Following nearly eight months of political deadlock and just in time to keep the agency from losing its quorum, the U.S. Senate confirmed by unanimous consent three nominees to serve on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
In a May 24 voice vote, the Senate confirmed the nominations of Republicans Annie Caputo and David Wright and approved the reappointment of Democratic incumbent Commissioner Jeff Baran. Once the three are sworn in, the NRC will be fully staffed with five commissioners.
The Senate's confirmation process of President Donald Trump's two nominees, Caputo and Wright, started in June 2017, while Baran's reconfirmation process began the following October. However the process soon ground to a halt over a disagreement between Republicans and Democrats regarding whether to tie Baran's reconfirmation to the Republicans' nominations.
Had the impasse not ended and the nominations not gone forward to a full floor vote, the NRC would have had only two sitting commissioners once Baran's first term expires at the end of June. In the absence of a three-member quorum, rulemaking and adjudication responsibilities likely would have been delegated to NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki.
The three NRC appointments now head to the president to be signed.
In June 2017, the Senate voted 88-9 to reappoint Republican Svinicki for another five-year term. She was designated as chairman in January 2017 by Trump after a stint as acting chairman. The term of the remaining sitting commissioner, Stephen Burns, ends in 2019.
The nuclear energy industry's lobby, the Nuclear Energy Institute, welcomed the "timely" confirmations of Caputo, Wright and Baran in a post on Twitter.
