March 17, 2014

PERRY: ELIMINATE DOE, MOVE NNSA TO DEFENSE DEPT.

By ExchangeMonitor

Fresh off his “oops” moment at a GOP presidential debate earlier this month, Texas Gov. Rick Perry outlined his plan to abolish the Department of Energy but spare the National Nuclear Security Administration. In a policy statement posted on his website yesterday, Perry highlighted the elimination of DOE as part of his plan to “uproot, tear down and rebuild” Washington, but the NNSA wasn’t among the Texas governor’s targets as he suggested the agency and “other key nuclear programs must be preserved” and moved to the Department of Defense. The idea of folding the semi-autonomous NNSA into DoD has existed in some corners for as long as DOE, and its predecessor organizations, have been around, and it briefly gained traction at the beginning of the Obama Administration before an effort to look into the move was abandoned. Perry, however, suggested that DoD was a “natural location for our nuclear programs, protecting our vital national security interests, and preserves the structure that supports our nuclear power system.”

He did not specify how he would deal with DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, but took aim at a large chunk of the rest of DOE, suggesting that much of the Department’s work could be turned over to commercial industry or transferred to other departments. DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Fossil Energy Research and the Power Marketing Administration should all be abolished, he said.

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