Lee Beaman may be too toxic for Senate Republicans — the party pulled his nomination to the TVA Board of Directors from a scheduled vote Wednesday. Senators from both parties grilled Beaman last week in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, chaired by Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. During the hearing, Beaman received full endorsements from Tennessee's U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty. If Capito continues to avoid voting on Beaman through Dec. 31, his nomination must be resubmitted by the White House in 2026.
Despite Beaman's ethics conflicts and lacking energy knowledge, Republican senators support GOP donor’s nomination to TVA board in awkward committee hearing
Beaman has donated millions to Republicans, including several on the EPW committee, as a major national donor. His partially built, partially inherited business empire in Nashville includes a car dealership and soft drink distribution company. Beaman has leveraged his wealth into political power and was nominated by Trump to the majority-vacant TVA Board of Directors earlier this year. But these connections may disqualify him from the position, as Republicans avoid his confirmation vote with ethical and financial questions swirling.
In a written submission to the EPW committee, Beaman says he was improperly listed as a campaign treasurer by U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, who — Beaman implies — signed campaign finance reports on his behalf without Beaman’s knowledge. Beaman’s financial relationship with Ogles and other members of Congress — including U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson — through a D.C. property could raise further serious ethical questions and even trigger a congressional investigation. Johnson and Ogles have resided at Beaman’s property, which he rents for $1 annually to an intermediary nonprofit entity managed by Steve Berger, a Franklin-based evangelical pastor.
In Beaman's hourlong hearing last week, senators focused on his ties to conservative lawmakers like Ogles, who is facing an FEC probe for misconduct related to campaign finance reports and has already paid fines related to shoddy bookkeeping. In confirmation documents reviewed by the Scene, Beaman explains that he never accepted the role as Ogles’ treasurer. After seeing his name in an Ogles ad, Beaman asked to be removed from campaign documents.
“Mr. Ogles asked me in a text message to serve as his campaign treasurer, a role I thought was an honorary position,” reads Beaman’s written response to questions from Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. “When I did not respond either way, he assumed I agreed to serve. A couple of months later, I saw my name listed as Treasurer in a political advertisement. At that point, I told him I could not serve and asked to be removed. If I were technically listed as the campaign treasurer for Congressman Ogles, I cannot say with any specificity exactly when I was named in that role. I know that I never signed or compiled any reports or had anything to do with any campaign bank accounts.”
Senators also seem wary of Beaman’s involvement in conservative activist groups the First American Bible Project, the 917 Society and the Council for National Policy, as well as his fealty to Berger. Berger founded influential Franklin church Grace Chapel 30 years ago before leaving the congregation after a public crack-up in 2021. He currently runs Ambassador Services International, a Christian effort to influence the national political agenda, out of two D.C. townhomes owned by Beaman. These entwined financial, social, religious and political worlds have perhaps raised enough ethical questions to sideline his nomination, putting Beaman in jeopardy before he has even been sent to the Senate floor.
