FERC in Focus: Will the agency maintain its independence under Trump 2.0?

FERC, which is under a hiring freeze, has been losing key staff since Trump was elected, according to agency observers.

“They’ve already had a fair bit of brain drain — significant losses in the General Counsel’s Office and the policy office — so the agency is increasingly less equipped to execute on a policy agenda, and just even implementing core, nuts and bolts stuff,” said Devin Hartman, director of energy and environmental policy at the R Street Institute.

FERC’s headcount is expected to fall by 9% by the end of its fiscal year, Christie said during the media briefing in mid-April. FERC had a staff of about 1,500 people as of December. The agency didn’t respond to requests for its current headcount.