Image Credit: TVA
The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
On Tuesday, June 10th, President Donald Trump fired Beth Geer from her position on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Board of Directors.
This makes for Trump’s third firing of a Biden-appointed TVA board member since taking office in January.
Geer is a Brentwood resident who previously served as chief of staff for former Vice President Al Gore. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 21st, 2022.
Her term was not supposed to be up until May of 2026.
“I was honored to be nominated by President Biden to serve on TVA’s board, and I remain deeply grateful to all those who helped me secure U.S. Senate confirmation. The work of TVA is important to not only the region, but the country,” Geer said in a statement to News Channel 6 on Wednesday. “I enjoyed my time on the board, and hope the good work of the organization and its hard-working, dedicated employees continues to be valued. It was an honor to be a part of the TVA family.”
In February of this year, only 11 days after President Trump returned to the White House, TVA CEO Jeff Lyash chose to retire from his position as the highest earning government employee.
Lyash who has been making over twenty times what the U.S. president makes, has received criticism regarding his salary from President Trump ever since 2020.
In an op-ed published by “Power Magazine” on March 20th, Tennessee’s U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty wrote that TVA was “facing a historic moment that could decide our nation’s energy security for decades to come” and that they believed the current TVA leadership could not “carry the weight of this moment.”
This op-ed served as a call-to-action for President Trump to overhaul the TVA board and within a week his attention towards the issue was made public.
On March 27th, President Trump fired TVA Board Member Michelle Moore.
On March 31st, TVA announced that its Executive Vice President Donald Moul would be replacing Lyash as TVA’s president and CEO. Moul took over the role in early April.
“TVA needs a steady hand right now,” Moul told Knox News. “We’re in a period of growth like we’ve not seen before, making one of the largest capital investments in our history, and we also have to make sure we have reliable, resilient power for the next generation of American jobs.”
Just a few days later, President Trump fired TVA Board Chairman Joe Ritch.
Since this second firing took place, the board has not been able to conduct any new business outside of continuing essential operations due to not meeting the five-member quorum required by TVA bylaws.
Absent a quorum, the board remains unable to direct TVA into any “new areas of activity” and they cannot “embark on new programs or change TVA’s existing direction.”
President Trump still has not nominated any replacements for the board members he fired.
Right now, the remaining board members include Bill Renick, Bobby Klein and Wade White.
TVA is a federal agency servicing the state of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virgina.
The corporate agency was created by the U.S. Congress in 1933 but has been self-funded since 1959 and does not rely on the appropriation of taxpayer dollars.
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
4 Responses
TVA board NEEDS purged of all lucifer’s dimmercrap Biden appointees.
So let me get this straight: President Trump fired a member of the TVA board and the only stated reason was because she was formerly the Chief of Staff to Al Gore, who was twice elected to the Senate by a majority of Tennesseans.
And in so doing, he deprived the TVA of its ability to conduct any new business, even as our current senators say this a critical time for the TVA when it is “facing a historic moment that could decide our nation’s energy security for decades to come.”
And no one has been named to replace her or any of the board members who were also fired.
Is it conservative to believe that any person who has a connection to the political party not currently in power should be fired? Would it be acceptable if a future Democratic president purges anyone on the TVA board who ever worked for a Republican officeholder? And is it conservative to deprive the TVA of its ability to operate by negligently refusing to name replacements for the board members you fire?
ONE MONKEY does not stop the show and now he needs to start on left wing JUDGES.
Actually, badaboom, one monkey did stop the show. Did you read the article? “Absent a quorum, the board remains unable to direct TVA into any “new areas of activity” and they cannot “embark on new programs or change TVA’s existing direction.'”
So the TVA won’t function until new members are appointed, and Trump hasn’t even nominated anyone to fill those posts.