Senate Passes Major Pro-Nuclear Bill, Sends to Biden’s Desk

Sen Shelley Moore Capito and Rep Jeff Duncan (composite image)

The Senate passed a major piece of pro-nuclear energy legislation on Tuesday, sending the bill to President Joe Biden’s desk.

The legislature’s upper chamber passed the Fire Grants and Safety Act — a bill containing the text of the pro-nuclear ADVANCE Act — by a strong 88-2 bipartisan vote. The bill represents one of the most significant efforts undertaken in recent years by Congress to spur the country’s nuclear energy infrastructure and capacity, as well as a rare moment of consensus among both Democrats and Republicans on energy policy through Biden’s first term in office.

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Biden Environmental Agenda Under Fire for Increasing Costs for Americans

James Comer and Joe Biden

The Biden administration’s energy policies are increasingly costly for Americans, a newly released report says.

U.S. House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., released the report, which argues Biden’s energy policies have increased costs for Americans and hurt the economy.

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Biden Environmental Agenda Under Fire for Increasing Costs for Americans

President Joe Biden

The Biden administration’s energy policies are increasingly costly for Americans, a newly released report says.

U.S. House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., released the report, which argues Biden’s energy policies have increased costs for Americans and hurt the economy.

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GOP Lawmakers Introduce Bill That Would Bar Biden from Invoking a ‘National Climate Emergency’

Republican Texas Rep. August Pfluger and West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito introduced legislation Monday morning aiming to preempt any possible attempt by President Joe Biden to use emergency powers to circumvent congressional checks on his administration’s sweeping climate agenda.

“The Real Emergencies Act” would clarify that the president is unable to invoke emergency powers permitted by the National Emergencies Act, the Disaster Relief and Emergencies Act and the Public Health Service Act on the basis of a perceived climate change crisis. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other left-wing congressional lawmakers have called for Biden to declare a national climate emergency to further his administration’s aggressive climate agenda.

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Former EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler Gets Role as Senior Advisor After Being Blocked from Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources

Former Trump-era EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler will serve as a senior advisor to Governor Glenn Youngkin after the Virginia Senate blocked Wheeler’s confirmation as Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources. Deputy Secretary Travis Voyles is acting secretary.

Wheeler was a controversial pick among Democrats both for his link to former President Donald Trump and for the policy direction the EPA took during Wheeler’s tenure. E and E News reported Monday that Wheeler said Democrats had planned to block a nominee even before he was announced.

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Speaker Paul Ryan’s Top Aide, Top Fundraiser Drive Cheney’s Anti-Trump Rebellion

The chairwoman of the House Republican Conference faces her second fight for her job in the coming days, a fight she is going to lose, the other loser in the is former Speaker Paul D. Ryan and his ring of Republicans opposed to the leadership of President Donald J. Trump.

Wyoming Republican Rep. Elizabeth L. Cheney, who has led the House Republican Conference since Jan. 3, 2019, has strong ties to Ryan, especially through at least two members of the former speaker’s political family, Kevin Seifert and Jeff Livingston.

Other members of Ryan’s political family – such as Brendan Buck, who led the communications shop  for Ryan, when he was the chairman of Ways and Means, and when he was speaker – have backed Cheney’s rebellion against Trump, but Seifert and Livingston are actively involved in Cheney’s operation.

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Billions of Coronavirus Stimulus Money Still Hasn’t Been Spent, Republican Senators Say in Letter to Biden

US Capitol

A group of ten Republican senators outlined a less expensive coronavirus relief compromise bill and said much of the past stimulus passed during the pandemic hasn’t been spent yet.

The proposed stimulus framework builds on prior legislation that passed with bipartisan support, the 10 senators wrote in the letter Sunday. The group, which included Sens. Mitt Romney, Thom Tillis, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, also requested a meeting with President Joe Biden to discuss the bill.

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