Hawley challenges Granholm on stock ownership, urges action

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) on Tuesday called on Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to resign after the two squared off in a contentious Senate hearing about Granholm’s previous failure to disclose her ownership of stocks in six U.S. companies.

The tense back-and-forth occurred during Granholm’s appearance on Tuesday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee as it convened to review the Energy Department’s 2025 budget request.

During the hearing, Hawley took Granholm to task for her remarks in April 2023, when she had mistakenly asserted that she did not own any individual stocks. Granholm subsequently corrected herself in June, noting in a letter to the committee that she had, in fact, maintained shares in six unnamed companies at the time of her testimony. Her husband also owned $2,457.89 worth of shares in Ford Motor Company at the time of her April testimony.

Granholm said last June that she divested from the companies on May 18, days after learning that she did own the shares, and said she had believed her family had sold their shares in 2021.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Hawley accused Granholm of violating the STOCK Act and for her ownership of individual companies through last May.

“It is outrageous that you misled us. It is outrageous that you are continuing to mislead us,” Hawley said Tuesday. “This has got to change. And, frankly, you should go.”

Hawley also challenged Granholm over waiting for months before taking action to sell the stocks.

“You neglected to report it to this committee for months afterwards,” the senator told Granholm on Tuesday. “Why did you mislead this committee?”

“Oh, my goodness,” Granholm responded. “I believed that I had sold all individual stocks, and I was incorrect. So I came back as soon as I found out that, in fact, I had not sold all individual stocks.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Granholm also disputed Hawley’s assertion that she “hid” her stock ownership, noting that “I did not hide it. … I brought it forth to the committee when I realized that we had made a mistake.”