The Senate adopted its budget blueprint 52-48 overnight Thursday into Friday in a colloquially-dubbed “vote-a-rama” to pass a $340 billion plan to boost energy production, the military and immigration.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday endorsed the House GOP’s budget resolution proposal that would take a one-bill, all-encompassing approach to passing administration priorities, to include $100 billion in defense funds instead of the Senate’s blueprint that supports $150 billion for defense over four years.
The House is expected to bring up its budget resolution for a vote when the lower chamber returns next week.
The National Nuclear Security Administration has extended the public comment period for Los Alamos National Laboratory’s draft sitewide environmental impact statement by 30 days, according to local news outlet Los Alamos Reporter.
The extension was granted at the request of stakeholders who had spoken and written letters during the comment period. The period now ends April 10.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) asked the military service chiefs last Friday to identify “obsolete” weapons systems and other possible areas for cuts.
The HASC letter comes a day after President Donald Trump said that he intends to meet with the leaders of China and Russia to propose that all three nations agree to cut their military budgets “in half.” Trump said that the proposed future talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin would also focus on denuclearization, adding the U.S. has “no need” to build new nuclear weapons–an announcement that comes as the U.S. Air Force considers the path ahead for the Northrop Grumman LGM-35A next generation ICBM.
“By March 1, 2025, we ask that you identify for the committee an initial list of infrastructure, weapon systems, programs, or processes that are no longer a priority [for your service] and could be divested, right sized, or made more efficient,” Rogers and Smith wrote.
An explosion early Valentine’s Day morning caused a fire overnight at the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on X.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X Friday blamed a “Russian attack drone with a high-explosive warhead” on the explosion. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied this claim to reporters Friday, according to media reports.
According to IAEA on X, the explosion came around the New Safe Confinement, which protects what remains of reactor four from the former Chernobyl plant. The agency said no casualties were reported, and that radiation levels remain normal.
Los Alamos National Laboratory released a report on its website saying it spent over $1 billion on local businesses in New Mexico in 2024.
The money was spent through the New Mexico Small Business Assistance Program, where the lab connects businesses with lab technicians.
