Senate Kills NDAA Language To ‘Usurp’ Civilian Control Of Nuke Budget
NNSA and DOE dodged a Bullet...
"A provision in the SASC’s 2021 defense policy bill that could have caused great friction between two powerful committees has been quashed. The provision would have handed DoD budgetary control of nuclear weapons development in the wake of strong opposition — including from Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette and leaders of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Energy Committee Chair Lisa Murkowski and Ranking Member Joe Manchin threatened to block the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on the Senate floor if the provision was not removed, according to one opponent.
The language in Section 3111 of the SASC bill would have given the Pentagon’s Nuclear Weapons Council power to set the annual budget of the development of warheads by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which develops and builds nuclear warheads for the Pentagon’s ICBMs, bombers and submarines.
The provision was overturned, as first reported by colleague John Donnelly, via an amendment cosponsored by Manchin and Sen. Maria Cantwell that the Senate approved on July 2, along with a larger package of changes. The amendment was approved unanimously, according to a July 2 press release by Cantwell.
Cantwell had been vociferous in her opposition to the bill, arguing that it not only would have usurped Brouillette’s power over his own department’s budget, but also could have resulted in the shifting of funds from other important DoE missions such as nuclear waste cleanup. (Brouillette made similar objections in a letter he sent to the SASC on June 29, further arguing that it would overturn civilian control of the nation’s nuclear weapons.)
While leaving budgetary control to DoE, the Cantwell-Manchin amendment does give DoD an opportunity to make its views on the annual NNSA budget proposal known. According to Cantwell’s release, the provision will “promote transparency by attaching the NWC’s recommendation for the NNSA’s budget as an appendix to the final budget request submitted by the Secretary of Energy.”
https://breakingdefense.com/2020/07/senate-kills-ndaa-language-to-usurp-civilian-control-of-nuke-budget/
3 comments:
I am appalled that this attempt by the military to wrest control of nuclear weapons from the DOE has gotten no comments from those who will be directly impacted if it ever comes to pass.
So many who now work at the labs are ignorant of the history of the labs and the history of the US nuclear weapons program from the Manhattan Project. Why can't the labs and plants institute a history training program for new employees to correct this? I am sure the very knowledgeable and capable LANL Historian would support and facilitate this if given the chance.
It used to be that lectures on weapons and the labs histories were offered on a semi-regular schedule. Unfortunately, mortality took its toll on those who actually had direct knowledge of such things, and efforts to continue have been rather pitiful.
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