{"id":11697,"date":"2020-09-17T19:45:20","date_gmt":"2020-09-17T19:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/09\/17\/energy-dept-officials-are-trying-to-undermine-nuclear-weapons-agency-inhofe-alleges\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:35:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:35:52","slug":"energy-dept-officials-are-trying-to-undermine-nuclear-weapons-agency-inhofe-alleges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2020\/09\/17\/energy-dept-officials-are-trying-to-undermine-nuclear-weapons-agency-inhofe-alleges\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy Dept. officials are \u2018trying to undermine\u2019 nuclear weapons agency, Inhofe alleges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday accused officials from the Department of Energy of performing as \u201crogue actors\u201d who aim to \u201cundermine\u201d the agency in charge of managing nuclear warheads, which in turn could damage the Pentagon\u2019s nuclear modernization plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his opening comments, Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., cast Thursday\u2019s committee hearing on nuclear weapons as an existential one for the National Nuclear Security Administration. \u201cArguably, this could go down as one of the most significant hearings we\u2019ve ever had,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been given information that individuals from the Department of Energy have worked behind the scenes with the House Democrats on ill-advised legislation,\u201d including adding bureaucracy to the Nuclear Weapons Council, prohibiting cooperation between NNSA and the council, and subsuming NNSA into the DOE, Inhofe added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not surprising that opponents of nuclear weapons support these efforts \u2014 it\u2019s what you\u2019d expect them to do,\u201d Inhofe continued. \u201cWhat bothers me is that people who should be doing all they can to support the critical work of the NNSA are instead trying to undermine it. As chairman of this committee, I won\u2019t stand idly by and allow this to happen. This work is too important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since its creation in 2002, the NNSA has lived in an uneasy location \u2014 technically part of the Department of Energy but quasi-independent, beholden in some ways to both the DOE and the Department of Defense, with oversight coming from both the defense and energy committees in Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of the tension comes from the Nuclear Weapons Council, a Pentagon led office that provides guidance on the development and production of nuclear warheads. Chaired by Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord, who appeared at Thursday\u2019s hearing, the NWC \u2014 made up of five other top Pentagon officials and the NNSA administrator \u2014 has become the center of the fight between supporters of the DOE and the DoD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hearing occurred following a number of efforts coming out of the House that Inhofe and other Senate Republicans worry will have damaging long-term impacts on America\u2019s nuclear modernization efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inhofe introduced into the record a letter from Defense Secretary Mark Esper laying out key concerns that the Pentagon chief claims would put nuclear modernization at \u201cunacceptable\u201d risk. Those include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n