Senate EPW votes to advance Wright’s NRC nomination

The Senate on Environment and Public Works Committee voted 10 to 9 along party lines Wednesday to advance the re-nomination of David Wright to be a commissioner on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

With the slim passing of Wright’s re-nomination, he will be due to go to the full Senate for a confirmation vote at a later date. 

Prior to his re-nomination, Wright was serving as the NRC chair. His prior term with the independent agency concluded on June 30. Wright was re-nominated by President Donald Trump on June 16 as he was previously nominated by Trump in his term in 2018. 

“I will work in a bipartisan manner to hold the commission, including Chairman Wright, accountable to expedite their efforts while maintaining their focus on ensuring nuclear safety,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said in her opening statement. “I appreciate that commitment and will support Chairman Wright’s nomination.”

Also Usha-Maria Turner, the nominee for assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, was voted out of the committee by the same 10 to 9 result. 

In a committee of 19 members, all 10 Republican senators voted yes for the nominees, while all Democrat senators voted against the nominations. 

Ranking member Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) voted against Wright’s nomination, despite his support for nuclear energy. He said he took issue with theTrump administration’s handling of the NRC and believed the regulator should remain independent. 

“The future of nuclear energy in this country requires a credible, independent regulator,” Whitehouse said in his opening statement. “Efficient? Yes it’s important but safety is paramount, just one lapse would put our country at risk, unravel our years of bipartisan progress and set nuclear power backward. Under the Trump administration that unraveling is happening.”

Wright’s renomination comes amid the Trump administration pushing for expedited processes for advanced nuclear projects and ordering for the overhaul of the NRC. Last month Trump fired NRC commissioner and former chair Chris Hanson. 

Despite the current upheaval at the NRC, Wright pledged at his Senate nomination that the NRC will continue to prioritize nuclear safety.