Stop ‘partisan work’ at NRC, House Energy and Commerce chair writes

The chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other agencies to cease “partisan work” until a new Congress and President arrive in January.

“As a traditional part of the peaceful transfer of power, the NRC should immediately stop work on any partisan or controversial item under consideration, consistent with applicable law and regulation,” reads the letter from Rep. Kathy Rodgers (R-Wash.), who did not run for reelection.

Rogers sent nearly identical letters to several other agencies under the committee’s jurisdiction, though the NRC’s included a special note: continue to comply with the institutional reforms in the bipartisan ADVANCE Act, which passed in July.

Donald Trump won reelection to the White House by a wide margin on Tuesday, and that before all the votes were tallied. Republicans also flipped three Senate seats and took control of the upper chamber of Congress. The GOP was likewise leading Democrats in the race to control the House as of Thursday.

Trump’s return alone would have been enough to dramatically change the makeup of the NRC, where Democrats this year lost a three-seat majority on the presidentially appointed commission when Jeffrey Baran, now working at the Department of Energy, failed to muster enough support in the narrowly divided upper chamber to secure another five years as a commissioner.

Once sworn in as President, Trump could appoint one of the two current Republican NRC commissioners as the NRC chair. More immediately, however, the commission is allowed to have three members who belong to the same political party, so Republicans in the Senate may refuse to support a pending nominee for the final NRC spot during the lame duck session.

President Joe Biden’s nominee for the final spot, Matthew Marzano, was due for a vote in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee next week, on Nov. 13. A nuclear engineer and licensed senior reactor operator, Marzano did not generate much controversy during his September nomination hearing, though he is currently a member of the committee’s Democratic staff.