibits anyone who, within the prior 10 years, served as a fossil fuel company executive, a fossil fuel lobbyist, or an executive of a fossil fuel trade association from being appointed to or serving in an acting capacity as specified cabinet-level department heads or certain political appointees. The bill defines key terms (like "fossil fuel," "fossil fuel entity," and "fossil fuel lobbyist") and carves out an explicit exclusion for employees who work in renewable-energy divisions of fossil fuel companies. The restriction applies to a defined set of senior executive branch posts and political appointees and uses a 10-year lookback period; it relies on existing lobbying disclosure definitions for identifying lobbyists. The text does not specify funding or an effective date in the provided summary.