President Donald Trump has fired the chair of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s board of directors about a month and a half before his term expired, leaving the panel without enough active members to meet.
Attorney Joe Ritch of Huntsville was nominated by former President Joe Biden in 2022 to rejoin the panel after leaving the TVA board in 2017, according to The Associated Press. Former President Barack Obama initially nominated Ritch to the board in 2012, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him in 2013.
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His latest term was supposed to end May 18. Ritch did not immediately respond to a voicemail and an email Wednesday seeking comment.
Ritch’s departure comes several days after Trump fired another board member, Michelle Moore, and shortly after the agency announced the selection of its new CEO, Don Moul.