Budget & Policy

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry plans to resign in a matter of weeks, after nearly three years as the Trump administration’s top manager for a range of civilian nuclear operations, Politico reported Thursday. Three informed sources said Perry would make an announcement before the end of November, according to the report. Deputy Energy Secretary Dan […]

A regional group meant to promote communities around the U.S. Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico could be forced to reimburse the U.S. government for up to $300,000 in federal grant money absent documents showing the funds were not spent on lobbying or other improper expenses. That’s the bottom line of […]

The No. 2 official at the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Wednesday briefed members of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board on the “staggering goal” of swelling the nuclear-weapon steward’s workforce by about 20,000 heads over the next six years. Those hirings would be spread across the NNSA complex, including its national laboratories […]

Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday and then pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon to federal insider trader charges, according to various national news outlets. Collins, 69, and his son, Cameron Collins, 26, had pleaded not guilty, but filed paperwork in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Monday saying they […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) aims to complete a new strategic plan in November, capping a yearlong drive to address the findings of a government-chartered fix-it group that in 2018 offered tips for improving morale at the independent federal nuclear-health-and-safety agency. That is according to a notice from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) […]

The deadline came and went Monday for the Department of Energy and other federal agencies to terminate at least one-third of their federal advisory committees, but it was not clear Tuesday morning whether the agency had complied with the directive. A DOE spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for a list of committees […]

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), the top-ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said Monday he will retire from Congress after 26 years. Thornberry will not stand for re-election in 2020, but will serve out the remainder of his term, slated to end Jan. 3, 2021, he announced on his website and Twitter. He will leave […]

A former Tinder executive, the chairman emeritus of a national whiskey distiller, and the president of the California Institute of Technology are among the eight new members of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry announced Monday. The board is a sort of think-tank and sounding board for the energy secretary. […]

The U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management, and the rest of the federal government, would keep operating beyond the end of fiscal 2019 on Monday under a stopgap spending bill awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature at deadline Friday for Weapons Complex Monitor. The Senate voted 82-15 on Thursday to pass the continuing resolution, with […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee wants additional cost information before Congress provides any more funding for the Department of Energy’s planned new landfill at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. “The Committee is disappointed in the lack of progress in issuing the Record of Decision for the new landfill and recommends no funding to continue the […]

A former Tinder executive, the chairman emeritus of a national whiskey distiller, and the president of the California Institute of Technology are among the eight new members of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry announced Monday. The board is a sort of think-tank and sounding board for the energy secretary. Membership […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration will keep its 2019 budget for a little less than two months of fiscal 2020, under a stopgap spending bill awaiting President Trump’s signature at deadline Friday for Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill Thursday afternoon by a vote of 82-15. The House last week […]

Three U.S. senators — two Democratic presidential candidates and one of the party’s premier nuclear doves — urged House and Senate lawmakers negotiating the final version of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act to tightly limit future U.S. production of plutonium nuclear-weapon cores. That is according to a letter dated Sept. 13 and delivered to […]

The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted 82-15 to pass a stopgap budget to keep the federal government operating for nearly two months into fiscal 2020 in the absence of a full-year spending plan. The House approved the continuing resolution last week, and President Donald Trump is expected to sign it ahead of the Oct. 1 […]

A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Thursday advanced legislation intended to bring the U.S. government closer to finally removing nuclear waste from dozens of sites around the nation and then ultimately burying it in a geologic repository under Yucca Mountain, Nev. In a unanimous voice vote, the environment and climate change subcommittee sent the […]

As Capitol Hill has been set abuzz with the news that House Democrats will open an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, negotiators for the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) said they believe the authorizing bill debate will remain isolated from the impeachment issue. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Tuesday […]

The House Energy and Commerce environment and climate change subcommittee is scheduled Thursday to vote on a bill aimed at advancing establishment of a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2019 is among 15 bills scheduled for markup beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern time at 2123 Rayburn […]

A former Tinder executive, the chairman emeritus of a national whiskey distiller, and the president of the California Institute of Technology are among the eight new members of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry announced Monday. The board is a sort of think-tank and sounding board for the energy secretary. […]

The Senate will vote on whether to support a seven-week long continuing resolution by the end of this week, the chamber’s senior Republican leader said Monday. Congress has just one week to pass a CR to keep funding the government at fiscal 2019 levels before the Sept. 30 deadline, and the Senate will vote on […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee wants additional cost information before Congress provides any more funding for the Department of Energy’s planned new landfill at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. “The Committee is disappointed in the lack of progress in issuing the Record of Decision for the new landfill and recommends no funding to continue the […]

Three U.S. senators — two Democratic presidential candidates and one of the party’s premier nuclear doves — urged House and Senate lawmakers negotiating the final version of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act to tightly limit future U.S. production of plutonium nuclear-weapon cores. That is according to a letter dated Sept. 13 and delivered to […]

For the second consecutive year, the Senate appears ready to block any large reorganization of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). The Senate Appropriations Committee on Sept. 12 advanced legislation that would prohibit the proposed changes at the nuclear health-and-safety watchdog unless “specifically authorized by law.” The committee’s fiscal 2020 energy and water bill […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) on Sept. 12 said he would not seek to succeed Lamar Alexander in the Senate. “I’m not going anywhere,” Fleischmann said during a presentation at the U.S. Energy Department’s National Cleanup Workshop. “I’m staying in the House. I’m not running for the Senate.” After Alexander (R-Tenn.) announced […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) on Sept. 12 said he would not seek to succeed Lamar Alexander in the Senate. “I’m not going anywhere,” Fleischmann said during a presentation at the U.S. Energy Department’s National Cleanup Workshop. “I’m staying in the House. I’m not running for the Senate.” After Alexander (R-Tenn.) announced […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), a six-term congressman representing the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex, said he does not want to succeed Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) in the Senate. “I’m not going anywhere,” Fleischmann, 56, said during a presentation last week at the National Cleanup Workshop, an […]

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The U.S. Air Force is considering whether to move funding from the B-1B Lancer program to buy additional next-generation B-21 bombers in the fiscal 2021 budget, as changes are considered for the overall future of the aging bomber force. Accelerating procurement of the Northrop Grumman-developed B-21 Raider is a priority for the service, […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) would be funded at an annualized level that is nearly 10% lower than requested for nearly the first two months of fiscal 2020, under a stopgap spending bill approved Thursday by the House of Representatives. In a 301-123 vote, with 76 Republicans joining 225 Democrats in support, the […]

The head of the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) was briefly on President Donald Trump’s short list to replace John Bolton as national security adviser, media reported Tuesday. However, Trump on Wednesday announced via Twitter he had selected Robert O’Brien, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs at the State Department and a former […]

A Department of Energy budget bill that is working its way through the Senate would prohibit the independent federal Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) from reorganizing its small bureaucracy without Congress’ permission. The prohibition against reorganization unless “specifically authorized by law” is part of the fiscal 2020 energy and water development spending bill that got mired in […]

The U.S. Senate is considering a steep cutback in funding for most operations at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the upcoming 2020 federal budget year. The $841.2 million budget recommendation unveiled last week would be just over $66.5 million less than the federal agency requested for salaries and expenses in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. […]