Budget & Policy

The full House of Representatives on Friday passed in a 217-197 vote a $1.3 trillion package of six spending bills for fiscal 2021, including billions of nuclear cleanup operations managed by the Department of Energy. President Donald Trump is threatening to veto the entire minibus package. In a 29-page statement of administration policy, the White […]

The House of Representatives on Friday approved a massive appropriations package that provides nothing to resume licensing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, despite pleas late in the week from four Republican lawmakers. In a nearly party-line vote, the Democrat-led chamber passed a roughly $1.3 trillion, six-bill spending “minibus” for the fiscal 2021 budget […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is preparing to release another tranche of funding for companies working to produce the medical isotope molybdenum-99 without use of weapon-grade uranium. The semiautonomous branch of the Department of Energy said it received $35 million from Congress for this work in the current 2020 federal budget year. The agency […]

By John Stang Two potential class action lawsuits were filed this week in federal court this week against FirstEnergy Corp. for its suspected role in a $60 million bribery and money laundering scheme to prop up a pair of financially troubled nuclear power plants in Ohio. On Wednesday, FirstEnergy stockholder Diane Owens sued in U.S. District […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is preparing to release another tranche of funding for companies working to produce the medical isotope molybdenum-99 without use of weapon-grade uranium. The semiautonomous branch of the Department of Energy said it received $35 million from Congress for this work in the current 2020 federal budget year. The agency […]

The Senate has lined up a vote next week to confirm Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes to the No. 2 position at the Department of Energy. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday filed cloture on Menezes’ nomination as deputy secretary of energy. An initial procedural vote is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday, Politico […]

The House of Representatives on Friday approved a massive appropriations package that provides nothing to resume licensing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, despite pleas late in the week from four Republican lawmakers. In a nearly party-line vote, the Democrat-led chamber passed a roughly $1.3 trillion, six-bill spending “minibus” for the fiscal 2021 budget […]

As part of a package of spending bills set to hit the floor late this week, the House of Representatives will debate the merits of temporarily freezing the Pentagon out of internal Department of Energy nuclear-weapon budget debates. The debate will take about 10 minutes of floor time, which the House Rules Committee granted in […]

Two Democrats from Washington state’s congressional delegation, Rep. Adam Smith and Sen. Patty Murray, are proposing legislation to make it easier for certain workers at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site and other nuclear cleanup jobs to qualify for federal benefits. The Seattle Times reported Wednesday the two lawmakers were proposing companion bills in the House […]

An Ohio man filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday against FirstEnergy Corp. for its alleged role in a $60 million bribery and money laundering scheme to prop up two financially troubled nuclear power plants in the state. Jacob Smith, of Lorain County, is seeking unspecified damages and other relief from FirstEnergy and subsidiary FirstEnergy […]

The House Rules Committee on Monday delayed by one day writing rules of debate for a package of fiscal 2021 appropriations bills that includes funding for the Department of Energy. The committee is scheduled to take up H.R. 7617 at 11 a.m. today. That would keep the lower chamber on pace to this week approve […]

FirstEnergy Corp. CEO Chuck Jones on Friday acknowledged the power company remains a focus of the federal bribery probe over state legislation that provided a financial bailout for two nuclear power plants in Ohio. The Department of Justice last week announced racketeering charges against Ohio Speaker of the House Larry Householder (R) and four associates. […]

The Department of Energy confirmed five new cases of COVID-19 among the staff of its Washington, D.C., area headquarters, including someone who was at the office recently, in a statement posted online Friday. That makes at least 20 cases among the Washington DOE civil service, most of whom work in either the Forrestal Building in […]

The House of Representatives is scheduled this week to debate its $49.6 billion energy and water appropriations legislation as part of a larger seven-bill spending “minibus” for fiscal 2021. The House’s posted floor schedule for the week does not provide the specific schedule for debate on H.R. 7617, the Defense, CJS, Energy and Water, Financial […]

The House and Senate approved their respective versions of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act with bipartisan votes this week, supporting the Trump administration’s requested funding for nuclear-weapon operations at the Department of Energy. However, President Donald Trump threatened to veto the measure over provisions including production of plutonium warhead cores and removing Confederate iconography […]

The White House on Tuesday nominated a former staff member at the Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board (DNFSB) to become a member of the panel. Matthew Moury has since June 2017 served as Energy Department associate undersecretary for environment, health, safety, and security. His nomination to the DNFSB will be considered first by the Senate […]

The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted 86-14 to pass its $740.5-billion National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2021, which now faces a conference committee to iron out differences between it and the House version of the defense policy bill passed earlier this week. The NDAA crafted by the Senate Armed Services Committee would put a […]

The congressman representing the district surrounding the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state is facing off with five challengers in an Aug. 4 primary for which voting by mail has already started. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) has represented the 4th Congressional District in central Washington since January 2015. As a member of House Appropriations […]

By John Stang The Ohio Legislature’s speaker of the House and four others have been charged with funneling roughly $60 million in bribes and illegal contributions to a three-year secret campaign to subsidize two financially struggling nuclear power plants in the state. The new criminal case puts the future of the 2019 bailout bill in […]

The Ohio Legislature’s speaker of the House and four others have been charged with funneling roughly $60 million in bribes and illegal contributions to a three-year secret campaign to subsidize two financially struggling nuclear power plants in the state. House Speaker Larry Householder (R), a political adviser, and three lobbyists face federal charges of racketeering […]

The House approved its version of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act with a bipartisan vote Tuesday, supporting the Trump administration’s requested funding for nuclear-weapon operations at the Department of Energy. However, President Donald Trump threatened to veto the measure, over provisions including production of plutonium warhead cores and removing Confederate iconography from government property. The vote […]

The House and Senate are set for a bicameral conference debate about federal nuclear weapons policy, after the lower chamber on Monday approved legislative language that would prohibit nuclear tests and put the secretary of energy on the Nuclear Weapons Council. Both provisions were amendments to the House’s annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which […]

The congressman representing the district surrounding the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state is facing off with five challengers in an Aug. 4 primary for which voting by mail has already started. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) has represented the 4th Congressional District in central Washington since January 2015. As a member of House Appropriations […]

The leader of the National Nuclear Security Administration this week pushed back against a gavel-wielding congressman’s public claim that the semiautonomous agency is increasingly dismissive of the authority for its work held by its parent entity, the Department of Energy. Rep. Frank Pallone (D.N.J.), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committe, made the statement […]

A 2021 spending bill the House Appropriations Committee passed this week would prohibit development of a proposed new nuclear warhead for the Navy while upping investments in infrastructure to produce new plutonium triggers — but not by as much as the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) wants. That is according to a detailed bill report for […]

The Department of Defense would get at least close to its requested funding for most strategic nuclear weapons programs in fiscal 2021, under a spending bill approved on a party-line vote Tuesday by the House Appropriations Committee. The bill passed 30-21 with no Republican support. Nobody offered amendments that would affect nuclear weapons funding during […]

The House Appropriations Committee on Monday threw its support behind the Trump administration’s new plan to develop interim storage of radioactive waste now held at commercial and government facilities around the nation. In a 30-21 party-line vote, the Democrat-majority panel advanced its $49.6 billion energy and water bill for fiscal 2021 to the full House. […]

The House Appropriations Committee on Monday approved its fiscal 2021 energy and water development bill, clearing the way for a vote by the full House later this month on the spending plan that would provide at least $7.5 billion for Energy Department nuclear cleanup. The Democrat-majority panel approved the spending package in a 31-20 vote […]

The House Appropriations Committee on Monday passed a potentially massive budget plus-up for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP), while again dismissing the White House proposal to transfer it to the Department of Energy. The panel voted 31-20 in favor of its $49.6 billion energy and water appropriations […]

The House Appropriations Committee on Monday threw its support behind the Trump administration’s new plan to develop interim storage of radioactive waste now held at commercial and government facilities around the nation. In a 30-21 party-line vote, the Democrat-majority panel advanced its $49.6 billion energy and water bill for fiscal 2021 to the full House. […]