WEEK OF NOV 25, 2024

What’s Ahead

Sens. Joe Manchin and Mike Lee exchanging the gavel for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee — Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), second from right, will chair the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in the next Congress.

Office of Sen. Lee

New committee leaders coming into focus

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) announced last week that he will chair the Energy and Natural Resources Committee starting next year, while Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) will serve as ranking member. The new leaders are taking over from Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV), who is retiring, and Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), who is moving into a leadership role in the Republican caucus. The committee oversees the Departments of Energy and Interior, including presidential nominees for posts in each department.

Several other committees have also announced new leadership. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) will chair the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) will chair the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which oversees the National Institutes of Health. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is in line to chair the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, which oversees NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Commerce Department. On the House side, continued Republican control means much of the committee leadership can remain the same. However, Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) is stepping down as chair of the House Science Committee after serving as its top Republican for three consecutive terms. His successor may be Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX), who has chaired the panel’s space subcommittee since 2015.

AI and quantum legislation advancing in Senate

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced amended versions of the DOE Quantum Leadership Act and the DOE AI Act last week, which aim to expand the department’s portfolios in each subject. The AI bill would direct DOE to establish a network of AI research clusters based at national labs and use AI to accelerate work across mission areas via DOE’s FASST Initiative, among other actions. However, the amended version does not recommend a funding target for these efforts, whereas the original version proposed DOE receive $2.4 billion annually. Meanwhile, the House Science Committee’s version of the bill, advanced in September, would recommend DOE receive $300 million annually over the next five years for AI work. The new version of the Senate bill also adds a provision that would update DOE’s procedures for screening foreign nationals before they can access DOE national labs if they are from countries deemed to be “engaging in competitive behavior that directly threatens U.S. national security.” Committee members may look to add the bills to this year’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which might be the last major legislation enacted before the new Congress convenes next year.

Trump makes picks for budget, commerce, education, and health roles

President-elect Donald Trump has continued rapidly assembling his executive line-up, announcing picks to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Education, and more in the last week. Trump has selected Russell Vought to resume the role of OMB director, which he held from 2020 to 2021. Vought contributed prominently to the conservative blueprint Project 2025, laying out a vision to reshape the executive branch. In the report, he proposes rolling back government-led climate initiatives and policies promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion across science agencies.

Businessman Howard Lutnick is Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Commerce, which includes the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Trump also selected Brendan Carr, a Republican member of the Federal Communications Commission who authored the FCC chapter in Project 2025, to chair the agency, and Linda McMahon, co-founder of the America First Policy Institute and former chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment, to lead the Department of Education.

Trump has been quick to pick public health leaders, selecting doctor and former Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL) to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, doctor Marty Makary to head the Food and Drug Administration, and doctor Janette Nesheiwat to be surgeon general. Trump has not yet selected a director for the National Institutes of Health, but doctor and economist Jay Bhattacharya is reportedly a top candidate. All would report to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

All of these picks are subject to Senate approval, where Republicans will hold a 53-47 seat majority in the next Congress.

Commerce aims to commit CHIPS money before Trump returns

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in an interview last week that she is trying to allocate all the semiconductor manufacturing and research funds appropriated by the CHIPS and Science Act before President Joe Biden leaves office. To that end, the Commerce Department just finalized a $1.5 billion grant to support the construction and expansion of semiconductor manufacturing facilities in New York and Vermont operated by GlobalFoundries and a $6.6 billion grant to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to support fab construction in Phoenix, Arizona. The department also announced it has entered negotiations with the Semiconductor Research Corporation for a $285 million grant to establish a new Manufacturing USA institute in Durham, North Carolina, focused on digital twins for semiconductor design and manufacturing.

Also on our radar

Chinese President Xi Jinping objected to the “small yard, high fence” approach the U.S. has taken on restricting exports of semiconductors and other advanced technologies during a joint meeting with President Joe Biden on Nov. 16. Biden defended the approach, and the two leaders also discussed areas of cooperation, including AI-related risks, climate change, and “people-to-people exchanges.” They also agreed that AI should not be used to control nuclear weapons.
The inaugural meeting of the International Network of AI Safety Institutes was held last week in San Francisco. The network consists of 10 countries and aims to standardize AI safety regulations and promote international collaboration on AI research.
DOE announced awards last week totaling $2.2 billion for two regional hubs for clean hydrogen production in the Gulf Coast and Midwest, respectively. The Gulf Coast hub will focus on fuel for electric trucks, industrial processes, ammonia production, petrochemical production, and marine fuel. The Midwest hub will focus on decarbonizing manufacturing, steel and glass production, power generation, refining, and heavy-duty transportation.
DOE also announced $31 million in awards last week to build research capacity, infrastructure, and expertise at academic institutions through the Funding for Accelerated, Inclusive Research (FAIR) program. Most of the awardees are emerging research institutions, HBCUs, and/or and other minority-serving institutions.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) won reelection last week in a hotly contested race. Kaptur is the top Democrat on the Energy-Water Appropriations Subcommittee, which drafts spending legislation for DOE.