GOP senator puts hold on Trump energy nominee

Source: The Hill

BY MIRANDA GREEN - 01/29/18 11:29 AM EST

Republican Sen. John Barrasso (Wyo.) is placing a hold on the nomination of a Trump appointee who would oversee the Department of Energy’s (DOE) environmental cleanup programs.

Barrasso said during a confirmation hearing with the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources last Thursday that he was placing a hold on Anne White's nomination until the DOE committed to ending its process of re-selling excess government-owned uranium on the market. Barrasso said the process hurts his state's uranium mining industry. The DOE frequently sells excess uranium it owns in order to finance cleanup operations and decommission nuclear sites.

"You were unable to give me a firm commitment to immediately halt these barters, something that (DOE Secretary Rick) Perry has told me he wants to do. So for this reason, I am unable to support a confirmation at this time and withhold the confirmation until the department ends its practice of bartering excess uranium,” Barrasso told White during the hearing. “I think it’s preserving good-paying uranium jobs and uranium security in America."

The hold could keep the nomination from proceeding to a vote. The Senate Energy and Committee is slated to vote on White's nomination Tuesday.

Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/371196-gop-senator-puts-hold-on-trump-energy-nominee-who-dems-support