The U.S. Senate made some parliamentary moves that could pave the way for a Department of Energy manager from the Savannah River National Laboratory, Patricia Lee, to receive a voice vote on her nomination to the Defense Nuclear Facilities.
A cloture motion was presented in the Senate Thursday on Lee’s nomination to become a member of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), which currently has only two members. A full panel would be five.
No vote on the cloture petition was scheduled as of deadline for Weapons Complex Monitor. If invoked with a 60% Senatemajority, the cloture petition would limit further floor debate about Lee’s nomination.
President Joe Biden nominated Lee to DNFSB in July and the Senate Armed Services Committee reported her out favorably in late October. The June 20 Senate action appeared to be the first recorded Senate action on Lee’s nomination since Oct. 26.
More recently, President Biden last month nominated William (Ike) White, senior adviser and acting head of the DOE Office of Environmental Management for five years, to also join DNFSB. The Senate Armed Services Committee had yet to take up White’s nomination at deadline.
The development heightens the chance of Lee receiving a vote by October, two Washington, D.C., area sources told Exchange Monitor Friday.
