The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday said the White House can go ahead with plans for major layoffs and restructuring of the federal government while legal challenges play out, according to media reports.
The Washington Post and other media outlets reported Tuesday afternoon that the high court elected not to block planning for mass layoffs at this stage. The ruling was in response to emergency motions filed by the administration in response to litigation filed in lower courts by the American Federation of Government Employees and other groups. The administration appealed to the high court in June after a federal district court in Northern California blocked mass layoff plans for the Department of Energy, Department of Defense and several other agencies.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson filed a written dissent, the Post reported.
The Bonneville Power Administration, a regional authority for the Department of Energy, and DOE’s Office of Environmental Management have flipped the switch on a major new 18-mile electric transmission line at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
The new 230-kilovolt transmission line connects two substations at the nuclear cleanup site and replaces an 80-year-old line, according to a Tuesday announcement from Environmental Management and Leidos-led contractor Mission Integration Solutions.
A dual-circuit tower design included in the new line should help shore up electric supply for the Bechtel-built Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, Environmental Management said. That long-awaited facility is scheduled to start turning some of Hanford’s less-radioactive liquid waste into a solid glass form later this summer. Bonneville Power built the electric transmission infrastructure and HMIS supported the project, according to the release.
Several nuclear and energy groups urged Secretary of Energy Chris Wright this week to take action to address the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle in the United States.
The Nuclear Energy Institute, Energy Communities Alliance (ECA), Nuclear Industry Council, American Nuclear Society, Decommissioning Plant Coalition, Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition (NWSC), National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and Sustainable Fuel Cycle Task Force Science Panel sent a letter requesting to sit down with Wright to discuss the matter.
An ECA official informed Exchange Monitor that it expects to meet with the Department of Energy (DOE) to discuss the topic. The organization has informally heard back from DOE and expects an official response soon, an ECA official said.
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), whose district includes the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, on Thursday July 3 voted in favor of President Donald Trump’s budget reconciliation package dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill.
In a statement after the vote, Newhouse said the final version of the bill preserves production tax credits for nuclear power plants and also seeks to preserve plans for a small modular reactor in the Richland area. After passing the House 218 to 214, the bill was signed into law by President Trump July 4.
Newhouse is one of only two Republicans left in the House of Representatives who voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters. Trump has endorsed primary opponents who unsuccessfully challenged Newhouse in the past two election cycles. Newhouse is a member of the House Appropriations Committee.
The Senate voted 54-to-43 Wednesday to confirm President Donald Trump’s nomination of Preston Griffith to be undersecretary of energy.
Griffth’s nomination was passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on April 30 after President Donald Trump had nominated him for he post on Jan. 20.
A lawyer and consultant, Griffith served in management roles at the Department of Energy and the National Security Council during the first Trump administration. In recent Senate testimony, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright implored senators to act on the nominations of DOE nominees who are awaiting confirmation votes.
Global Laser Enrichment has submitted its full license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility in Paducah, Ky., the company said last week.
The Wilmington, N.C. based company that licenses laser enrichment technology owned by Australia’s Silex Systems recently filed in its safety analysis report to complete its full license application. The company previously filed in its environmental report for the application in December 2024.
The safety analysis provides a detailed evaluation of the Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility safety measures, operational protocols and risk mitigation tactics, in compliance with NRC’s regulatory standards. GLE is jointly owned by Silex and Cameco.
