The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday will discuss how the fundamental structure of the Department of Energy has contributed to “notable” challenges within the agency’s nuclear security enterprise, including managing contractors.
The hearing, “DOE Modernization: Advancing DOE’s Mission For National, Economic, and Energy Security Of The United States,” is on the slate for 10 a.m. Eastern time and will be webcast, the committee said.
The “[m]any troublesome and well publicized challenges” at DOE are “particularly notable in the Nuclear Security Enterprise,” the committee stated late Friday in a background memo appended to an announcement about the hearing.
Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette is at the top of the witness list, but Frank Klotz, undersecretary for nuclear security and administrator of the roughly $12-billion-a-year National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), will also testify.
Klotz is presumably a short-timer. Just before the new year, President Donald Trump nominated former DOE and National Security Council staffer Lisa Gordon-Hagerty to replace the former Air Force general as head of DOE’s nuclear-weapon branch. Before that can happen, Gordon-Hagerty must pass muster before the Senate Armed Services Committee and the full Senate — which could take anywhere from one to several months, if past is precedent.
Meanwhile, DOE’s Cold War nuclear-cleanup mission could also be part of the proceedings Tuesday; Paul Dabbar, undersecretary of energy for science, is slated to testify. The head of DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, which runs the agency’s $6.5-billion-a-year legacy remediation program, reports to Dabbar.
Last week, the White House announced the intended nomination of nuclear-industry consultant Anne White to run the Office of Environmental Management. White’s nomination was not scheduled for consideration in the Senate at deadline Sunday for Weapons Complex Morning Briefing.
Editor’s Note, The story was updated with the correct organizational hierarchy for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management.
