E&C Democrats: The Department of Energy is Illegally Influencing NRC and Undermining Nuclear Safety Protections

Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Energy Subcommittee Ranking Member Kathy Castor (D-FL), and Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO) wrote to Energy Secretary Chris Wright today about reports the Department of Energy (DOE) is attempting to exert improper influence over the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) – an independent agency tasked with ensuring the safety of America’s nuclear power industry.

The three Committee leaders noted in their letter that Congress intentionally separated the functions of DOE and NRC to strengthen confidence in our nuclear power industry and ensure nuclear safety was not politicized by changing Administrations. They highlighted reports that DOE employees – including DOGE-affiliated staffers – have broken the 50-year-old legal firewall between DOE and the regulation of nuclear reactor safety by demanding NRC “rubber-stamp” nuclear reactor licenses.

“Congress split the functions between two agencies and built a firewall between them in part to increase public confidence in the safety of the nuclear industry.  We are deeply concerned that recent actions have undermined this longstanding relationship between DOE and NRC and may in the long run undermine public confidence in nuclear energy,” Pallone, Castor, and DeGette wrote in their letter to Secretary Wright.  “Our concerns stem from reports of DOE staff detailed to the NRC who have reportedly told NRC staff that ‘DOE, DOD would approve stuff, and then NRC would be expected to just kind of rubber-stamp’ nuclear-safety related matters, including nuclear reactor licenses.”

The lawmakers expressed alarm that numerous senior NRC employees, including the General Counsel, have been pushed out at the behest of DOE staff – all amid the illegal firing of Commissioner Christopher Hanson and the abrupt departure of Commissioner Annie Caputo. Similarly, NRC Chairman David Wright has said that a DOGE-affiliated staffer, detailed from DOE, is currently working at NRC but does not report to anyone at NRC – a potential violation of the law.

The Democrats also noted President Trump’s recent executive orders jeopardize DOE’s and NRC’s separate and distinct relationship—particularly Executive Order 14301, which attempts to expand DOE’s ability to self-license nuclear reactors and evade NRC oversight. 

At an Energy Subcommittee hearing in June, Secretary Wright promised to give Representative DeGette DOE’s plan for how it was going to comply with the law and the executive order.  Two months later, he has still yet to do so.

“It is in no one’s interest for the safety of America’s nuclear fleet to be questioned, particularly as we enter an era of increasing electricity demand. […] But if DOE insists on its current path and on keeping Congress in the dark, we are concerned that future nuclear growth may be stifled before it can get off the ground,” Pallone, Castor, and DeGette concluded.

The Democratic Committee leaders demanded the following answers from Secretary Wright by August 27, 2025:

• The number of DOE employees currently detailed to the NRC, including those that were hired after the Trump Administration took office on January 20, 2025;
• Whether Secretary Wright asked the employee who demanded the NRC act as a “rubber-stamp” to communicate such to the NRC Chairman;
• Whether the reactors being pursued by DOE are pursuant to Executive Order 14301 demonstration reactors; and
• DOE’s plan to carry out Executive Order 14301.

Full text of the letter is available HERE.

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