Congress is back for the 116th time, and the two parties this week officially elected leaders for several committees important to those who watch the Department of Energy’s nuclear portfolio. Republicans still control the Senate, while Democrats have taken over in the House following the November midterm elections.
Following is a list of newly selected leaders for committees with key oversight of agencies including DOE, its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Some important subcommittee positions are yet to be filed, but some have been announced. Where the subcommittee leaders are known, they are listed.
Armed Services
House:
Chair – Rep. Adam Smith Smith (D-Wash.)
Ranking Member – Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas).
Senate:
Chair – Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.).
Ranking Member – Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.).
Through the annual National Defense Authorization Act, the Armed Services committees set policy and spending limits each year for the NNSA, the Energy Department’s nuclear weapons and nonproliferation agency.
Appropriations
House:
Chair – Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.).
Ranking Member – Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas.).
House Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee
Chair – Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio.).
Ranking Member – TBA.
Senate:
Chair – Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).
Ranking Member – Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).
Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee
Chair – Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.).
Ranking Member – Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).
The Appropriations energy and water development subcommittees write the first drafts of DOE’s annual budget bills. That includes spending for the NNSA and the legacy waste cleanup sites managed by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management.
The subcommittee also sets the budget for DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, which manages the agency’s nuclear waste management activities In addition, the subcommittee handles the budget for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which regulates civilian nuclear power plants and containers used for shipment and storage of nuclear materials.
Energy and Commerce/Energy and Natural Resources
House Energy and Commerce
Chair – Rep. Frank Pallone (R-N.J.).
Ranking Member – Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.).
Senate Energy and Natural Resources:
Chair – Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).
Ranking Member – Sen. Joe Manchin, (D-W.Va.).
These committees set policy for the parts of DOE that are not the NNSA, as well as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Notably, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) has departed as the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Cantwell was a sure vote in favor of more funding for the Hanford Site cleanup in her home state: the largest, most expensive, and most dangerous Cold War waste remediation in the entire DOE complex.
