Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm grew visibly frustrated under increasingly aggressive questioning from House Republicans at an Oversight Committee hearing Thursday, raising her voice and even slapping her hands on the table as members tried to steamroll her answers to their questions.
Republicans used the hearing to attack President Joe Biden’s climate agenda, often talking over Granholm’s answers to make political points. Granholm’s appearance — in one of her signature kelly green blazers — followed complaints from Oversight Chair James Comer, who accused her of avoiding requests for a hearing for months.
Under Granholm, the Department of Energy has embraced its role as a climate leader in charge of disbursing funds from the Inflation Reduction Act and the infrastructure bill. In addition to government money and tax credits, the Biden administration has pushed out a record number of important final rules related to climate and the environment in the last several months (many of them through the DOE), protecting them from quick destruction in the event of a Donald Trump victory in November.