WHITE HOUSE ISSUES VETO THREAT OVER HOUSE ENERGY SPENDING BILL

The Obama Administration late yesterday issued a veto threat against the House version of the Fiscal Year 2014 Energy and Water Appropriations Act. Among the White House’s concerns is the topline funding level House appropriators used to craft the bill, which is significantly lower than that used by Senate appropriators. Enacting a bill based on the lower funding level “would hurt our economy and require draconian cuts to middle-class priorities,” says a statement of administration policy issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget. “Prior to consideration of appropriations bills the Congress should complete an appropriate framework for all the appropriations bills that supports our recovery and enables sufficient investments in education, infrastructure, innovation and national security for our economy to compete in the future. As such, the President’s senior advisors would recommend that he veto H.R. 2609 and any other legislation that implements the House Republican Budget framework.”

Concerning funding for specific Department of Energy programs in the House bill, the Administration said it is concerned over lower funding levels provided for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons programs. “This reduction would weaken facility operations, construction initiatives, and stockpile support activities, all of which directly support the President’s nuclear strategy as expressed in the Nuclear Posture Review. The reduction would significantly increase the risk of schedule delays for these key components of the Administration’s nuclear strategy. It would also undercut the ability to maintain the nuclear stockpile by delaying the modernization of the Nation’s plutonium manufacturing capability,” the statement of administration policy says.

The Administration also criticized House appropriators’ decision to continue to provide funding in the bill for the shuttered Yucca Mountain geological waste repository project. “The Administration is disappointed that the Committee has failed to embrace the practical solutions proposed in the President’s Nuclear Waste Strategy that were based on the concepts put forward by the non-partisan Blue Ribbon Commission. This priority in the FY 2014 Budget is comprised of important elements for a successful waste program, such as consent-based siting, interim storage of waste, and program funding reforms that are essential to the success of a Nuclear Waste Program,” the statement of administration policy says.