The Senate on Monday postponed a procedural step that would have brought the chamber closer to averting a government shutdown after Sept. 30, and funding the Energy Department and the rest of the federal government at current levels until early December.
Senators were set Monday evening for a vote that would have curtailed debate on H.R.5325: a bill that began in the House as the fiscal 2017 budget for the legislative branch, but which will now be turned into a short-term budget for the entire government. However, in the middle of the day, Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced the procedural move would wait until Tuesday.
Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in floor remarks Monday that Senate Democrats still were not ready to accept the bill. Partisan differences that have nothing to do with the Energy Department’s nuclear programs have held up a deal.
McConnell signaled he wanted the Senate to approve the stopgap spending bill, or continuing resolution, by Friday. The next fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.
The Energy Department’s 2016 appropriation was roughly $29.6 billion: about 10 percent lower than the White House’s fiscal 2017 request.
Within the 2016 DOE total, the National Nuclear Security Administration, which manages nuclear weapons production and upkeep operations for the Pentagon, got about $12.5 billion, some 3 percent less than the White House requested for 2017.
The DOE Office of Environmental Management, which manages cleanup of nuclear waste created during the Cold War arms race, got almost $6.1 billion: just over 1 percent more than the White House requested for 2017.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which regulates commercial nuclear power plants and their associated waste streams, got a little over $1 billion in 2016, which is about 2 percent more than the White House requested for the upcoming year.
