Department of Energy nuclear weapons programs would get a roughly 6% boost under the budget request President Joe Biden (D) released Thursday, while weapons cleanup would be flat.
For DOE’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, the Biden administration proposed roughly $23.8 billion for the 2024 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. That’s over $1.5 billion more than the 2022 appropriation of about $22.2 billion for the nuclear weapons agency.
“The Budget makes historic investments in the Nation’s nuclear security enterprise to implement the President’s Nuclear Posture Review,” according to a 182-page White House budget primer published online. “The Budget supports a safe, secure, and effective nuclear stockpile. In addition, the Budget continues robust, executable funding for the recapitalization of NNSA’s physical infrastructure, including essential scientific and production facilities to ensure the deterrent remains viable.”
In a statement Thursday, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee that sets policy and spending limits for defense programs, said Biden had proposed a “strong budget” for national defense.
Meanwhile, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) would receive $8.3 billion for fiscal year 2024, which is about the same as the nuclear-weapons-cleanup branch got in the 2022 omnibus appropriation that became law in December.
The Office of Environmental Management cleans up shuttered nuclear weapons production sites. The Biden administration also proposed a flat EM budget for 2023, though the White House, responding in part to pressure from Democratic senators in Washington state, took the unusual step of adding to the funding request before Congress officially took up the proposal.
DOE’s budget overall would rise to about $52 billion for 2024 from about $48 billion in 2023.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is widely expected to reject Biden’s broader budget proposal, media reported this week.
