One of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s four current commissioners sees out her term today, leaving the Joe Biden administration with two seats to fill at the top of the independent regulatory agency.
Commissioner Annie Caputo, who was nominated to her three-year term in 2018 under the Donald Trump administration, leaves NRC Wednesday, commission chair Christopher Hanson announced June 22. Caputo’s departure leaves Hanson, Jeff Baran and David Wright as the three remaining commissioners on the agency’s executive panel. The commission, which usually has five members, has been only four strong since former chair Kristine Svinicki stepped down Jan. 21.
With Caputo on her way out, political winds are shifting at the commission. Biden now will have to either nominate a Republican and a Democrat to staff the NRC back up to five commissioners, or continue with the current two-one Democrat-Republican split.
Wright is now the sole Republican on the panel — Hanson and Baran are both Democrats. What’s more, with two seats to fill the Biden administration now has double the opportunity to solidify a Democratic majority on the commission.
At deadline Wednesday for Weapons Complex Monitor, however, the administration hadn’t yet named anyone to fill either vacancy.
Prior to joining the commission, Caputo was a senior policy advisor for Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and for Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) before that. She also served as a nuclear energy specialist on the House Energy and Commerce committee.
Caputo hadn’t announced her future plans by deadline Wednesday for Weapons Complex Morning Briefing.
