President Trump’s nominations of a new Director of the Bureau of Land Manager, a member to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and a new Under Secretary of Energy will go before a U.S. Senate committee this week. One of the nominees is a former executive with an Oklahoma City-based energy company.
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will hold a full committee hearing Wednesday morning. Members will consider the nominations.
They include Kyle Haustveit of North Dakota as the Under Secretary of Energy; Stevan Pearce of New Mexico to be the new BLM Director; and David LaCerte of Louisiana to continuing sitting as the newest member of FERC.
Former Devon Energy executive Kyle Haustveit, a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, is the nominee to be Under Secretary of Energy. He already was the 16th Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy, now the Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office (HGEO), on September 18, 2025.
In this role, Mr. Haustveit oversaw HGEO and National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) programs, managing a $5 billion research and development portfolio in coal, oil, natural gas, and critical minerals, with the goal of advancing affordable and reliable energy solutions.
Prior to joining the Department of Energy, Mr. Haustveit served as a professional petroleum engineer in various technical and leadership roles at Devon Energy. A native of North Dakota, Haustveit represents a third generation of energy workers, maintaining strong connections to both the energy and agriculture sectors.
Haustveit holds a petroleum engineering degree from Montana Tech and an MBA in energy from the University of Oklahoma.
Pearce is a former New Mexico congressman nominated last fall by the President.
But his nomination drew immediate criticism last November as Source New Mexico reported.
“His nomination drew swift criticism from environmental groups in New Mexico and across the country. They urged Congress to reject Trump’s nomination.
“Pearce’s entire political career has been dedicated to blocking Americans’ access to public lands while giving the oil and gas industry free rein to drill and frack anywhere they wanted,” said Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, in a statement Wednesday afternoon.”
Pearce represented the Second Congressional District of southern New Mexico from 2003 to 2009 and again from 2011 to 2019.
David LaCerte, of Louisiana, already a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission won U.S. Senate approval last year to serve a term that expires June 30, 2026. But President Trump nominated him to continue serving for a term expiring June 30, 2031.
The hearing will be webcast live on the Committee’s website, and an archived video will be available shortly after the hearing concludes. Witness testimony will be available on the website at the start of the hearing.