Should Congress Change Nuclear Weapons Supervision?

The story

A little-noticed provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would remove direct Cabinet oversight of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which supervises the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.

The NNSA has been under the Energy Department’s control since its inception, but this provision would empower the agency to act nearly on its own.

Supporters and detractors

The provision appears to have originated with the Senate Armed Services Committee, which – according to the Associated Press – produced a report describing a “flawed DOE organizational process” that has led to “weak accountability ... insufficient program and budget expertise and poor contract management.” Countable was unable to locate the original report, and it does not appear on the Committee’s website.

The Committee’s website does feature a white paper – Restoring American Power – by Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), which includes a recommendation to modernize “the nuclear command and control and communications system.”

The Trump administration and senior lawmakers from both parties reportedly oppose the provision. Indeed, the NNSA itself officially opposes the change. The AP reports:

“The NNSA said in a statement that while intended to improve efficiencies, ‘the changes put forward by the Senate committee would significantly limit the [energy] secretary’s ability to fulfill his nuclear security missions and ... lead to unnecessary duplication of effort at NNSA for work already being carried out by DOE.’”

Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) described the plan as a “major step backward,” questioning the long-term consequences of such “sweeping” changes to the energy secretary’s authority.

Context

Senator McCain has reportedly opposed a plan to move a key aspect of nuclear weapons production from the Los Alamos National Laboratory to a facility in South Carolina, and clashed with Energy Secretary Rick Perry on the subject. Cost overruns at the South Carolina facility were among the issues the Senate Armed Services Committee raised in its report.

Meanwhile, ProPublica reported on Sunday:

“The Trump administration has quietly taken steps that may inhibit independent oversight of its most high-risk nuclear facilities, including some buildings at Los Alamos National Laboratory, a Department of Energy document shows.”

The article goes on to detail clashes between the oversight board the administration is seeking to dismantle and the DoE, with the latter seeking to reduce the amount of nuclear safety information the board shares with the public.

It is unclear if these two developments are related. The AP reports that some sources have characterized the current oversight provision as “a straight-up power grab” by staffers at the NNSA and the Senate Armed Services Committee.

What do you think?

Should the NNSA be more independent, with less oversight from the DoE? Hit Take Action to tell your reps what you think, then share your thoughts below.

—Sara E. Murphy

(Photo Credit: iStock.com / MicroStockHub )