Budget & Policy

On Tuesday, more than two-dozen advocacy groups with an anti-nuclear bent called on the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund a federal nuclear watchdog agency at the $47.2 million level sought by President Joe Biden for fiscal 2025 and the panel came close.  Senate appropriators took up their version of the legislation Thursday and  called for […]

Editor’s note, Aug. 01. The story was updated with comment from Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). WASHINGTON — Senate appropriators on Thursday proposed a 2025 Department of Energy budget that would pile funding the House wants to put into nuclear weapons into nuclear-weapons cleanup. That’s according to a detailed bill report the Senate Appropriations Committee released […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee planned to mark up Thursday its version of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s 2025 budget, the committee announced. The full committee markup was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Eastern time in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 106. The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2025 is one […]

The Department of Energy’s $8-billion nuclear cleanup office needs better oversight of contractors doing big, expensive infrastructure projects, according to a federal audit released Wednesday. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) wants DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) to better monitor performance “and hold contractors accountable,” according to the new report. “GAO reviewed five selected EM […]

On Tuesday, more than two-dozen advocacy groups with an anti-nuclear bent called on the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund a federal nuclear watchdog agency at the $47.2 million level sought by President Joe Biden for fiscal 2025. In a letter to the Senate Appropriations panel, the 28 public interest organizations urged ample funding of the […]

WASHINGTON — Modernization of U.S. nuclear weapons and delivery systems is moving too slowly and the Pentagon has heard about it, Nebraska’s senior U.S. senator said here Tuesday at a think tank. “When we’re in classified briefings and I hear from the military and the department, they give me dates on when things are going […]

A bill introduced in the House Tuesday would charge companies for emitting greenhouse gasses and reserve some of the proceeds for states and tribes hosting permanent nuclear-waste disposal sites. Filed in the second half of a contentious presidential election year in which control of Congress teeters on eight seats in the House and only one […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday planned to vote on its version of the Department of Energy’s fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill, the committee announced. The bill, which funds other agencies, is one of five pieces of legislation scheduled for debate and a vote in a marathon session that was to begin at 9:30 a.m. […]

Vice President Kamala Harris’ (D) positions on nuclear weapons, when she’s taken any at all, hew closely to Democratic orthodoxies of support for the Iran nuclear deal and denuclearization of North Korea. Harris, fast becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee for President following President Joe Biden’s (D) July withdrawal from the race, visited the Korean demilitarized […]

President Joe Biden (D) on Tuesday announced his intent to nominate Senate staffer Matthew Marzano to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and fill the agency’s last vacancy. Marzano is an Idaho National Laboratory detailee on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee where he advises lawmakers about clean air, climate and energy, […]

After hours of debate on more than 60 amendments this week, the House of Representatives canceled a planned vote on several 2025 appropriations bills, including the one that funds the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration. Media reported Wednesday that a fractious, razor-thin Republican majority could not wrangle enough votes in their own […]

A federal safety watchdog will hear testimony from government agencies next month on best practices for taking care of aging nuclear infrastructure, some of which is a half-century old. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has set a public hearing Aug.14 at its Washington, headquarters to hear testimony from representatives of the Government Accountability […]

After hours of debate on more than 60 amendments this week, the House of Representatives canceled a planned vote on several 2025 appropriations bills, including the one that funds the Department of Energy. Media reported Wednesday that a fractious, razor-thin Republican majority could not wrangle enough votes in their own party to pass the bills […]

The federal government should create a new strategy for disposing of spent nuclear fuel from power plants or recycling it, a Democratic congresswoman said in a hearing Tuesday. “We have to find a storage solution for nuclear waste that does not abandon the communities that host nuclear reactors, whether that way is through reprocessing, permanent […]

After hours of debate on more than 60 amendments this week, the House of Representatives canceled a planned vote on several 2025 appropriations bills, including the one that funds the Department of Energy. Media reported Wednesday that a fractious, razor-thin Republican majority could not wrangle enough votes in their own party to pass the bills […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management lacks consistent policy on allowing staff to work remotely, and efforts to use internship-type programs to recruit younger workers have yet to pay off, according to last week’s congressional watchdog report. Those are a couple of sidenotes inside the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on staffing shortages […]

Vice President Kamala Harris’ (D) positions on radioactive waste, when she’s taken any at all, hew closely to the Democratic orthodoxy of coupling any expansion of nuclear energy to the consent-based disposal of spent nuclear fuel. Harris, fast becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee for President following President Joe Biden’s (D) July withdrawal from the race, […]

A federal safety watchdog will hear testimony from government agencies next month on best practices for taking care of aging nuclear infrastructure, some of which is a half-century old. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has set a public hearing Aug.14 at its Washington, headquarters to hear testimony from representatives of the Government Accountability […]

After hours of debate on more than 60 amendments this week, the House of Representatives canceled a planned vote on several 2025 appropriations bills, including the one that funds the Department of Energy. Media reported Wednesday that a fractious, razor-thin Republican majority could not wrangle enough votes in their own party to pass the bills […]

A federal safety watchdog will hear testimony from government agencies next month on best practices for taking care of aging nuclear infrastructure, some of which is a half-century old. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has set a public hearing Aug.14 at its Washington, headquarters to hear testimony from representatives of the Government Accountability […]

Two amendments dealing with the National Nuclear Security Administration were agreed to and two anti-nuclear amendments failed during a 2025 appropriations debate Tuesday on the House floor. The 2025 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, H.R. 8997, reached the House floor Tuesday, but lawmakers ended their day without a vote on the […]

The Joe Biden (D) administration said Monday it would veto the House’s version of the Department of Energy’s 2025 budget, even though the President supports the bill’s added funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration. “The bill provides critical resources reaffirming congressional commitment to a strong national defense and NNSA’s enduring missions,” the statement by […]

House lawmakers were set Tuesday to question the four members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about the agency’s latest budget request and about nuclear policy changes enacted this month. The House Energy and Commerce energy, climate and grid security was set to begin the annual NRC budget hearing at 10:00 a.m. in the Rayburn House […]

The House Rules Committee planned to meet Monday on Capitol Hill at 4:00 p.m. to consider amendments and write rules of debate for appropriations bills that include the Department of Energy’s 2025 budget. Of the 122 amendments offered to the Rules Committee, only a few touched on defense or civilian nuclear matters at DOE. Historically, […]

Two members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board on Monday praised Senate confirmation of a third, putting the board back at a quorum but two members short of a full roster. “We look forward to her arrival,” Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Chair Joyce Connery and vice chair Thomas Summers said in a […]

Editor’s note: the election digest tracks lawmakers whose constituencies include civilian nuclear reactors that are being decommissioned. Most lawmakers with big nuclear constituencies look, as usual, safe to win reelection this November. However, a few are retiring and some are in tight races. The Exchange Monitor’s election digest is tracking them all. Senate: Among the expected Senate […]

Two members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board on Monday praised Senate confirmation of a third, putting the board back at a quorum but two members short of a full roster. “We look forward to her arrival,” Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Chair Joyce Connery and vice chair Thomas Summers said in a […]

Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) wants to amend the House Appropriations Committee’s 2025 energy and water bill to strip out a GOP provision to zero-fund the Department of Energy’s Justice40 Initiative. Stansbury, whose district includes Albuquerque, filed an amendment with the House Rules Commitment to strike part of the bill that prohibits funds from being used to support […]

As is often the case, the Senate Armed Service Committee is using a must-pass defense policy bill to have a congressional watchdog delve into issues facing the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons cleanup complex. Based on the bill report, here is a summary of what Senate Armed Services wants the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to […]

The United States should get ready to again test nuclear weapons at the Nevada National Security Site if former President Donald Trump (R) wins reelection in November, according to conservative policy document released last week. In a list of “needed reforms,” Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership, a conservative policy blueprint written by former Trump administration […]