Newhouse Votes for American Energy Dominance, Historic Nuclear Investments

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-04) released the following statement upon House passage of the Fiscal Year 2026 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.  

"The House has just sent a clear message about the role nuclear will play in the future of American energy," said Rep. Newhouse. "This legislation makes historic investments into small modular nuclear reactors and expands licensing for new reactors, like the one coming to the Tri-Cities, which will help America become the global leader in nuclear power.” 

"As we work to get out fiscal house in order, tough decisions must be made. The cleanup effort at Hanford and the research and innovation at PNNL are vital to our region, and I will continue to prioritize their missions as we negotiate with the Senate on funding the government." 

The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill provides a total discretionary allocation of $57.300 billion, which is $766.4 million below the Fiscal Year 2025 enacted level. The defense portion of the allocation is $33.223 billion, and the non-defense portion of the allocation is $24.077 billion. 

The bill prioritizes funding for agencies and programs that safeguard U.S. national security, unleash American energy dominance, and advance economic competitiveness.

American Energy  

• Robustly funds small modular reactor and advanced reactor demonstration projects, as well as increases funding for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to expand capacity for the review, licensing, and oversight of new nuclear reactors.
• Supports one of the largest investments focused on mining production technologies for critical minerals extraction in decades, reducing reliance on foreign sources.
• Facilitates the efficient transport of goods and commodities through improvements and maintenance of America’s ports and waterways.
• Increases investments to develop new baseload geothermal energy sources to capitalize on our vast domestic resources.
• Maintains funding for cybersecurity efforts that enable a resilient, reliable, and secure electric grid.

Nuclear Deterrent and National Security 

• Provides $20.662 billion for the continued modernization of the nuclear weapons  
  stockpile and infrastructure.
• Provides $2.171 billion to support the U.S. Navy’s nuclear fleet by investing in  
  infrastructure and new technologies to maintain America’s advantage over our adversaries.
• Provides $1.984 billion to reduce the danger of hostile nations or terrorist groups acquiring nuclear weapons.
• Prohibits the sale of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the Chinese Communist Party.
• Prohibits access to U.S. nuclear weapons production facilities by citizens of China and Russia.
• Prohibits the Department of Energy from providing financial assistance to any foreign entity of concern.
• Prohibits the purchase of technology and telecommunications equipment from China and other adversaries.

See bill text before adoption of amendments here. 

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