Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) filed cloture Monday on 48 of President Donald Trump’s nominations “en bloc,” meaning in a large batch, to include nominees involved in the nuclear weapon’s complex.
The Senate adopted the resolution Monday 51-44 to restore en bloc consideration of nominees at a sub-cabinet level. The Senate schedule said cloture is expected to “ripen” during Wednesday’s session, meaning the chamber will vote on whether to allow for debate without filibuster for the nominees.
The nuclear weapons complex nominees up for consideration en bloc this week are:
- Brandon Williams, the nominee to head DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
- Ted Garrish, the nominee to head DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy.
- Scott Pappano, the nominee to be Principal Deputy Administrator at NNSA, or the position just below the head of the agency.
- Matt Napoli, the nominee to be the Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation at NNSA.
Not on this list is Tim Walsh, Trump’s nominee to head the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. Last week, ranking member of both the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Energy and Water subcommittee Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said she placed a hold on Walsh’s nomination due to disagreeing with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright’s “stalling” starting up glass making at the Hanford Site. “I am not letting up and will do everything I can to get to the bottom of DOE’s intentions and stop this catastrophic move to upend the Hanford cleanup mission,” Murray said.
