ECA Update: House Republicans discuss stopgap spending bill; cost savings gone awry at Pantex, Y-12 sites; & more

Published: Mon, 02/05/18

ECA UPDATE
Feb 5, 2018
FEATURED
BUDGET & APPROPRIATIONS
Republicans Huddle to Avoid Latest Shutdown Threat
Roll Call | February 5, 2018

House Republicans will meet at 7 p.m. Monday to discuss the latest stopgap spending bill that will be needed to avert another partial government, according to GOP aides.

The latest continuing resolution is in place through Thursday night, giving congressional leaders little time to navigate a thicket of difficulties in both chambers.


GOP leaders are banking that blowback from last month’s brief shutdown will carry the latest stopgap over the goal line with a minimum of fuss. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters Thursday at the GOP policy retreat in West Virginia that Democrats have learned “there’s no education in the second kick of a mule” after the three-day shutdown starting early Jan. 20 and lasting through most of Jan. 22.

 
NUCLEAR SECURITY
Trump Administration’s Planned Nuclear Upgrade is Being Undermined by Cost Overruns
Center for Public Integrity | ​​​​​​​February 5, 2018

Consolidating the management of two critical sites where nuclear weapons are assembled would yield huge taxpayer savings, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) promised in 2013 – as much as $3.27 billion over a decade.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in savings were to be spent on the modernization of the nuclear weapons production complex, and billions of dollars were to revert to the public treasury. The government was so pleased with the promised benefits that in 2015, it gave one of the department’s highest awards to the 14 sharp-eyed officials who processed the single-contract paperwork.


But four years after the consolidated contract was won by Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) LLC, a group of corporations led by Bechtel National Inc., there’s not much to celebrate, government documents and reports show.
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