The U.S. Senate is lining up a confirmation vote on the Trump administration’s nominee to lead the Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy.
Rita Baranwal’s confirmation as assistant energy secretary for nuclear energy was listed on the Senate’s executive calendar for Friday.
“That at a time to be determined by the Majority Leader in consultation with the Democratic Leader, the Senate proceed to executive session and the consideration of the nomination of Rita Baranwal, of Pennsylvania, to be an Assistant Secretary of Energy (Nuclear Energy); that the Senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate’s actions, and that no further motions be in order,” according to the notice.
The Senate on Friday met only for a minute-long pro-forma session before breaking for the Memorial Day holiday. It will resume business on June 3.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) office could not be reached Friday regarding the schedule for a vote on the nomination. The Senate did vote Thursday to confirm other DOE nominees, including William Bookless as principal deputy administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Energy Department nominees were previously blocked for about two months, from mid-March to mid-May, by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) in a dispute over DOE’s shipment of 500 kilograms of weapon-usable plutonium to the Nevada National Security Site.
Baranwal, a materials engineer by trade, spent more than a decade in the nuclear industry. In August 2016 she became director of the Energy Department’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) program, which provides funding and other resources to promote research and development of nuclear power technologies.
This is Baranwal’s second confirmation go-around. She was first nominated in October 2018, advancing through a hearing and vote by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee the next month. But the nomination was sent back to the White House after Baranwal failed to get a floor vote before the 115th Congress ended on Jan. 3.
The Trump administration renominated Baranwal in January, and in March she again received a favorable committee vote.
The Office of Nuclear Energy is funded at $1.3 billion for the current fiscal 2019 to carry out three primary missions: support for the current nuclear power sector, development of advanced reactor technologies, and fuel cycle technologies.
The office would potentially assume management of a resumed DOE license application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada.
For the upcoming 2020 federal budget year, the Trump administration proposed slashing the Nuclear Energy budget by nearly 38%, to $824 million. That is part of the broader planned cutback at DOE.
Congress has already pushed back against the budget reduction. The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved an energy and water development bill that would add $5.6 billion to the White House request for DOE, to $37.1 billion. The House plan would keep Nuclear Energy funding above $1.3 billion for the year starting Oct. 1. The legislation now awaits a vote on the House floor, which could happen in June. The Senate version of the DOE funding bill has not yet been released.
The Office of Nuclear Energy is now led by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Edward McGinnis. The last Senate-confirmed assistant secretary for nuclear energy was Pete Lyons, who held the position from 2011 to 2015 before retiring from government service.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the U.S. Senate would reconvene on Tuesday, May 28.
