Two weeks into President Donald Trump’s first term, Energy Secretary-designate Rick Perry has crept closer to confirmation in the Senate, and the president’s beachhead and transition teams are laying groundwork to bolster the budget for the National Nuclear Security Administration.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday approved Perry’s nomination by a vote of 16-7. Four Democrats and all 12 Republicans on the committee voted “aye.” The former 15-year Texas governor now needs 51 votes on the Senate floor to officially succeed nuclear physicist and international negotiator Ernest Moniz as head of the roughly $30-billion-a-year Energy Department.
When Perry gets his day in the Senate is up to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has yet to schedule a vote, a spokesperson said this week.
When Rex Tillerson was at this point in his confirmation process, it took the Senate nine days to give him a confirmation vote. Tillerson was confirmed as secretary of state on Wednesday and sworn in by Trump later that day.
So far, there are only rumors about who could serve as Perry’s deputy at DOE, and fill other key nuclear posts at the agency.
Lobbyist and former DOE congressional liaison Dan Brouillette is the top choice to be Perry’s deputy, a source said.
Gary Lavine, a New York attorney who served in DOE’s Office of General Counsel during George W. Bush’s second term, is likewise said to be a finalist for assistant secretary for environmental management.
Elsewhere at DOE, Frank Klotz remains administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and looks set to remain at his post through March or April. Klotz is said to have little interest in serving in the Trump administration over the long term.
Outside of the Energy Department, the Trump administration has reshaped the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, leaving members in place but elevating Republicans to the chairmanships of both independent groups.
Last week, Sean Sullivan was designated chairman of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Securities Board, an executive oversight group that polices the legacy nuclear-cleanup sites managed by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management and active facilities overseen by the NNSA. At the same time, Trump made Kristine Svinicki chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that oversees civilian nuclear sites.
Trump Wants a Bump for NNSA
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is eyeing a budget increase for the National Nuclear Security Administration that would run into the billions of dollars.
On Jan. 19, the same day the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee questioned Perry, news broke that the Trump administration planned to scrap a pair of DOE offices dealing with renewable energy and fossil fuel research and give their funding — a combined $2.5 billion or so — to the NNSA.
This calls to mind the old Washington saying: the President proposes and Congress disposes. The White House may ask lawmakers to funnel internal DOE funds to the NNSA — The Hill newspaper reported the Trump administration’s official fiscal 2018 budget request would arrive in late April — but appropriations committees in Congress must approve the changes.
If congressional Republicans are amenable to Trump’s proposal — assuming he makes it official — they have the votes to push the NNSA budget increase through.
While Senate rules still allow Democrats in that chamber to filibuster bills, taking that tack would not do much except delay the Republican budget, unless the minority was willing to force a government shutdown over any yet-to-be-decided funding changes.
