Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has moved to trigger an imminent floor vote on the nomination of current Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chair Kristine Svinicki for a new five-year term.
McConnell has filed for cloture on Svinicki, a Senate source told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing on Tuesday. Cloture is a procedure for ending debate and taking a vote.
The cloture motion, PN561, was filed in the Senate on Monday, according to Congress.gov. The Senate cloture vote should happen today, with final approval by week’s end, “but it is Washington,” one industry source quipped.
Svinicki’s current term expires June 30. The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works sent her nomination to the full Senate last week in an expedited voice vote. If she is not confirmed by the end of the month, the commission will dip below the three members needed for a quorum.
The committee vote came just two days after the panel conducted a hearing on the renomination of Svinicki as well as the nominations of Senate staffer Annie Caputo and energy consultant David Wright to join the commission.
In one possible complication to Svinicki’s confirmation, published reports indicate Democrats might drag out normally routine Senate actions because of the manner in which Republicans are handling a replacement bill for the Affordable Care Act.
Svinicki has served on the commission since 2008; this would be her third term. President Donald Trump appointed her to the chairmanship on Jan. 23.
Svinicki has been a nuclear engineer at the Energy Department and GOP staff policy adviser for the Senate Armed Services Committee.
There was no immediate word on when Caputo and Wright might get votes in the Environment and Public Works Committee and full Senate.
