What Does a Trump Victory Mean in the DOE World?
Excerpts from Energy Community Alliance (ECA)
Staff Report, November 9, 2016
Donald J. Trump pulled off what some are calling the biggest political upset in American history to become the 45th president of the United States. Trump won 279 electoral votes on election night to Clinton's 218, with four states still too close to call; 270 electoral votes are required to win.
Trump's transition staff must now finalize its list of key White House staff and agency leadership, liaise with the Agency Transition Directors Council, and ensure the next administration is able to govern starting January 20th.
Due to Republican term-limit rules, leadership of the Energy and Commerce Committees and Appropriations Committees will change. Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), who currently leads the environment and the economy subcommittee, has signaled his interest in chairing the Energy and Commerce Committee, though he'll have to run against two other interested candidates. House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY) is term-limited as well and speculation is that the next most senior member, Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) who leads the defense subcommittee, may take the gavel.
In another stunner for the night, Republicans retained the Senate with 51 seats. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) will retain the Appropriations Committee gavel for two more years while Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) stays at Energy and Natural Resources. Democratic ranking member spots are currently in flux.
There could be a lot of change coming to America's nuclear energy policy.
While media reports this early in the process are often unreliable, Politico has speculated that long-time Trump friend and Continental Resources CEO Harold Hamm is the leading candidate to become Energy Secretary. Venture capitalist Robert Grady and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin are also mentioned as contenders to lead the Department of Energy or Department of the Interior.
On the legislative side, Republican majorities in both the House and Senate, coupled with Senate majority leader Harry Reid's retirement, may likely mean that the Yucca Mountain issue is revisited in 2017.
Other sources, besides ECA, have speculated that Thomas D'Agostino, former chief of the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration, and former DOE Under Secretary, Robert Card, are in the running to have leadership roles in the department under the Trump administration.
Also being mentioned for one of the top two jobs at the agency is former DOE general counsel David Hill. Another name circulating for top DOE positions is Don Hoffman, president and CEO of Excel Services Corp., which provides regulatory and licensing services to the nuclear industry.
Ed Davis, long-time nuclear industry veteran, has been mentioned as a potential Trump nominee to lead DOE's nuclear energy or environmental management offices. Davis is president of Pegasus Group, a consulting firm, and is a senior fellow with the U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council, an industry group. And, Paul Longsworth, an executive at Fluor Corp. and former deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation at NNSA, has been mentioned as a possible candidate to head the semi-autonomous DOE nuclear weapons agency (NNSA).
The New York Times recently reported that President-elect Donald Trump has indicated he would like to reshape the role of the Department of Energy, including the NNSA and the nuclear arsenal. Trump "would like the agency to focus chiefly on energy extraction". Only time will tell how the new administration will shape DOE but one thing for sure, it will change!
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC) hosted an Industry Day and One-on-One sessions October 24-26, 2016, and a Community Day on October 27, 2016, in support of the upcoming procurement for the management and operation (M&O) of the Savannah River Site (SRS). The current SRS M&O contract, DE-AC09-08SR22470, with Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), expires on July 31, 2018 and is a major component of the overall SRS work scope and contracting structure.
