The Senate Armed Services Committee said Tuesday it has advanced the nomination of Anne Marie White to be assistant secretary of energy for environmental management. However, there was still no official word on whether Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) might lift his hold on the nomination anytime soon.
White was also approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Jan. 30 to head the $6.5 billion program at the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management. Armed Services said Tuesday her nomination had automatically advanced out of the committee without a vote on March 1 and been placed on the Senate executive calendar.
The White nomination was jointly referred to both committees. Under Senate rules SASC had 30 days from the Senate Energy vote to take action, before the nomination would automatically advance, which is what happened, a Senate source said. Armed Services did have a public nomination hearing last week, but White fielded only a few questions.
The move would seem to bring White to the brink of getting an up or down vote from the Senate, which an industry source said could happen this month.
The source said Tuesday he believes the Trump administration is working to persuade Barrasso to remove his hold on the White nomination. There was no word from Barrasso’s office Tuesday.
The Wyoming Republican wants White and DOE to commit to ending the agency’s uranium barter program, which helps fund cleanup of the Portsmouth Site in Ohio but which Barrasso believes hurts the ailing domestic uranium production industry. The parties should be able to resolve the dispute in short order, the industry source said.
