The 118th Congress that began this week was set to bring with it a few changes to Congressional representation for the states, regions and cities hosting Department of Energy nuclear-weapon sites.
In the Senate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), an author with no political experience and an avowed ally of former President Donald Trump (R) succeeded the retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R), a moderate who reliably supported employees and neighbors of DOE’s shuttered Portsmouth Site near Piketon, Ohio, some 100 miles east by road of Cincinnati.
Missouri also got a new Senator, with Sen. Eric Schmitt (R) winning the seat vacated by Roy Blunt (R). Missouri is home to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Kansas City National Security Campus, the factory for the non-nuclear components of U.S. nuclear weapons.
Democrats kept control of the Senate for the 118th Congress, and new Senators were sworn in beginning this week. The chamber then expected to recess until Jan. 23.
In the House, Republicans claimed the majority but had not elected a new speaker as of Friday morning, meaning the body still could not legislate or swear in new members. In the lower chamber, the incumbents of the major NNSA sites held their seats.
Meanwhile, there figured to be no seismic shifts in committee control in the House during the 118th Congress, as far as DOE nuclear sites are concerned.
Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) will return as the chair of the influential House Appropriations Committee, with Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) staying on as the ranking member.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) will take over as chair of the House Armed Services Committee, which writes the annual National Defense Authorization Act that sets policy and spending limits for the NNSA. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) will remain as the committee’s ranking democrat.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) will become chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over civilian nuclear waste programs at DOE and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) is staying on as the ranking member.
In the Senate two octogenarian retirements meant a big shakeup on the Appropriations Committee, from which Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the chairman, and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the ranking member, have now retired.
Also in the Senate, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), a vocal booster of the NNSA and the former ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has retired. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), is the most senior Republican on the Committee now that Inhofe is gone. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) remained as the chairman.
