SECRETARY NOMINEE WRIGHT CONFIRMED BY SENATE

The Senate confirmed Chris Wright as the next Secretary of Energy in a bipartisan (59-38) vote yesterday evening. Having a confirmed Secretary in the role will facilitate decision-making at DOE to move forward with programs supported by ECA communities.

Key for ECA’s local governments is ensuring that work at the local and regional levels with DOE continues to move forward. 

Last week, ECA received calls from our members regarding potential cuts to programs that are paid for by the federal government that impact their communities and services to DOE and NNSA. We expect a review of all of DOE’s programs, including those that provide important services to DOE and NNSA. We also believe that, having the Secretary and his confirmed political appointees in place, DOE leadership can identify those that are critical to the functioning of DOE and NNSA.      

ECA will provide updates and will encourage the Secretary to work with our local governments to ensure there is no interruption in the services that support our national defense, national laboratories, new nuclear development and the cleanup of our sites including the safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste.