Undersecretary Mark Menezes was confirmed by a 79-16 vote to be the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE). He will have oversight over nuclear issues and the administration’s plans to store nuclear waste. DOE Secretary, Dan Brouillette, thanked the Senate for coming together to confirm the president’s nominee
During a committee hearing, Menezes assured Nevada Senator, Catherine Cortez Masto, that the administration had reversed its course on permanent storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain and no future shipments of weapons-grade plutonium would be shipped from South Carolina to the Nevada National Security Site, located just north of Las Vegas
However, the two Senators from Nevada, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, voted against confirmation due to their concern over the possibility of the resumption of nuclear testing, based on a published report that quoted former and current administration officials about discussions to resume explosive nuclear testing, which would likely be conducted at the Nevada National Security Site, according to a Senate aide to Rosen.