March 17, 2014

APPROPRIATORS UNVEIL MASSIVE OMNIBUS SPENDING BILL

By ExchangeMonitor

Congressional appropriators nearly matched the Obama Administration’s $7.868 billion request for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program in the massive omnibus spending package unveiled last night, but several funding maneuvers obscure cuts to the program. While the bill provides $7.781 billion for the NNSA’s weapons program, $87 million less than the Obama Administration requested for Fiscal Year 2014, appropriators moved $228 million in funding for Nuclear Counterterrorism and Incident Response and $62 million for USEC’s American Centrifuge Project back to the weapons program after the Administration requested funding for the programs in its nonproliferation account. The maneuver buoys the top line funding level for the program, but eats up nearly $300 million in funding, resulting in several key cuts.

At the top of the list is a $34.7 million cut to the Administration’s $72.7 million request for work on the W78 life extension program, which was to explore an interoperable warhead with the W88. The bill also trims $16 million in funding from the Administration’s $325 million request for work on the Uranium Processing Facility, which appropriators said is an “adjustment due to the Department of Energy’s recent decision to consider additional alternatives to meet the uranium infrastructure needs at Y -12 that might save costs and lead to a replacement facility for Building 9212 in a shorter period of time.” Bill language released last night also revealed a $40 million limit on funding for sustaining the B83 weapons system until the Nuclear Weapons Council certifies that the B83 will be retired by FY 2025 “or as soon as confidence in the B61-12 stockpile is gained.”

The bill also provides $1.95 billion for the NNSA’s nonproliferation account. That amounts to $480 million less than was enacted in FY 2013, but appropriators said the bill provides $70 million more than the Administration requested for “similar” activities. However, the funding is $190 million less than the Administration requested in FY 2014. Appropriators provided $343.5 million in funding for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, a $23.5 million increase from the Administration’s request, and directed the Department of Energy to examine the root causes of cost increases for the MOX facility and the Waste Solidification Building.

Lawmakers are expected to pass a three-day Continuing Resolution by Wednesday that would fund the government through Saturday, providing breathing room for the House and Senate to pass the omnibus bill. “This agreement will not be viewed as perfect by everyone,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said in a statement. “It required difficult choices, and nobody got everything they wanted. But this agreement is what we need now to move the country forward by funding the critical missions of our government and investing in America’s greatest assets—our people, our infrastructure, and the research and discoveries that will create jobs today and in the future.”

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